Three debut authors, thrilling topics and themes of family are in Edel Coffey’s must-read list this month …
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THE THREE LIVES OF CATE KAY (Bloomsbury, €23.75) is the debut novel from American Emmy-award winning sports journalist Kate Fagan. I read an early proof last year and it captivated me from the first page. This is a fictional memoir of the world’s most famous author, Cate Kay. Cate is not her real name and nobody knows who she really is. That’s because Cate left her home town after her best friend was involved in an accident and she has been in hiding ever since. Twenty years on, Cate has achieved the dreams she used to share with her then best friend. But the past has a way of catching up and when Cate discovers everything she thinks she knows about that time is untrue, she begins to tell her story in three parts and under three different names. A love story, a story of fame and ambition and a story of friendship, identity and betrayal, each has a different perspective, which results in a gripping, multi-layered story. I fell in love with these characters and didn’t want the story to end. Perfect for fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid.

THE GHOSTS OF ROME (Harvill Secker, €15.99) is the second instalment in Joseph O’Connor’s Escape Line trilogy. Following on from 2023’s My Father’s House, which told the story of real-life Irish monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty, The Ghosts Of Rome moves the action on one year to 1944. Rome is occupied by Nazi forces and the Contessa Giovanna Landini is a member of the “Escape Line” group of activists known as The Choir. As she works to smuggle refugees and allies away from Nazi boss Paul Hauptmann, he becomes fascinated with her. Gripping historical fiction from one of our finest writers.

Three debut authors who have been generating much anticipatory attention release their novels this month. Roisín O’Donnell’s debut, NESTING (Simon & Schuster, €15.99), tells the emotionally involving story of a Dublin mother of two daughters who is leaving an abusive marriage. This is both intensely emotional and intellectually intriguing as it seamlessly moves from living in fear of a partner to examining the Irish housing crisis and legal system.

Irish-based South African author Mary Watson is already a well-known young adult author, but makes her move into adult fiction with THE CLEANER (Bantam, €15.99). This is the story of Esmie, who comes to Ireland looking for answers and revenge after her brother’s life is upended by a mysterious incident. Esmie gets a job as a cleaner in the small enclave of houses where her brother had been renting a room and sets about digging up dirt on the neighbours. This is a gripping pageturner that skillfully explores obsession and privilege, money and class, and female lust and rage, and the monsters that might lurk inside all of us.

Cork author Amy Jordan’s debut thriller THE DARK HOURS (HQ, €15.99) is a compulsive read about a vivid new character in detective fiction. Retired detective Julia Harte is trying to have a quiet life after a career dedicated to solving crime. But she is still haunted by a tragic incident in her past. When a new murder has echoes of a serial killer case that Julia worked on, she is drafted in to help detectives solve the case. A very satisfying read.

Sam Blake’s latest thriller THE KILLING SENSE (Atlantic Books, €16.99) is a tale of many twists about a single mother who has left an abusive marriage. When Kate Wilde from Ireland wins a trip to Paris in a competition she can’t remember entering, to spend five days learning about perfume, it sounds like the perfect escape. But soon after she arrives, she not only learns her ex has followed her there, but that there is a serial killer on the loose in the city whose victims are red-headed women like her. Dramatic and gripping.

Author Sanam Mahloudji left her native Tehran during the Islamic Revolution, moving first to LA where she grew up, before relocating to London. Her debut novel, THE PERSIANS (Fourth Estate, €20.70), was the subject of a five-way auction. It follows a wealthy Iranian dynasty, the Valiats, who are under pressure to adapt to a changing world. Told through the voices of five female family members across three generations, who are living between Iran and the US, the story moves between 1940s Iran into a splintered 2000s. Each woman in the Valiat family makes discoveries about themselves and their history when an annual family trip to Aspen goes wildly awry.

FAMOUS LAST WORDS (Michael Joseph, €21.75) is the ninth thriller from Gillian McAllister, whose works includes best-selling novel Wrong Place Wrong Time. Her latest book is about a woman whose husband takes three people hostage. It’s Camilla’s first day back at work after maternity leave, her daughter’s first day at nursery. But her husband Luke is nowhere to be seen. The only trace of him is an unfinished note. Camilla tries to put it out of her mind; there must be a rational explanation. But as the day unfolds, news reports announce a hostage situation developing in London. Soon after the police arrive to the scene, Camilla learns that Luke – doting father, successful writer, enthusiastic runner and eternal optimist – is the gunman. Camilla recalls the note he left behind that morning, and the clues it might hold.

The second novel from the author of Bellies is an exploration of millennial angst, race, trans panic and the allure of domesticity. DISAPPOINT ME (Doubleday, €21.25) by Nicola Dinan tells the story of 30-year-old Max. When she falls down the stairs at a New Year’s Eve party and wakes up in hospital alone, Max is left questioning who will care for her and vows to make some changes to her life. First things first: an attempt to embrace good old-fashioned heteronormativity. Enter Vincent, a man with his own history to unravel. His friendship group may as well speak a different language to Max, and his Chinese parents never pictured their son dating a trans woman, but Vincent cares for Max in a way she’d long given up on. Will the ghosts of Vincent’s past eventually sabotage his and Max’s happiness?

Exploring themes of family loyalty, personal freedom and the isolation of immigration, CONFESSIONS (Viking, €15.99) by Catherine Airy opens with the testimony of Cora, who becomes a teenage orphan when her father dies in 9/11. Moving between rural Ireland and New York, the story pieces together a family’s secrets across three generations. Threaded through these female perspectives are excerpts from a mysterious game, and letters, from which a picture of this family’s mysteries – of motherhood, abortion and adoption – gradually emerges.
BONUS BOOK

If you are craving heat and light this month, this exciting collection of architectural photography, edited by Irish visual artist Daniel Holfeld, will deliver both. Holfeld has captured the architectural progress of Morocco since King Mohammed VI ascended the throne in 1999, in Contemporary Morocco, Building A New Vernacular Architecture (Gandon Editions, €33). Featuring 30 notable buildings and near-completed projects from across the kingdom’s twelve regions, showcasing the work of Moroccan and international architects, the book highlights the innovative design and developments that have shaped modern Morocco. Daniel Holfeld’s photography has won international acclaim and awards from prestigious platforms such as PX3 Prix de la Photographie Paris Awards, The International Photography Awards, MonoVisions Black and White Photography Awards, Budapest International Foto Awards and Tokyo International Photography Awards. Contemporary Morocco is in good bookshops and can be ordered direct from www.gandon-editions.com