- Imprint: Black Swan Ireland
- ISBN: 9781781620212
- Length: 336 pages
- Dimensions: 198mm x 20mm x 127mm
- Weight: 230g
- Price: £9.99
The Coroner's Daughter
DONAL RYANWhat a story he tells and what a voice he uses to tell it: Abigail Lawless is a joy. This is the kind of writing that pushes you gently into a different world then holds you there until the last sentence. Just brilliant.
C J SANSOMAn exceptionally good book . . . Abigail is a marvellous character, who half-inhabits a Jane Austen-like world of balls and fine clothes, yet whose real interest and talent is in science, especially forensic science . . . [she] speculates ceaselessly, and that and her humanity are what makes her such a rich and satisfying character.
Antonia Senior, THE TIMESThe Coroner's Daughter starts with the best first sentence I have read in an age . . . Abigail is a wonderful heroine; fascinated by the macabre, scientifically minded and spiked with wit. Historical fiction is awash with amateur sleuths following ye olde clues but this sparkling crime novel breathes life into the genre.
WILLIAM RYAN, author of The Constant SoldierThe Coroner's Daughter is that rare thing, a beautifully-crafted novel that is also gripping and powerful. It’s superb.
Elizabeth Buchan, DAILY MAILThe plot is intriguing and the father-daughter relationship honest and delightful, but it is Abigail – one of the most attractive heroines in a long time – who carries the day.
Sarah Gilmartin, IRISH TIMESEngaging . . . atmospheric . . . there are strong echoes of the first Benjamin Black novel . . . [a] gory blend of historical detail and fiction has resulted in a compelling second novel. The Coroner's Daughter is good old-fashioned storytelling that will keep readers turning the pages as the shadows begin to fall.
CHRISTOPHER FOWLER, author of the Bryant & May seriesHughes vividly evokes the dank and often disturbing atmosphere of Dublin, 1816, and his plotting neatly upends the reader’s expectations. Best of all is young Abigail Lawless, headstrong and inconvenient in her determination to question the accepted rules of scientific investigation. I hope she’ll be back for further forensic adventures.
Darragh McManus, IRISH INDEPENDENT[Abigail] is a great character, plausible and well-drawn, in a novel full of them . . . The Coroner's Daughter briskly and efficiently sets its scene, then concentrates on telling a rattling good story . . . an enjoyable and thought-provoking novel.
IMOGEN ROBERTSONA deeply satisfying novel, written with a poetic flair which brings time, people and place into vivid life and a compelling plot which had me cheering Abigail on even while I feared for her, her family and friends. A brilliant evocation of strange times and twisted histories.
BOOKS IRELANDIf you like Treasure Island, and Sheridan le Fanu, and adventures in danger and cold in the Wicklow hills that end with a rescue and the heroes, wrapped in blanket, recovering with a nip of brandy in front of a roaring fire at an inn, you will like this.
About Andrew Hughes
Born in Co. Wexford, ANDREW HUGHES was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. A qualified archivist, he worked for RTE before going freelance. It was while researching his acclaimed social history of Fitzwilliam Square – Lives Less Ordinary: Dublin’s Fitzwilliam Square, 1798-1922 – that he first came across the true story of John Delahunt that inspired his debut novel, The Convictions of John Delahunt.
Andrew Hughes lives in Dublin.
Andrew Hughes lives in Dublin.
Details
All editions
- Paperback 2023
- Ebook 2017