Catherine Ryan Howard is an internationally bestselling crime writer from Cork. 

Her debut thriller, Distress Signals (2016) was an Irish Times and USA Today bestseller. It was shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey/New Blood Dagger and the Books Are My Bag Irish Crime Novel of the Year, and it won Best Mystery at the Independent Press Awards (USA).

 

Catherine’s second thriller, The Liar’s Girl, was a finalist for the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for Best Novel, previously won by Stephen King, Ian Rankin and Raymond Chandler, making her only the second ever Irish woman to be nominated for this award.  In May 2019, it was included in The Guardian’s list of 50 Great Thrillers by Women written since 1945. The Liar’s Girl has been translated into five other languages, including Polish, Norwegian and German.

 

Catherine’s third novel, Rewind, is out now in the UK/Ireland and North America. Rewind entered the Irish Original Fiction bestseller chart at no.2 and was shortlisted for the Crime Fiction Book of the Year at the 2019 Irish Book Awards.

In March 2019, it was announced that Catherine had signed a major new deal with Blackstone Publishing that will see her publish a further six books in North America.

In a fascinating discussion, Sam chats to Catherine about the inspiration for Distress Signals, what a high concept novel really is and why that gives a book huge opportunity. Her second novel The Liar’s Girl began as a line she saw in a magazine, but creating a story from that was a challenge in itself. Find out how Catherine writes, where she gets her ideas from and what she thinks of twists in a story. Find out too, what she’s working on next.

Behind the Bestseller is part of the HeadStuff Podcast Network

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