Once upon a time in a land far far way (1884 in Thomas Street and Capel Street to be precise) Dublin's first two municipal public libraries were opened. And now, 150 years later, you're using QR codes and phones to open our website.
To show just how far we've come, we’re inviting you to check out our ebooks, audiobooks, eMagazines and eNewspapers. All for free through BorrowBox.
Whether you're already a member, or new to our libraries, everyone is welcome to explore our fantastic eResources.
Crime is serious business in Dublin and we love to read about it. From novels about detectives to accounts of serial killers, from gangster biographies to analysis of social issues, we have an appetite for all of it. The series hosted by the Central Library 'Crime in the City: Crime and History', looks at the broad issue of crime in Dublin through the ages.
With the prospect of some added free time coming my way over the next couple of weeks, a chance to catch up on my reading beckons. So no better time than the present to have some good luck, with two recently (18 July) published crime novels landing on my desk just today!
While Nordic authors and settings seem to dominate my crime reads, the list is not exclusively Northern European I am glad to say. I have even endeavoured to go beyond wider Europe, taking in the US of A, the Middle East, south-east Asia, and even Africa. And it is to Africa that I travel in this post, with two authors to mention, South Africa's Deon Meyer and Zimbabwe's Alexander McCall Smith.
Best selling American crime writer Patricia Cornwell is in Dublin today, here to take part in one of the opening events of the Bram Stoker Festival, happening this weekend. The event, The Anatomy of Fear - From Stoker to Scarpetta with Patricia Cornwell, takes place in Trinity College, and the author will be introduced by the state pathologist, Dr. Marie Cassidy! Very appropriate given the subject matter and the significant role forensic science plays in her Dr. Kay Scarpetta series.Cornwell has sold over 100 million copies of her books worldwide, and wouldn't you know it, you can borrow her books in our branch libraries and read away to your heart's content (check below).Right: Patricia Cornwell in Trinity College, 26th October 2012 (click thumbnail to enlarge)The 20th novel in the Scarpetta series (The Bone Bed) has just been published (25th October in fact), so while not yet on our bookshelves is on order and soon to arrive. In this latest, Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta returns to solve the mysterious disappearance of a palaeontologist.But don't despair, unless you are a Cornwell fanatic and have already read the other nineteen in the series, you have plenty to keep you going in the meantime. So check the links below for availability of the series titles in the library catalogue:Post-mortem (1990)Body of Evidence (1991)All That Remains (1992)Cruel and Unusual (1993)The Body Farm (1994)From Potter's Field (1995)Cause of Death (1996)Unnatural Exposure (1997)Point of Origin (1998)Black Notice (1999)The Last Precinct (2000)Blow Fly (2003)Trace (2004)Predator (2005)Book of the Dead (2007)Scarpetta (2008)The Scarpetta Factor (2009)Port Mortuary (2010)Red Mist (2011)The Bone Bed (2012) (just published, to come)In the following video clip, the bestselling author is talking about her 18th Kay Scarpetta thriller, 'Port Mortuary'.Visit the Patricia Cornwell website.
The shortlist for the 2012 CWA (Crime Writers' Association) International Dagger has just been announced. This is an annual competition for crime, thriller, suspense or spy fiction novels which have been translated into English.
In September of 2011 we held our first series of ‘Crime and the City’ where over the course of five weeks we had talks from five different authors of fiction, non-fiction and social research - all on the broad topics of crime and drugs.The idea was to bring a cross section of people together to deliver a series of talks that would be relevant as well as entertaining.