Beginner’s Pluck: Claire Coughlan's debut is atmospheric, mesmerising, and compulsive

'Where They Lie' is set in 1968 when journalist Nicoletta Sarto is investigating a 25-year-old mystery concerning the convicted murderess, actress Gloria Fitzpatrick

Author Claire Coughlan fits writing around her daughter’s playschool. Picture: Nick Bradshaw

Claire always wanted to write fiction, and at 11 — inspired by her grandmother, who wrote short stories — she sent essays to Ireland’s Own.

“They sent me a hopeful rejection slip.”

Opting for journalism as a more feasible career, Claire gained two weeks unpaid work experience at the Evening Herald.

“Then I started getting paid. I also wrote for U Magazine, Irish Tatler, and Woman’s Way.” More recently, she has become a book journalist, writing and reviewing for the Sunday Independent.

Ten years ago, wanting to write literary fiction, Claire invented a character, actress Gloria, and was a runner up in a competition run by Louise Doughty.

“She loved my writing style. I read about Ireland in the 50s, and a paper on abortion in mid-century Ireland, and was struck by the culture of secrecy, but I gradually realised I wanted to write crime fiction,” she says.

And, having been paired with a mentor, she began to streamline the novel. That took time, but she never lost heart.

Every time I was about to give up there would be a glimmer of hope.

In 2018, when she was working as a books journalist for a UK publication, she met the editor Katherine Armstrong, who later, in February 2022, offered her a two-book deal.

“It’s been great,” she says. “It feels like vindication.”

Claire now fits writing around her daughter’s playschool.

Who is Claire Coughlan?

Date/place of birth: 1981/Naas.

Education: Alexandra College; University College, Dublin, English and Italian; Griffith College, one-year journalism course; University College, Dublin, MA in creative writing.

Home: Co Kildare.

Family: Husband, Chris, a solicitor. Hannah, four years. Cat, Bellamy.

The day job: Full-time writer.

In another life: “I’d have been a lawyer.”

Favourite writers: John Banville; Patricia Highsmith; Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine; Stephen King; Marian Keyes.

Second book: “It’s a sequel set in the summer of 1970.”

Top tip: Keep going. Think about genre. And befriend other writers.

Instagram: @claireelizabethco

The debut

Where They Lie; Simon and Schuster, €16.99/ Kindle, €10.51

It’s Christmas 1968, and journalist Nicoletta Sarto is investigating a 25-year-old mystery concerning the convicted murderess, actress Gloria Fitzpatrick. But as she become emmeshed in the story, it all becomes personal.

The verdict: Atmospheric, mesmerising, and compulsive. I adored it.