Friday 26 January 2018

The latest Sergeant Alan Murray mystery available now on Kindle

This post is really a plug for my latest novel in the Sergeant Alan Murray series which is now available to order on Amazon Kindle. The print version will be available next week. Here's the link:

A COLD CASE OF MURDER by P.B. Barry

A COLD CASE OF MURDER: (Sergeant Alan Murray series)

Murray's wife Sheila disappeared on Ardnabrone Mountain many years ago and despite several investigations no trace of her was ever found. When DS Lee Sheridan is assigned to revisit the case, Murray is sceptical. The locals will hardly take a city girl, a stranger, into their confidence, he feels. But just as he has convinced himself that Lee is wasting her time, human remains are discovered on Ardnabrone Mountain. Could this be the lead they have all been looking for?


I really enjoyed writing this story even though, at times, I was stumped every so often. Not writers' block exactly but a "where do I go from here?" feeling.
A lot of readers had asked me what really happened to Murray's wife and I had to confess that I didn't know myself - until I started writing the story.  I hope everyone finds it satisfactory. 
Well, it's out there now and I feel like a mother watching her child trotting off to kindergarten or taking its first unaided steps.  Will it be OK?  Should I have done more? I edit my novels at least ten times if not more and yet once I let them go out into the world, the feeling persists that there was something I could have done better. I think many writers experience this, so I am not alone.
Having said - or written - all that, I must admit that I love writing, love shaping the story and watching the characters in action (they seem to take over when I get into the story and go their own way a lot of the time). It makes up for all the hard slog of writing every day - facing a blank screen when starting a novel, knowing what to write in the next chapter - otherwise why would we do it? It's not as if we all hit pay dirt and are rolling in money. It's who we are, I suppose.
Before I get too philosophical, I had better move on.  For one thing, I need another cup of coffee, for another, I need to take the clothes out of the washing machine and hang them out to dry.

Oh, one more thing. If any of my readers have not read the Sergeant Alan Murray mysteries, the first book in the series DEATH IN A LONELY PLACE is free on Kindle from today until Monday. 

Here's the link:
DEATH IN A LONELY PLACE
Death in a Lonely PlaceTwo women are abducted and murdered in the sleepy village of Ballyamber at the foot of Ardnabrone Mountain in Co. Kerry. When Garda Sergeant Alan Murray and his assistant, Jim Flynn start their investigation they uncover the loves, hates and intrigues behind the peaceful village façade.
Helen Brophy is on her way to Ballyamber determined to put the past behind her and start a new life when she encounters a dark figure loading something into the boot of a car at Ardnabrone layby, an incident which will ultimately put her life in danger.
Murray and Flynn are in a race against time to find the killer before he strikes again. Then another woman goes missing.

I hope you like it!  Happy reading everyone!

Friday 12 January 2018

This Writing Life

Today is stormy here by the sea. The tide is coming in with a strong south-easterly wind to fling the water against the sides of the boats. The river makes gurgling noises as it laps against its banks.  I love this kind of weather. I almost envy the seagulls who float about the sky, drifting on the wind as if they really enjoyed it. We are lucky that we don't have a full moon or a new moon as with the gale force wind coming from the south-east, this would possibly mean flooding in the lower reaches of the town. I didn't stay out too long as I am still recovering from a nasty virus which I picked up over Christmas/New Year.
It was good to get back in the warmth but no excuse for not returning to my writing. I am doing the final edit on my Sergeant Alan Murray series novel A Cold Case of Murder. Here is a preview of the cover:
Murray's wife Sheila disappeared on Ardnabrone Mountain several years ago and despite several investigations no trace of her was ever found. When DS Lee Sheridan is assigned to revisit the case, Murray is sceptical. The locals will hardly take a city girl, a stranger, into their confidence, he feels.
But just as he has convinced himself that Lee is wasting her time, human remains are discovered on Ardnabrone Mountain. Could this be the lead they have all been looking for?

I have edited and re-edited the story countless times. Some famous author once said that writing is re-writing and I am inclined to agree. But it is a labour of love.  I am sitting here in the spare bedroom which I use as my office. Outside my window I can see the river, swelled now by the incoming tide and I can hear the wind whistling through the street. Time to get back to work!

Thursday 4 January 2018

Looking back at Christmas with lots of hindsight

Well, it all seems like ice ages ago now, doesn't it, that whirlwind of activities and "I musn't forgets" that heralds Christmas each year for so many people? How did your festive season go?  As a child growing up in rural Ireland I was often struck by grown-ups asking each other "how did ye get over the Christmas?"  I used to wonder what they meant. Now I begin to see that we have made the Christmas season into a marathon to be run according to the laws of advertising.
Yes, I'm on my little soap box, here. As I was travelling around Christmas time which involved sitting in airport lounges waiting for flights etc.,  I read a lot of magazines and newspapers centred around the festive theme. Almost without exception they gave advice on how not to get too stressed out, on how to cope, on what to buy and what not to buy as Christmas presents, how to cook the turkey.  The lists went on and on. It sounded more like advice for troops going into battle. The joy of a family holiday, of a get-together, seemed to me to have been totally lost. I found myself wondering not for the first time, why we have to go to all this trouble, including in many cases a visit to a church service when we are not church goers - one mother who did this told me her child kept asking when Christmas was going to start and she herself was appalled that the service lasted an hour!
I love cooking although I am not good at traditional dishes. Does it matter? If people want to sit around my table then they should expect a delicious meal (no - not turkey!) which I have cooked without getting a nervous breakdown over it. I should be happy and relaxed to see my guests, knowing I had done all I could to make them welcome and provide them with a nice meal. And I want to see them enjoying themselves and I want to enjoy myself without wondering if the table decorations are up to scratch. Conversation and laughter should be the order of the day. Is more than that required, and if so, why?
A trip to McDonalds or SuperMacs or a good old-fashioned Chinese takeaway and a good chat around the table is surely preferable to all that glitzy complicated stuff I read about in those magazines.
OK, I've got that off my chest.  To all my readers: A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!