Research is one of the keys to Alex Barclay’s incredible success, with ideas developing from chance conversations with experts. Sam Blake quizzes her on her unique process, character building and how she tackled her first stand alone. Finding out how she writes and why isolation is so important to her, 

Alex Barclay is a former Irish journalist turned crime writer who was the first Irish female crime writer to get a significant deal that spawned No 1 bestsellers in multiple territories, with her debut novel Darkhouse. Darkhouse was the first of two novels featuring NYPD detective Joe Lucchesi. The book, set in Texas, New York and County Waterford, achieved strong reviews and was translated into 18 languages.

After two novels in the Joe Lucchesi series, Barclay created Ren Bryce series, a bipolar FBI detective who took her through six more books. She has also branched out into YA fantasy and more recently has written the standalone I Confess plus a new YA novel.

Barclay studied journalism with French at Dublin City University, graduating in 1996. Her course included a period of study in France, at Nanterre University in Paris, when she lived and worked part-time. Subsequently she also trained at the Gaiety School of Acting, afterwards appearing, for example, on television with Podge and Rodge. Barclay worked for magazines including U Magazine and the RTE Guide before turning to crime writing.

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