Amanda Cassidy: What life as a journalist has taught me about writing crime

Her debut novel Breaking was shortlisted for a prestigious CWA Dagger award, and this month Amanda Cassidy’s second novel, The Returned hits shelves. But how much did her life as a TV and radio journalist influence her crime writing?

Irish author Amanda Cassidy

My path to journalism began with a sliding door moment in the guise of our postman Johnny.

He delivered two fateful letters through the front door of my Dublin home in the same week. One was the offer of a job with the European Commission [I was a recent graduate of European Studies in Trinity College Dublin].