Where They Lie: The thrillingly atmospheric debut from an exciting new voice in crime fiction

(Paperback)

Available Formats

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

'A thrillingly dark and atmospheric tale, richly evocative of its time' JOHN BANVILLE
'This isn't just a mystery novel: it's a window into a vanished world' TANA FRENCH
'Gripping and brilliantly atmospheric'RODDY DOYLE

Some stories demand to be told. They keep coming back, echoing down through the decades, until they find a teller . . .

Dublin, 1943
Actress Julia Bridges disappears.
The last sighting of her is entering the house of Gloria Fitzpatrick, who is later put on trial for the murder of another woman whose abortion she facilitated.
But its never proved that Gloria had a hand in Julias death and Julias body has never been found.
Gloria, however, is sentenced to life in an institution for the criminally insane, until her apparent suicide a few years later, and the truth of what happened to Julia Bridges dies with her.

Dublin, 1968
Nicoletta Sarto is an ambitious junior reporter for the Irish Sentinel when the bones of Julia Bridges are discovered in the garden of a house on the outskirts of Dublin.
Drawn into investigating the 25-year-old mystery of Julias disappearance and her link to the notorious Gloria Fitzpatrick, the story takes Nicoletta into the tangled underworld of the illegal abortion industry, stirring up long-buried secrets from her own past.

As much a murder mystery story as a look at a young womans struggle to succeed in a mans world, Where They Lie is a beautifully atmospheric debut that will stay with you long after youve turned the last page.

'Atmospheric and absorbing, an ambitious young journalist finds herself at the heart of a corkscrew tale she never knew existed. A dark and turbulent journey to unexpected truthsVAL McDERMID
A dark, gorgeously-written thriller, its tap root deep in a past so vividly evoked, you can see and smell and feel itNICCI FRENCH
Atmospheric, authentic, and almost unbearably poignant. Like the best historical fiction,Where They Lietransports the reader back in time while holding up a mirror to the present. A must-readERIN KELLY

Author Bio

Claire Coughlan worked as a journalist in Ireland for many years. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from UCD and lives in Co Kildare with her husband and daughter. Where They Lie is her first novel.