Book Interview: Catherine Kirwan on 'Cruel Deeds' and the balance between law and the literary
Catherine Kirwan against the backdrop of Shandon Bridge in Cork. Picture: Denis Minihane.
Just what is the public's fascination with crime manifested in robust sales of crime novels? Cork-based solicitor and crime novelist, Catherine Kirwan, whose second book has just been published, distinguishes between true crime and crime fiction. "Sometimes, people don't like both. With crime fiction, a resolution is offered. You're completely absorbed reading it and then at the end, you know what has happened. That's satisfying in a way that true crime sometimes isn't." Kirwan reckons we're all interested in the dark side, guaranteeing the popularity of crime fiction.
Cruel Deeds, Kirwan's new novel features Finn Fitzpatrick, the same solicitor and sometime sleuth who was at the centre of the author's debut novel, Darkest Truth. That novel, set in Cork, uncovered the shameful secrets and crimes of a film director. It was an Irish Times bestseller and was the most borrowed book in the history of Cork city libraries.
