Crime, Debate, and Murder Talk.

Posted by Arlene on August 13th, 2008 filed in

Next month sees Book 2008 here in Dublin, a festival running from the 5th to the 7th of September. I will include the link and you can peruse at your leisure the terrific line up of writers who will be appearing-including Martin Amis, John Banville, John Connolly, Rebecca Miller, Declan Hughes and many many others.

As part of this festival there will also be a crime writing series, where many of Ireland’s authors of murder and mayhem get to chat, discuss and debate over all thing crime. The evenings will be held out in County Hall, Marine Road, Dun Laoghaire, and a modest fee of seven euros fifty is all that is required for the evenings entertainment.

So if you have a few spare evening in your social diaries, why not pop along and take part.

You can find more details on the official website here.

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Undertow cover

Posted by Arlene on June 24th, 2008 filed in

Hi all,

here’s the cover for Undertow, the new book that will be out in the early Autumn. Click to enlarge the image.

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A slow march across the globe.

Posted by Arlene on May 13th, 2008 filed in

Good evening. It’s Tuesday the 13th of May, 13, a suspicious number for some but a golly an auspicious one for me it seems. I ought to update this blog more often but I doubt you’d really want to hear my day to day routine. It would be very repetitive and go something like, ‘got up, sleepy, had toast, fed dog, ignored cats, sat at computer, read emails, yawned, watched birds, yawned some more, considered work, patted dog, had more tea…’
I mean lets face it, not exactly riveting stuff.
So here’s what I’ll do, I’ll post here when there is news. And I have news.
First off, I have finished Undertow, my fifth novel and the fourth in the QuicK investigations series. Naturally my lovely editor Ciara will insist -correctly- that I do some editing and what not, but after than it’s pretty much in the bag for a September/October release. I will post the first chapter and the cover shortly. The cover is absolutely amazing, very dark and atmospheric. I think it is my favourite to date.
Secondly. I got word to day that MPD has been bought by Russian publishing house Azbooka. No word yet on title or cover but as soon as I know I’ll post it here. Also I believe the Vermist, the Dutch version will be released later this month. I am very excited about this development and looking forward to seeing the books in all their foreign glory.
Right ho, that’s all the news. I am sure everyone is enjoying the glorious weather. I do hope it lasts for a few more weeks. The dog and I have taken to sprawling out on the lawn at around three every afternoon for extended…er, research sessions. No really, reading is work you know.

Arlene Hunt.

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RTE reviews Missing Presumed Dead

Posted by Arlene on March 25th, 2008 filed in

A tale of intrigue, suspense and double-lives forms the basis of Arlene Hunt’s latest novel ‘Missing Presumed Dead’.

A two-year-old girl called Katie is abducted from a beach in Ireland as she plays with her brother in the sunshine back in 1980. She is presumed dead by most of those who search for her on the day, fearing that she has wandered off and been washed out to sea. One man protests the case after he sees a suspiciuos-looking man forcefully dragging a child away from the beach on the day but his claims fall on deaf ears where the guards are concerned.

Twenty-six years later Katie’s mother receives the locket that she was wearing on the day she disappeared in the post. It chills her to the bone. The case is further complicated when a  young woman turns up on the doorstep of a retired GP and shoots him dead. Could the girl be the missing Katie and why has she returned with such over-bearing ghosts? Two families, one in Ireland and one in England, are looking for answers, and private investigators Sarah Kenny and John Quigley may be able to solve the riddle, but not without encountering some very sticky situations along the way.

From here on Arlene Hunt takes us on a gripping journey - bringing us lies, secrets, double-personalities and heartbreak. Her characters are well developed and flawed enough to make them believable, without losing our sympathy. The storyline, while a little far-fetched at times, brings us into a dangerous underworld of crime and deception and is, almost always, enthralling.

Hunt has a great ability to inject suspense into her writing, making you want to keep reading and forcing you to forget time constraints in the real-world and that’s surely what the escapism of reading fiction is all about.

While ‘Missing Presumed Dead’ is action-packed, it manages to successfully combine a gritty crime storyline with a softer human story.

Linda McGee - via Rte.ie

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Verbal Magazine reviews MPD

Posted by Arlene on February 12th, 2008 filed in

Click the image to read

Link

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5 Alive.

Posted by Arlene on January 15th, 2008 filed in

While sitting here at my desk earlier, chewing the end of a biro to ribbons and pondering the imponderable, namely how in the name of shark jumping I was going to get John out of the scrape I’d just written him into, my telephone rang.
Wearily, blearily, non too cheerily I got up and went to throttle the offending racket.
But gadzooks! Stall the ball! Hold yer horses. For it was news, good news, the sort of news Tuesdays never bring forth.
Missing Presumed Dead is number 5 in the bestsellers list in Ireland (paperback)!
So allow me to stop grinning like a loon for a moment to say a big fat thank you to all you lovely readers who were good enough to put your hands into your pockets and buy my book. I hope you enjoy it.
Now, where was I? Oh yes, poor John…

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MPD Dutch cover

Posted by Arlene on December 4th, 2007 filed in

This is the draft cover for the Dutch edition of Missing Presumed Dead. It’s simply entitled ‘Missing’ and it looks fantastic.

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A murderous mélange

Posted by Arlene on November 17th, 2007 filed in

I am making up part of a panel on Fionn Davenport’s show Culture Shock tonight, on Newstalk 106. http://newstalk.ie/newstalk/programmes/20/culture-shock.html
The topic is Mind of a murderer and it should be an interesting discussion.
Why murder? What might drive a person to such a vicious and brutal act? Do we understand it? Would there be any circumstances in which we could see ourselves performing it? Are we as a society saturated by murder? Does it have the capacity to shock any longer? Why does one murder-as in the case of Rachel O’Reilly galvanize our emotions where as the murder of John Daly does not? Why are our sympathies aroused for young Anthony Campbell, but not for Marlo Hyland (actually the last one question is an easy one, Anthony was a hard working young man doing his job when he was viciously slain. Hyland, a drug dealer and thought to be behind any number of violent acts, falls under the much abused cliché, live by the sword die by the sword).
In any event the discussion should be lively and thought provoking, so if anyone has an opportunity to catch the show, tune in at about 7 pm.
Have a lovely weekend.
Arlene Hunt.

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Running A Marathon

Posted by Arlene on October 29th, 2007 filed in

I have just completed my first Dublin City Marathon and oh my god do I ache like a barely breathing corpse. However-despite the pain- I have never felt more alive than I do at this moment. It didn’t occur to me that I could do it, after all it was only eight months ago when I was waffling about it first. However I have done it and despite my poor legs I feel terrific. You see readers, anything is possible, or as my medal says. ‘Impossible Is Nothing!’

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Going Dutch!

Posted by Arlene on October 5th, 2007 filed in

Hello there readers, and good news on this sunny Friday morning. I’ve just received word that Missing Presumed Dead is to be published in the The Netherlands by the publishing house Verbum. This is my first foray into a foreign market and I’m so excited about it I could do a small jig here-but I won’t because that would look daft. I haven’t seen the new books yet, but how odd to think of my writing in Dutch. As soon as I have a cover I’ll post a picture on line.
Thanks again everyone for all the emails.
Talk to you soon,
Arlene Hunt

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