Sam Blake's Blog, page 3

I joined the board of the Crime Writers’ Association last year and in September they asked me to look after National Crime Reading Month (NCRM) which is scheduled for this June. It is an initiative with huge potential designed to celebrate the genre and get the nation reading, and I like nothing better than a challenge!

This year it has a revitalised website and social media hashtag #PickUpAPageTurner, and is running in collaboration with national reading charity, The Reading Agency. I’ve approached a host of bestselling authors as regional ambassadors across the British Isles and Ireland, including Steve Cavanagh, MW Craven, Elly Griffiths, Alis Hawkins, Anthony Horowitz, Vaseem Khan, Nadine Matheson, Louise Phillips, Ian Rankin, LJ Ross, Robin Stevens and Sarah Ward.

With launches in London (Waterstones Piccadilly), Dublin (Hodges Figgis bookstore in Dawson Street), Cork (City Library) and online from Belfast we have events across the full spectrum of book/reading outlets on 1st June, all starting at 6.30pm. I’ll be in Waterstones Piccadilly on 1st, do join in with one of our events if you can, we’d love to kick up a Twitter storm!

If you’re organising a crime related event (!) in June, do add it to www.crimereading.com!

Here’s the press release:

NCRM will be an inclusive initiative celebrating diversity in the genre at every level, with events both in person and virtual to ensure accessibility. Whether it’s a Crime Fact and Fiction walk through London, or an online workshop, there will be events for everyone.

The high-profile initiative is encouraging bookshops, libraries, museums, book-clubs and schools to get involved with their own events in the month-long celebration, under the #PickUpAPageTurner hashtag.

Interested organisations and groups can sign up to a mailing list for organiser updates and news, and to download promotional tools including logos, posters and press release templates to help in their own planning for NCRM at www.crimereading.com.

Spearheaded by CWA board member, the bestselling crime writer Sam Blake, NCRM will be launched at an event at Waterstones Piccadilly on June 1 featuring authors Abir Mukherjee, Lisa Jewell, LJ Ross, Nadine Matheson, and Vaseem Khan.

Sam Blake said: “This is a fantastic project that I hope will demonstrate the full breadth of the crime genre and bring new readers to discover books and authors they haven’t read before – crime isn’t just police procedurals but includes Young Adult, mystery and thrillers, as well as books that have become celebrated films like Ian Fleming’s iconic Bond. We want everyone to #PickUpAPageTurner in June and try something new.”

Based between London and Dublin, Sam Blake is the founder of the Murder One International Crime Writing Festival and award-winning writing resources website Writing.ie. Her latest Irish Times No 1 bestseller, Remember My Name, was released in January this year.

Maxim Jakubowski, Chair of the CWA, said: “National Crime Reading Month is one of the Crime Writers’ Association’s most ambitious initiatives and its growth this year is unprecedented. We want to encourage more people to read books in the crime genre, and mystery and thrillers are a popular gateway into reading. It’s a winning combination.”

Ambassador Ian Rankin said: “For me, crime fiction is the perfect package – sense of place, strong characters, moral debate and pacy storytelling. Nothing beats it.”

NCRM has already received an enthusiastic response from organisations from the British Library to Waterstones and the Portico Library in Manchester.

Charity partner The Reading Agency’s Quick Reads programmeaims to bring the pleasures and benefits of reading to everyone, including the one in three adults in the UK who do not regularly read for pleasure, and the one in six adults in the UK who find reading difficult. With new titles published each year, the Quick Reads programme regularly celebrates the role of crime writing as a genre for avid readers and to attract those new to reading for pleasure.  

Karen Napier, CEO, The Reading Agency said: “We are delighted to join National Crime Reading Month as the charity partner this year. Through our adult reading work, we know how important crime writing is both for lifelong reading lovers and for those who are just starting out on their reading journey. We’re delighted to be taking part in the launch this year and helping new readers discover great reads by fantastic authors as part of the project.”

Anthony Horowitz, who has written over 40 books including the bestselling Alex Rider teen spy series, said in support of NCRM: “A gripping story, the highest stakes and the search for truth …. What better way to while away the hours?  National Crime Reading Month is a great idea. Really there should be twelve of them a year.”

Vaseem Khan, author of two award-winning crime series set in India, the Baby Ganesh Agency series, and the Malabar House historical crime novels, said: “The soaring popularity of crime fiction is now a global phenomenon with voices from around the world highlighting the incredible breadth of the field. It’s been my privilege to both write crime and to represent a vanguard of writers from non-traditional backgrounds. As an ambassador for National Crime Writing Month, I hope to celebrate not just great books and the authors who write them, but also the people who read them, debate them, critique them, adore them, and, occasionally, throw them against the wall. In short, our wonderful readers, without whom none of this works.”

One of the UK’s most prominent societies, the CWA was founded in 1953 by John Creasey. It works to support, promote and celebrate the crime writing genre, and runs the prestigious Dagger awards.

Robin Stevens, children’s book author of the popular series The Ministry of Unladylike Activity, also voiced her support for the initiative: “Crime fiction has been a safe place for generations of readers, a genre that makes sense of a chaotic world and allows fans to feel calm, comforted and in control. It’s helped people through some of the most difficult moments of the past 150 years, and we need it today more than ever.”

For more information and join the mailing list for NCRM events, go to www.crimereading.com and follow #PickUpAPageTurner @The_CWA

The media for Remember My Name has been incredible, on TV, radio and in magazines and newspapers – here’s a selection to give you a flavour. From amazing windows in Dubray Books to a competition in the RTE Guide and the most amazing reviews, it hit the No 1 slot and has been in the Top 10 for four weeks so far

Another Irish No 1!

On TV:

I was invited onto Ireland’s biggest breakfast show Virgin Media’s Ireland AM, to talk pen names, research and Remember My Name!

And chatting with Sinead Kennedy and Daithi O Se on Ireland’s biggest afternoon show, RTE’s The Today Show, this time talking writing tips and how two ideas collided to produce Remember My Name!

Eason What’s the Story with Virgin Media

And in the press – delighted to join some of Ireland’s top women writers in RSVP magazine!

Back L-R Sam Blake, Catherine Ryan Howard, Caroline Grace-Cassidy, Carmel Harrington

Front L-R Claudia Carroll, Sheila O’Flanagan, Ciara Geraghty

Read an extract on the !

In the UK’s biggest Writing Magazine:

And incredible reviews!

UK Women’s Own Book Club:

The UK Daily Mail

The

The

The Irish Times

And on the radio . One of Ireland’s most popular broadcasters Pat said Remember My Name was ‘terrific’, that he was ‘really enjoying it’ and the story should be a film or TV

And one lucky reader has a weekend planned in Fitzpatrick’s stunning Castle Hotel courtesy of Ireland’s biggest selling listings magazine, the RTE Guide!

Remember My Name started life when someone called me and didn’t hang up properly – it’s happened to us all, both making and receiving calls, and it started me thinking about what might be overheard in those crucial few seconds…

For Cressida Howard’s husband, Laurence, it’s a conversation with a woman that he really didn’t want his wife to listen in to, and it starts of chain of events that end in murder.

Thrilled to be No 1 in Eason stores nationwide!

Book ideas always start for me at two or three separate points, ‘light bulb’ moments that converge to form a story. They don’t always all arrive at the same time, some come years apart (like the ideas for my debut Little Bones), and they tend to swim around my head, swirling like moving images on a white board, before they begin to connect and form a story. The ideas can be anything – photographs, something I’ve read in the paper, a painting or a character who is demanding to be heard. It’s always a bit unnerving at the start of a book when the ideas are still only images and I can’t see how they connect at all – often there’s another piece needed to bring them together, and I’ve learned to trust the process and wait for that bit to arrive. Which sounds very practical until you factor in a deadline!

I’ve learned over the years to let the story percolate before I start making notes or researching characters. That story development time is just as important as the writing time, it’s where the connections are made and where unexpected things happen. It’s scary when you can’t see the story, but exhilarating when it starts to come togther.

After a chance conversation with my agent Simon Trewin about how much some major retailers know about our shopping habits, and what our online purchases could reveal about us to the wrong people, I began to wonder who could get hold of that information and how they might use it. And that started me thinking about blackmail, and cyber crime and what someone might have to gain from that sort of data. And that brought be back to the overheard conversation and a story began to form.

I love writing interesting female characters and with each new book I’m discovering strong new women’s voices, three-dimensional characters with lives and loves, hopes and fears who are as important as a twisty plot. I love writing women who know their own minds and go after what they want. Things aren’t always easy – without conflict there would be no story, but finding ways for them to overcome their problems is my plot.

One day I was on the Tube in London, sitting near a girl with amazing neon pink hair – shaved up both sides in a double undercut, and I literally had a lightbulb moment. She became the inspiration for a character called Brioni O’Brien, the tech expert who, in Remember My Name, Cressida calls to help her find out what’s going on in her husband’s life. But what Brioni and Cressida discover is far more complicated and dangerous than him ‘just’ having an affair, because Laurence has got into bed with some very dangerous people. And Laurence’s biggest mistake is underestimating the women in his life.

Remember My Name is a standalone psychological thriller, like Keep Your Eyes on Me, The Dark Room, and digital exclusive High Pressure, and like those books, its part of the Sam Blake world, so regular readers will recognise details like hotels, brands, and minor characters – I hope reinforcing the sense that they are stepping inside the ‘real’ world of the story. Brioni also features in High Pressure, although the stories are completely separate. It’s already getting amazing feedback from readers and has hit the No 1 slot in Eason, and is in Dubray store windows as well as being featured in the Times (UK) Crime Club newsletter.

I love building in detail of the world I write in, in the same way I find significant details about each character to help make them disctinctive on the page. Tiny details can tell us SO much about an individual, and I have a lot of fun finding out what they are. I want the character to form clearly in your mind without a long description – in the same way that you form an impression of someone you meet at a party within about thirty seconds. Those impressions are important to get right so you carry them with you through the book.

In Remember My Name, Brioni O’Brien is a tech expert, she’s young and very, very bright. She spent a year travelling and has an unalome tattoo on her wrist – a Buddhist symbol representing harmony coming out of chaos. Many things about Brioni’s life were chaotic, not least her getting mugged during her year abroad and coming home to discover her sister is missing. But when we meet her in Remember My Name, she’s studying for her Masters and working for a major company in Dublin’s tech quarter. She’s still got that bright pink hair and a double undercut (shaved up both sides) and a diamond nose stud from iconic jeweller No 42 (featured in Keep Your Eyes on Me), that her sister, Marissa, bought her for her 18th birthday.

My seventh book, I wrote Remember My Name in the depths of 2020’s lockdown, and it took me, in my imagination at least, out of our 5km limit, to the stunning village of Dalkey in County Dublin, to Grand Canal Dock in Dublin city and down to the beach in Wexford. It has a very twisty plot that I hope will surprise you – I wasn’t expecting everything that happened, but boy, is Laurence Howard in over his head…

Pick up your copy here!

Dubray: 
Eason:  
Bookstation: 
Amazon: 
Kindle: 

(c) Sam Blake Jan 2021

Dubray Books new store, 2nd floor Dundrum Shopping Centre

After the large format trade paperback of The Dark Room launched in the depths of the January lockdown, it’s wonderful that the smaller format paperback is being released when bookshops have their doors WIDE OPEN! Out today, the more portable mass market edition, traditionally released some months after a book’s first outing, is designed to attract new readers who prefer a smaller size book.

And the new version also has a preview chapter of my next book, (coming January 2022) in the back

The Dark Room, out now in paperback!

Even more exciting, I’m thrilled that The Dark Room has shortlisted for Irish Independent Crime Novel of the Year at the An Post Irish Book Awards. With so many amazing crime writers publishing in Ireland, this is a huge honour and I’m absolutely bowled over to be on the same shortlist as Booker Prize winner John Banville, as well the other incredible bestsellers Jane Casey and Steve Cavanagh, Catherine Ryan Howard and Andrea Mara – the winner is decided by a mixture of public vote and an academy vote (booksellers, librarians etc) and every vote counts!

If you have a moment, you can vote for The Dark Room, and your favourite books in the other categories right here: www.irishbookawards.ie/vote

I loved writing The Dark Room – you can find out more about the inspiration behind the story here. The original idea popped into my head while I was sitting just a couple of hundred yards from Frenchman’s Creek in Cornwall, and anyone who is a fan of Daphne du Maurier will recognise references to Rebecca. The Dark Room is a country house mystery, set around an isolated hotel in West Cork called Hare’s Landing. As the Sunday Busines Post said:

“It is testament to Blake’s skill as a novelist that she manages to keep all these plates spinning simultaneously. Her writing is crisp and precise, drip feeding the reader clues as each plot development drags you further into the story….From creepy portraits whose eyes follow you around to hidden love letters, long-buried bodies and illicit affairs, The Dark Room is an infectious blend of Agatha Christie-esque murder mystery (a fact the characters playfully allude to) and Gothic whodunnit with a hint of supernatural chiller. It’s also deliciously good fun.“

Sunday Business Post

With everyone literally locked down at home back in January, the only way to reach readers was online, and I had a lot of fun creating content across my social media platforms – from Six Minutes on Story Facebook live video, where I talked about everything from how the plot developed to the characters, to an online launch with paranormal expert Tina Barcoe, and an evening with Northern Irish writer James Murphy and Psychic in the City, medium Seán McGeough. I also did several readings from the book and a Q&A with my fabulous agent Simon Trewin. You can find them on my Sam Blake Books Facebook page – do follow for book news (also cats, the occasional alpaca and other quirky things that catch my eye).

Do grab a copy of the paperback edition of The Dark Room if you haven’t had a chance to read it, and tell a friend if you enjoyed it – there’s no better recommedation. If you’ve read it and have a moment to review it, that would be wonderful!

And don’t forget to vote! xx

Hare’s Landing, West Cork. A house full of mystery…

Rachel Lambert leaves London with Jasper her German Shepherd, afraid for her personal safety after a break-in on her houseboat.  Her partner, Hunter, has been involved in a hit and run, and she’s determined to uncover the truth behind the sudden death of the homeless man he was filming for a documentary. The only lead she has is a country house hotel in Ireland called Hare’s Landing.

New York-based crime reporter Caroline Kelly’s career is threatened by a lawsuit and she needs some thinking space away from her job. But almost as soon as she arrives, Hare’s Landing begins to reveal its own stories – a 30-year-old missing person’s case and the mysterious death of the hotel’s former owner.

As Rachel and Caroline join forces, it becomes clear that their investigations are intertwined – and that there is nothing more dangerous than the truth…

Here I am reading the prologue in launch week back in January…

For the past few days I’ve been rolling through the Sam Blake covers on social media, leading up to two very exciting reveals, and this is the first!

I’ve been dying to share news of this – High Pressure is a very special new book that is coming out as a digital exclusive on September 22nd (available for preorder now) – it’s unusual because it’s a spiderweb book, connecting the series books I’ve written with the standalones. You don’t have to have read any of the other books to enjoy it, but if you have, you’re in for a treat!

For those of you who have read the Cat Connolly books, more specifically, No Turning Back, you may remember Anna Lockharte, a character whom a lot of readers felt should have her own story.

With each new book I’m discovering strong new women’s voices, three-dimensional female characters with lives and loves, hopes and fears who are as important as my twisty plots. I love writing women who know their own minds and go after what they want. But some of them don’t want to keep quiet!

Professor Anna Lockharte is a terrorism expert based in Dublin’s Trinity College. Her brother-in-law is the US Ambassador to Moscow and his wife, her sister Jen, was killed in a terrorist attack in Paris. Suffering from PTSD as a result of the attack, that she survived while shielding her neice Hope, in No Turning Back, Anna finds herself landing right in the middle of things when she is invited to talk at New Scotland Yard. As she walks into St Pancras Station, a series of life threatening events begin to unfold, very fast.

When I read about pop celebrity Ollie Murs, who thought he’d heard gunshots in Selfridges in London, and the chaos caused by his subsequent tweet, it started me thinking about the impact and power of social media – and how dangerous it could become.

A little while later I was on the Tube, sitting near a girl with amazing neon pink hair – shaved up both sides in a double undercut, and I literally had a lightbulb moment. She became the inspiration for a character called Brioni O’Brien who is travelling in Thailand during her gap year when she’s mugged. She heads to London to find her sister, but her suitcase gets stolen at the airport, and *then* she can’t get hold of Marissa.

A story began to simmer, my thoughts around the potential misuse of social media falling into Anna’s area of expertise, and dovetailing with Brioni’s story. I’d been to a reception in the Irish Embassy one very, very hot summer evening and it seemed the perfect place to bring Anna and Brioni together.

High Pressure is a spiderweb book that links the series books with the standalones, it’s set in London and Wexford and is written in the same world as the other Sam Blake books so if you’ve read more than one, you’ll recognise references – Brioni’s diamond nose stud is from No 42, the exclusive New York jeweller where Lily Power ends up working in Keep Your Eyes on Me. Lily is also related to Anna’s love interest, American Rob Power, and is the reason Anna meets Vittoria Devine and ends up staying at The Hogarth Hotel…you’ll have to read High Pressure to find out more!

High Pressure also gave me an opportunity to bring another KEY character back for a significant, if fleeting, appearance…here’s the blurb:

As temperatures soar across Europe during the hottest summer for forty years, a series of hoax terrorist attacks is generating panic in London. Then a bus blows up on Oxford Street and the hoaxes have suddenly become real.

Student Brioni O’Brien has been desperately trying to contact her older sister since she unexpectedly returned early from travelling, so when Marissa’s bag is found near the site of the explosion, she fears the worst.

Teaming up with terrorism expert Anna Lockharte to search for Marissa, Brioni discovers that her sister had got herself into a very dangerous situation – and that now she and Anna could be caught in the fallout.

#HighPressure is book no 6, and a digital exclusive that is out on September 22nd. It’s available worldwide, but you can preorder now – it’ll be out in audio in December.

Keep an eye out on Monday for news of book 7 and an exciting cover reveal that Eason will be doing! When I’d finished High Pressure, Brioni was such a great character, I knew she had more story. But you’ll have to wait until Monday for more on *that*!

Click to preorder now!

High Pressure for Kindle UK

High Pressure for Kindle US

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Sam Blake has some amazing books that she has read and highly recommends to giveaway – you just need to sign up for her newsletter below to enter, and you could win:

No 1 Bestseller The Killing Kind by Jane Casey, out now
As a barrister, Ingrid Lewis is used to dealing with tricky clients, but no one has ever come close to John Webster. After defending Webster against a stalking charge, he then turned on Ingrid – following her, ruining her relationship, even destroying her home. He tells you he wants to protect you… Now, Ingrid believes she has finally escaped his clutches. But when one of her colleagues is run down on a busy London road, Ingrid is sure she was the intended victim. And then Webster shows up at her door… But can you believe him?Webster claims Ingrid is in danger – and that only he can protect her. Stalker or saviour? Murderer or protector? The clock is ticking for Ingrid to decide. Because the killer is ready to strike again.

The Murder Box by Olivia Kiernan, out 22nd July, preorder here!
At first, Detective Chief Superintendent Frankie Sheehan believes the murder mystery game sent to her office is a birthday gift from one of her colleagues. But when Frankie studies the game’s contents, she notices a striking resemblance between the ‘murder victim’ and missing twenty-two-year-old Lydia Callin. On the hunt for Lydia’s murderer, Frankie is drawn more deeply into the game. Every successful move brings her closer to the killer. But the real question is not what happens should she lose — but what happens if she wins.

All Her Fault by Andrea Mara, out 22nd July, preorder here!
ONE MISSING BOY. Marissa Irvine arrives at 14 Tudor Grove, expecting to pick up her young son Milo from his first playdate with a boy at his new school. But the woman who answers the door isn’t a mother she recognises. She isn’t the nanny. She doesn’t have Milo. And so begins every parent’s worst nightmare. FOUR GUILTY WOMEN. As news of the disappearance filters through the quiet Dublin suburb and an unexpected suspect is named, whispers start to spread about the women most closely connected to the shocking event. Because only one of them may have taken Milo – but they could all be blamed . . . IN A COMMUNITY FULL OF SECRETS, WHO IS REALLY AT FAULT?, preordr

And a signed copy of Sam Blake’s latest bestseller The Dark Room, or grab your copy here!
Hare’s Landing, West Cork. A house full of mystery…
Rachel Lambert leaves London afraid for her personal safety and in search of the true identity of a murdered homeless man with links to a country house hotel called Hare’s Landing. New York based crime reporter Caroline Kelly’s career is threatened by a lawsuit and she needs some thinking space away from her job. But almost as soon as she arrives, Hare’s Landing begins to reveal its own stories – a 30-year-old missing person’s case and the mysterious death of the hotel’s former owner. As Rachel and Caroline join forces, it becomes clear that their investigations are intertwined and that there is nothing more dangerous than the truth…

All you have to do to enter is to sign up for bestseller Sam Blake’s newsletter, which arrives monthly with exciting book news and giveaways, and you could win this exciting book bundle – open worldwide, sign up before 15th July 2021.

4 amazing books, 4 reasons to join the mailing list!

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‘It was as if the music lifted him from the dark room of his mind and lit everything up.’
– The Dark Room

The Dark Room by Sam Blake is described as ‘a pacey and thrilling tale.’ Set in a remote fictional location in West Cork it is an homage to Sam Blake’s (aka Vanessa Fox O’ Loughlin) passion for Daphne du Maurier’s writing, in particular Rebecca and also the ‘closed room’ mystery one associates with an Agatha Christie novel.

Hare’s Landing is on a wild and isolated part of West Cork near the sea and is where a new luxurious country house has just been opened to guests after major renovations. It is a labour of love for its owners, Bronagh and Leo, and they decide to test the waters after Christmas in the hope of receiving a few guests, ones who are brave enough to explore the coastline and stunning scenery on the Wild Atlantic Way in January. Caroline Kelly and Rachel Lambert are the first two guests, with Caroline booked into the boathouse, a separate lodging off the hotel, and Rachel booking into the hotel itself. Neither know each other but after a few days, as their situations change somewhat, they become friends as they find themselves caught up in something very ominous.

Caroline Kelly, originally from Dublin, is a high-flying crime reporter now living in New York. After a work incident that could potentially lead to a career destroying lawsuit, Caroline needs time to breathe, to get away from the pressure she finds herself under. As a child her family used to holiday in West Cork so Caroline does an online search looking for a secluded location where she can find calm. On discovering Hare’s Landing Caroline is taken aback by the beauty of the accommodation and, with the mention of the intermittent internet access, Caroline is sold. Isolation, with peace and quiet, and the perfect excuse not to be online, would be just the tonic to put her life into perspective.

Rachel Lambert, also originally from Dublin, is a location scout working in London with her film producer partner, Hunter and their ex-police dog, Jasper. On the same day, their house boat is broken into and Hunter is involved in an accident on his bike, resulting in injuries that require a hospital stay. Initially thought to be a coincidence, Rachel and Hunter soon realise there is more to these incidents. Hunter had been working on a documentary focusing on the homeless and one of the men he was interviewing has disappeared. Alfie Bowes was a gentleman, a man with obvious trauma in his life. He lived on the streets with his precious violin, hence the nickname Alfie Bowes. No one has ever known his story…until now. When Alfie’s body is discovered, following a fire in his tent on the streets, Hunter asks Rachel to follow up on Alfie’s story, to see what she can uncover. Alfie had mentioned a place called Hare’s Landing to Hunter leading Rachel to West Cork and the country home where Caroline Kelly had just checked into in recent days.

Rachel and Caroline immediately bond, being the only company for each other in this secluded hotel. When Rachel fills Caroline in on her reason for being there Caroline gets excited with the mysterious aspect and is immediately enthralled. With her ability to dig out a story as a crime reporter and Rachel’s eye for detail, they join forces in trying to uncover Alfie Bowe’s history. But they face one huge obstacle and that is the lack of mobile cover and internet availability in situ. Resorting to old style investigative techniques, the duo soon realise that there is a very troubling history to Hare’s Landing. The deeper they dig, the more tragedy they uncover.

The Dark Room contains many elements of an old fashioned mystery but with a more modern twist. With an ode to Mrs Danvers from Rebecca, Mrs Travers is an employee at Hare’s Landing. Adopting similar traits, chiefly a coldness emanating from her every pore, she is not very welcoming of strangers. Mrs Travers has worked in some form or other on the property over the years. She is a woman who knows everything, who sees everything, who remembers everything.

There is also a supernatural aspect to The Dark Room. It is not a main plotline but it’s presence is felt, with unusual smells, music and the occasional sound of a door banging as scenes play out. Some of you may know that a hare in Ireland is not just a fluffy wildlife animal or associated with the name of a West Cork country house. In Irish folklore ‘the hare is also often associated with the Otherworld (Aos Si) community whose world was reached through mists, hills, lakes, ponds, wetland areas, caves, ancient burial sites, cairns and mounds.’ Are you feeling spooked?

As threads begin to unravel, Caroline and Rachel find themselves on very shaky ground. They have awakened something at Hare’s Landing, something that cannot be locked away. A secret is waiting to be found…..

The setting of Hare’s Landing is perfect for The Dark Room in a remote corner of West Cork. The weather is appropriately stormy for January and, as the wind blows and the rain lashes down, Rachel and Caroline become very much caught up in their investigation. But, when events take a nasty turn and the police become involved, the two become embroiled in something far bigger and more dangerous than either imagined. Caroline’s peaceful break is shattered and Rachel fears for their safety. What secrets are hidden in Hare’s Landing? Who is behind the treachery and what does a homeless man, now dead, have to do with it all?

A by-the-way moment – during one piece of dialogue between the police and Rachel Lambert there is a vague mention of a certain kick-boxing champion. If you have read the Cat Connolly series by Sam Blake this will make sense. If you haven’t, not to worry, it has no bearing on the story. Just a little fun input from the author I think!

The Dark Room ticks all the boxes for a highly-engaging cosy winter mystery. With plenty of plot threads running throughout it could easily have gotten over complex, but, with a slow reveal, Sam Blake ties them all up nicely, resulting in a very satisfying conclusion. I really enjoyed the fact that Sam Blake incorporated her own personal passion for Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca, the supernatural and Agatha Christie into the story. An interesting fact for those of you who are Rebecca fans, you may have spotted that Sam Blake names Rachel’s dog Jasper. This is in dedication to Maxim de Winter’s dog of the same name!

With lush descriptions, the perfect location and a selection of wonderful characters, The Dark Room is another sure fire bestseller for Sam Blake. Perfect lockdown reading…

(c) Mairead Hearne Book Blogger at SwirlandThread

The Sunday Times 31 Jan 2021, Overall Top 10 Irish Bestsellers across all categories

‘It was as if the music lifted him from the dark room of his mind and lit everything up.’
– The Dark Room

The Dark Room by Sam Blake is described as ‘a pacey and thrilling tale.’ Set in a remote fictional location in West Cork it is an homage to Sam Blake’s (aka Vanessa Fox O’ Loughlin) passion for Daphne du Maurier’s writing, in particular Rebecca and also the ‘closed room’ mystery one associates with an Agatha Christie novel.

Hare’s Landing is on a wild and isolated part of West Cork near the sea and is where a new luxurious country house has just been opened to guests after major renovations. It is a labour of love for its owners, Bronagh and Leo, and they decide to test the waters after Christmas in the hope of receiving a few guests, ones who are brave enough to explore the coastline and stunning scenery on the Wild Atlantic Way in January. Caroline Kelly and Rachel Lambert are the first two guests, with Caroline booked into the boathouse, a separate lodging off the hotel, and Rachel booking into the hotel itself. Neither know each other but after a few days, as their situations change somewhat, they become friends as they find themselves caught up in something very ominous.

Caroline Kelly, originally from Dublin, is a high-flying crime reporter now living in New York. After a work incident that could potentially lead to a career destroying lawsuit, Caroline needs time to breathe, to get away from the pressure she finds herself under. As a child her family used to holiday in West Cork so Caroline does an online search looking for a secluded location where she can find calm. On discovering Hare’s Landing Caroline is taken aback by the beauty of the accommodation and, with the mention of the intermittent internet access, Caroline is sold. Isolation, with peace and quiet, and the perfect excuse not to be online, would be just the tonic to put her life into perspective.

Rachel Lambert, also originally from Dublin, is a location scout working in London with her film producer partner, Hunter and their ex-police dog, Jasper. On the same day, their house boat is broken into and Hunter is involved in an accident on his bike, resulting in injuries that require a hospital stay. Initially thought to be a coincidence, Rachel and Hunter soon realise there is more to these incidents. Hunter had been working on a documentary focusing on the homeless and one of the men he was interviewing has disappeared. Alfie Bowes was a gentleman, a man with obvious trauma in his life. He lived on the streets with his precious violin, hence the nickname Alfie Bowes. No one has ever known his story…until now. When Alfie’s body is discovered, following a fire in his tent on the streets, Hunter asks Rachel to follow up on Alfie’s story, to see what she can uncover. Alfie had mentioned a place called Hare’s Landing to Hunter leading Rachel to West Cork and the country home where Caroline Kelly had just checked into in recent days.

Rachel and Caroline immediately bond, being the only company for each other in this secluded hotel. When Rachel fills Caroline in on her reason for being there Caroline gets excited with the mysterious aspect and is immediately enthralled. With her ability to dig out a story as a crime reporter and Rachel’s eye for detail, they join forces in trying to uncover Alfie Bowe’s history. But they face one huge obstacle and that is the lack of mobile cover and internet availability in situ. Resorting to old style investigative techniques, the duo soon realise that there is a very troubling history to Hare’s Landing. The deeper they dig, the more tragedy they uncover.

The Dark Room contains many elements of an old fashioned mystery but with a more modern twist. With an ode to Mrs Danvers from Rebecca, Mrs Travers is an employee at Hare’s Landing. Adopting similar traits, chiefly a coldness emanating from her every pore, she is not very welcoming of strangers. Mrs Travers has worked in some form or other on the property over the years. She is a woman who knows everything, who sees everything, who remembers everything.

There is also a supernatural aspect to The Dark Room. It is not a main plotline but it’s presence is felt, with unusual smells, music and the occasional sound of a door banging as scenes play out. Some of you may know that a hare in Ireland is not just a fluffy wildlife animal or associated with the name of a West Cork country house. In Irish folklore ‘the hare is also often associated with the Otherworld (Aos Si) community whose world was reached through mists, hills, lakes, ponds, wetland areas, caves, ancient burial sites, cairns and mounds.’ Are you feeling spooked?

As threads begin to unravel, Caroline and Rachel find themselves on very shaky ground. They have awakened something at Hare’s Landing, something that cannot be locked away. A secret is waiting to be found…..

The setting of Hare’s Landing is perfect for The Dark Room in a remote corner of West Cork. The weather is appropriately stormy for January and, as the wind blows and the rain lashes down, Rachel and Caroline become very much caught up in their investigation. But, when events take a nasty turn and the police become involved, the two become embroiled in something far bigger and more dangerous than either imagined. Caroline’s peaceful break is shattered and Rachel fears for their safety. What secrets are hidden in Hare’s Landing? Who is behind the treachery and what does a homeless man, now dead, have to do with it all?

A by-the-way moment – during one piece of dialogue between the police and Rachel Lambert there is a vague mention of a certain kick-boxing champion. If you have read the Cat Connolly series by Sam Blake this will make sense. If you haven’t, not to worry, it has no bearing on the story. Just a little fun input from the author I think!

The Dark Room ticks all the boxes for a highly-engaging cosy winter mystery. With plenty of plot threads running throughout it could easily have gotten over complex, but, with a slow reveal, Sam Blake ties them all up nicely, resulting in a very satisfying conclusion. I really enjoyed the fact that Sam Blake incorporated her own personal passion for Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca, the supernatural and Agatha Christie into the story. An interesting fact for those of you who are Rebecca fans, you may have spotted that Sam Blake names Rachel’s dog Jasper. This is in dedication to Maxim de Winter’s dog of the same name!

With lush descriptions, the perfect location and a selection of wonderful characters, The Dark Room is another sure fire bestseller for Sam Blake. Perfect lockdown reading…

(c) Mairead Herne Book Blogger at SwirlandThread

The Sunday Times 31 Jan 2021, Overall Top 10 Irish Bestsellers across all categories

BARGAIN ALERT!!

The Dark Room is just 99p on Kindle for the month of May 2021, and here’s the link! https://amzn.to/3e8nr7x

You can download the Kindle app for free on your phone and you’ll never be without a book!

If you’ve read The Dark Room and enjoyed it, I’d be thrilled if you can share this post with your friends

It’s available in print at a huge range of Independent bookshops too – check out the reviews and order via your local bookshop here!

Laced with creepy menace and dark characters that live in the mind, it gets under the skin very quickly.

UK Daily Mail

An excellent, engrossing tale with a satisfyingly serpentine plot with a killer twist.

Irish Independent

It is testament to Blake’s skill as a novelist that she manages to keep all these plates spinning simultaneously. Her writing is crisp and precise, drip feeding the reader clues as each plot development drags you further into the story….From creepy portraits whose eyes follow you around to hidden love letters, long-buried bodies and illicit affairs, The Dark Room is an infectious blend of Agatha Christie-esque murder mystery (a fact the characters playfully allude to) and Gothic whodunnit with a hint of supernatural chiller. It’s also deliciously good fun.

Sunday Business Post

Here’s the blurb:

Rachel Lambert leaves London afraid for her personal safety and determined to uncover the truth behind the sudden death of a homeless man with links to a country house hotel called Hare’s Landing.

New York-based crime reporter Caroline Kelly’s career is threatened by a lawsuit and she needs some thinking space away from her job.

But almost as soon as she arrives, Hare’s Landing begins to reveal its own stories – a 30-year-old missing person’s case and the mysterious death of the hotel’s former owner.

As Rachel and Caroline join forces, it becomes clear that their investigations are intertwined – and that there is nothing more dangerous than the truth…

The Dark Room is out now, my fifth book and second standalone; I’ve just delivered the next Sam Blake and I’m half way through a new idea. I’ve been writing constantly for the past 20+ years – as well as building three companies and parenting. There have been lots of blips along the way, but I’ve learned that understanding why something is happening, enables you to look for a solution.

I’m a huge believer that it’s your subconscious mind that creates the magic and does all the heavy lifting in writing. It’s your subconscious mind where characters develop and plots form – it’s the place that generates the ideas.

And learning to listen to that inner voice is vital to your writing success.

As international bestseller Sinead Moriarty says in the the National Emerging Writer Programme video series I made a few years ago, “if it doesn’t feel right, it’s because it’s probably wrong.”

We all have days where writing is tough, and some days where we just get totally stuck. I believe 100% that ‘writer’s block‘ is our subconscious mind protesting about something. It’s putting the brakes on because you’ve gone wrong somewhere and you’re heading off down a path that will result in a lot of words that may be wasted. The error could be something a character has said that’s out of character, or something you’ve mentioned that noone in your book could possibly know about because it hasn’t happened yet (we’ve all done that). It could be any manner of things – perhaps a character is dominating your story too much, or you’ve made a mistake in your research (or recollection) that could derail your plan. Perhaps your timeline has gone off grid and it’s snowing in July or someone is going to school at 2am. Go back to where it was working and take a look at what’s there. Look for the thing that has sent you off course.

When I was writing my second book In Deep Water, I got completely stuck. I was about two thirds of the way through the first draft and I couldn’t work out what was going to happen next. It was literally as if my creative mind had shut down. When I went back to where it had been working, I found a mistake, but I also realised that that mistake had been caused by a PREVIOUS mistake. My subconcious mind was having the equivalent of a hissy fit and telling me to STOP RIGHT THERE!

Procrastination and not being able to get started writing is a different thing entirely to writer’s block. All writers procrastinate – it’s amazing how much housework suddenly needs doing, or emails need answering when it’s time to write. I find if I’ve got too much time on my hands, I spend more time not writing than actually getting stuck in – I’d be a total disaster if I went to a writers retreat for a week!

If I’ve only got twenty minutes I’m MUCH more focused, and I’ve learned to write on the move. In fact, I find my office desk the worst place to write, as there are so many other things that need doing that distract me. I love to escape to coffee shops or hotels to write instead (maybe not in 2020 *heads desk*). I trained myself early on to shut out external noise. I find it hugely useful to have music playing to drown out the practical stuff going on in my head – hearing a specific soundtrack or piece of music triggers the creative side of my brain to get working.

If you’re the type of person who writes better in a ‘safe’ space, creating a writing space for yourself that essentially makes your subconcious comfy is ideal. Because I can’t write outside the house at the moment, I’ve set up a desk in the spare bedroom and created a writing space for myself. Many writers have subconcious (that word again) habits that help them write – perhaps lighting candles or listening to a particular piece of music (I have scented candles on my writing desk). These are all triggers that you can use to train your creative mind that it’s time to get started. Triggers are incredibly powerful – look at your good writing days and your bad ones, is there something you are doing on one and not the other?

Create your special writing space – it doesn’t have to be fancy!
Mine is a borrowed chair from one of the kids, €20 IKEA desk, scented candle, occasional cat.

Creating a routine of some sort (not necessarily writing every day, in the real world that’s not always possible) helps hugely – light a candle, go for a walk, have a coffee, whatever will help your brain switch on.

If you do get stuck, tune in to your subconscious and see what’s really happening with your character’s lives – and their timelines – have you created an impossible situation?! A bit of ground work – creating a sound scaffolding to support your story, is very useful to avoid simple blunders, like assuming US university terms dates are the same as ours, or that the Stena ferry still leaves from Dun Laoghaire (which I had an issue with in Little Bones).

Writing is tough enough, so make things easier for yourself by keeping good character notes, doing a little bit of planning or research and removing the hazards that you may trip on.

And set yourself achieveable objectives – international bestseller Joanne Harris aims to write 300 words a day – we can all do that. Hazel Gaynor says to herself that she’ll just sit down for 15 minutes – and creating that narrow window of opportunity spurs her to actually write in those 15 minutes, and they often turn into more.

10 Tips for Beating Writer’s Block

Listen to your subconscious mind. If you’re stuck there’s a reason for it, go back to where it was working to find out what it is.If you feel like something isn’t working, it probably isn’t – no matter how much you love it, listen to your inner voice and cut it (or your editor will, guaranteed).Procrastination and block are two totally different things. Creating a writing routine will help you focus.Identify triggers that will give your writing brain a sign that it’s time to switch on and use them to train your brain to deliver.Listen to other writers and steal the bits that work for you to develop your own routine. (These writer video interviews that I did for Writing.ie, with my agent Simon Trewin, are packed full of nuggets of gold).Understand your writing space and what works for you – create a little writing corner if that’s what you need. Keep it clear of clutter or that clutter will interfere with your ability to focus.Set yourself achieveable objectives – 300 words works for Joanne Harris, and is one of those nuggets of gold you’ll find in the writer interviews linked above)Don’t compare yourself to other writers, we’re all different. Find and be yourself.Try to remove the trip hazards! Do your research, and even if you’re not a plotter, have some idea of your direction/what your story is about.

Happy Writing!