For a while, it felt as if I was the only author in Ireland who hadn’t gone on an artist’s retreat to the famed Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Monaghan. 

Marian Keyes, Eimear McBride, and Edna O’Brien join JK Rowling and Harper Lee on a list of the 100 essential books by female writers from the past 100 years, according to a new poll.

We’re watching The Crown at the moment. I’m miles behind, way back in series one, so don’t tell me what happens in the end.

Exactly what moral principle is upheld by keeping an accused man offscreen is not easy to deduce, writes Terry Prone

Maria Hoey left school at 16 and took an office job in Swords, Co Dublin.

As David Lynch’s classic TV series is revived for a third run, Caroline Delaney recalls some of those quirky characters from 25 years ago

English crime writer Sophie Hannah tells Esther McCarthy why she decided to set the latest Hercule Poirot novel in Clonakilty

Crufts is famous for more than the top dogs on the catwalk. Most years, the event is dogged by controversy and 2017 is no exception.

My First Animals by Aino-Maiji Metsola (Wide Eyed, €8.20 HB) 

You don’t need to be one of Agatha Christie’s famous detectives to uncover the charms of this famous spa town, says John Chambers.

As a promoter, Paul Charles has a reputation as one of the nice guys of the Irish music

FAIR City’s Clelia Murphy may not be prone to tears in real life but she knows what it takes to make her cry on screen.

JOHN BOYNE has already proved that he’s a versatile writer. 

Check out our tips below for the best of tonight's telly.

IN THESE days of slate-hopping downpours, I sometimes wonder if the heron standing on our balcony is simply brainless or if it revels in the weather. It makes no attempt to find shelter.

A nice Sunday evening in by the telly. Lovely.

Jeremy Irons is one of the people John Creedon encounters in his new series, Creedon’s Wild Atlantic Way, on RTÉ One tomorrow.

Aidan Turner, he of The Hobbit fame, is set to feature in a lavish and star-studded adaptation of the classic Agatha Christie tale

WEAR THIS

A giant of English film and theatre, Ian McKellan looks set to enchant another generation with his portrayal of London’s most famous detective as a frail recluse in his 90s says Will Lawrence

Far From the Madding Crowd ****

Canada: A Canadian politician has blamed cheap, tight underwear for his sudden departure from parliament causing him to miss a vote on anti-terror legislation. 

Tributes have been paid to actress Geraldine McEwan, known for playing Agatha Christie sleuth Miss Marple on television, after she died “peacefully” at 82.

From Gerry Adams through Love/Hate, Irish Water and everything in-between,  Michael Clifford recalls the big stories of 2014

The variety contained in 2,000 lots at four days of auctions at Sheppards in Durrow, Co Laois next week is enormous.

Mystery writer PD James, who brought realistic modern characters to the classical British detective story, has died, her publisher said. She was 94.

WHILE the use of podcasts proliferates, few have caused the buzz of Serial.

The Monogram Murders

Kya deLongchamps gives a quick run down on the precursor to the ATM — the family coffer — an item which is now an investment in itself.

Lawrence Block

Check out our spoiler-free tips on what’s best to watch on TV tonight.

Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie’s popularity is due to a combination no other mystery writer mastered, Declan Burke discovers.

Gone With The Wind author Margaret Mitchell has been crowned the queen of the literary put-down in a new poll.

This week, Bryan Cranston, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ken Watanabe face a monstrous threat to humanity in the action-packed blockbuster Godzilla, and a sexually repressed young woman (Elizabeth Olsen) struggles to break free from a loveless marriage in ‘In Secret’.

NEVER mind the morality, consider the electronic threat. That’s arguably the key message emerging from racism controversies on both sides of the Atlantic at the moment.

Shattergate has now turned into the Agatha Christie mystery Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? rewritten as Why Didn’t They Tell Alan?