Murder One: The Podcast HeadStuff Podcasts

Destination Murder: Alex Barclay and Lucy Foley with WC Ryan



From a luxury inn on a remote west coast peninsula in Ireland, to a Scottish hunting lodge, these dark stories are told by two of crimes leading female voices. Chaired by WC Ryan, author of House of Ghosts, a man who knows a thing or two about dangerous, lonely places. Lucy Foley’s departure to the dark side is her fourth bestseller, and Alex Barclay, the first lady of Irish crime, brings us her first Irish set standalone in a gripping event that will keep you on the edge of your seat.



Alex Barclay lives in County Cork, Ireland. She is the bestselling author of Darkhouse and The Caller, as well as the Ren Bryce series. Alex Barclay’s debut novel Darkhouse was a top ten bestseller in the UK, France and Germany, and a number one bestseller in Ireland. Her latest novel I Confess is out now.



Lucy Foley studied English Literature at Durham and UCL universities. She then worked for several years as a fiction editor in the publishing industry – during which time she also wrote her debut, The Book of Lost and Found. The Hunting Party has been a bestselling sensation both in Ireland and the UK. Lucy now writes full-time, and is busy travelling (for research, naturally!) and working on her next novel.

Murder One is part of the HeadStuff Podcast Network

For more on the Murder One Festival, head to the Murder One website



Music in this episode from X3nus at Freesound.org.

All About Agatha: John Curran and Andrew Wilson with Anna Carey



John Curran is one of the world’s leading experts on Agatha Christie and author of Agatha Christie’s Complete Secret Notebooks; John is the long-time literary advisor to Agatha Christie’s estate, often giving talks and appearing on documentaries about her life. He has spent the last few years unpicking the notebooks and deciphering Agatha Christie’s handwriting for his books.



Andrew Wilson brings Christie to life as the protagonist in his fiendishly plotted 1920’s mysteries – as AJ Finn put it, ‘Andrew Wilson’s Christie novels do Dame Agatha proud’. The latest, Death in a Desert Land takes Christie to 1928 Baghdad. Journalist and author Anna Carey discusses the living legend that is Agatha Christie, one of the world’s greatest crime writers with two authors whose lives she has influenced – find out how John discovered Christie’s diaries in a wardrobe and what book he would recommend if you’ve never read Christie before. In a fascinating discussion, learn about Christie’s mysterious disappearance and what these two experts think really happened.



Anna Carey is passionate about Agatha Christie! A journalist and author from Dublin who has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent and many other publications. Anna’s first book, The Real Rebecca, was published in 2011, and went on to win the Senior Children’s Book prize at the Irish Book Awards. Rebecca returned in the critically acclaimed Rebecca’s Rules, Rebecca Rocks and Rebecca is Always Right. The Making of Mollie (2016) was her first historical novel and was shortlisted for the Senior Children’s Book prize at the 2016 Irish Book Awards and was followed by the sequel, Mollie on the March, which received rave reviews.


Murder One is part of the HeadStuff Podcast Network

For more on the Murder One Festival, head to the Murder One website



Music in this episode from X3nus at Freesound.org.

Untold Stories: The Five. Hallie Rubenhold with Joseph O’Connor



Polly, Annie, Elizabeth, Catherine and Mary-Jane are famous for the same thing, though they never met. They came from Fleet Street, Knightsbridge, Wolverhampton, Sweden and Wales. They wrote ballads, ran coffee houses, lived on country estates, they breathed ink-dust from printing presses and escaped people-traffickers. What they had in common was the year of their murders – 1888 – and their murderer, the man known as Jack the Ripper. Author Hallie Rubenhold talks to Joseph O’Connor and sets the record straight, giving these women back their stories. Set just ten years previously, in his latest novel Shadowplay, O’Connor reveals the hidden stories of Bram Stoker’s life. 



Hallie Rubenhold is a former museum curator and social historian who has made her name by discovering and bringing to the public attention the stories of previously unknown women. Her first book, The Covent Garden Ladies, (The History Press, 2005) recounts the history of The Harris’s List of Covent Garden Ladies, the notorious 18th century guide to prostitutes. The Covent Garden Ladies has become a cult sensation and not only was the subject of a BBC 4 documentary presented by Hallie, but has been singlehandedly responsible for reviving an interest in the material amongst academics, artists, film makers, writers and designers. The Five has won numerous awards, including the Baillie Gifford prize for non fiction and the Goodreads Reader award.



Novelist, screenwriter, playwright and broadcaster, Joseph O’Connor is the author of nine novels including Star of the Sea, Ghost Light (Dublin One City One Book novel 2011) and Shadowplay . Among his awards are the Prix Zepter for European Novel of the Year, France’s Prix Millepages, Italy’s Premio Acerbi, an American Library Association Award and the Irish Pen Award for Outstanding Achievement in Literature. His work has been translated into forty languages. In 2014 he was appointed Frank McCourt Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Limerick.

Murder One is part of the HeadStuff Podcast Network

For more on the Murder One Festival, head to the Murder One website



Music in this episode from X3nus at Freesound.org.

Past Crimes: Jess Kidd, Henrietta McKervey and Paddy Hirsch with Declan Burke

From Jess Kidd’s Things in Jars to Henriette McKervey’s Violet Hill, London’s only female Victorian detective, via Hudson’s Kill and the Irish gangs of New York, three novelists use the past as a backdrop to their page-turning adventures of deception, danger – and detection. 



Host Declan Burke is an award-winning author and editor. His novel Absolute Zero Cool won the Goldsboro Award in 2012. Books to Die For (2013), co-edited with John Connolly, won the Anthony Award for Best Non-Fiction Crime. The Lammisters, a comic novel, is published by No Alibis Press.



Paddy Hirsch is a fiction and non-fiction author, journalist, web video host, financial blogger and a commentator on the economy and financial markets. He is the author of the Justice Flanagan series of historical thrillers, including The Devil’s Half Mile and Hudson’s Kill, and of Man vs Markets, Economics Explained, Plain and Simple, a lighthearted, illustrated book explaining the workings of the financial markets, published by HarperCollins.



Jess Kidd was brought up in London as part of a large family from county Mayo and has a truly unique fictional voice. Her debut, Himself, was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards in 2016. She won the Costa Short Story Award the same year. Her second novel, The Hoarder, was shortlisted for the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year 2019. Both books were BBC Radio 2 Book Club Picks. Jess’s work has been described as ‘Gabriel García Márquez meets The Pogues.’



Henrietta McKervey is an award-winning fiction writer and design & advertising copywriter. What Becomes Of Us, and The Heart of Everything and Violet Hill are published by Hachette.



Henrietta won the UCD Maeve Binchy Travel Award in 2014, Hennessy First Fiction Award in 2015 and the Irish Writers Centre Jack Harte Bursary in 2016. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from UCD.

Murder One is part of the HeadStuff Podcast Network

For more on the Murder One Festival, head to the Murder One website



Music in this episode from X3nus at Freesound.org.

Martina Cole’s first novel Dangerous Lady caused a sensation when it was published, and launched one of the bestselling fiction writers of her generation. Twenty-seven years later, Martina has gone on to have more No.1 original fiction bestsellers than any other author. She won the British Book Award for Crime Thriller of the Year with The Take , which then went on to be a hit TV series for Sky 1.  Her new novel No Mercy was published by Headline in October 2019. Martina held the Murder One audience spellbound as she recounted tales of her family and how she wrote her first book. Still writing longhand, she explained her Irish background and her connections with some of London’s most notorious criminals.



Breda Brown is a former print and radio journalist. She has held a number of key positions including Head of News with Lite FM/Q102 and Chief News Reporter with Dublin’s 98FM. She has also worked as a journalist with a variety of daily and Sunday newspapers as well as trade, business and consumer magazines. She is a regular panellist on national news and current affairs programmes and is a regular contributor to the Sunday Times.

Murder One is part of the HeadStuff Podcast Network

For more on the Murder One Festival, head to the Murder One website



Music in this episode from X3nus at Freesound.org.

Staring Death in the Eye: Unnatural Causes

In conversation with international bestselling crime writer Dr Paul Carson, Shepherd will take you into his world where he stares death in the eye.
As the UK’s leading forensic pathologist, Dr Richard Shepherd has faced serial killers, natural disaster, ‘perfect murders’ and freak accidents, all in the pursuit of the truth.

And while he’s been involved in some of the most high-profile cases of recent times, it’s often the less well-known encounters that prove the most perplexing, intriguing and even bizarre. In or out of the public eye, his evidence has put killers behind bars, freed the innocent and turned
open-and-shut cases on their heads.

In his bestselling memoir, Richard Shepherd gives a unique insight into a remarkable profession, and above all a powerful and reassuring
testament to lives cut short.

Paul Carson is a medical doctor and novelist (www.paulcarson.ie). Between 1986 and 1996 he published seven health books and two children’s novels.  From 1997 – 2013 he wrote six bestselling medical thrillers, Scalpel, Cold Steel, Final Duty, Ambush, Betrayal and Inquest.  These have been translated into nineteen languages.

Murder One is part of the HeadStuff Podcast Network

For more on the Murder One Festival, head to the Murder One website



Music in this episode from X3nus at Freesound.org.