Background
Claire McGowan was born in 1981 in a small village in Northern Ireland.
2018
Novelist Claire McGowan.
2018
Novelist Claire McGowan.
2018
Novelist Claire McGowan.
Claire McGowan, an Irish writer and novelist.
Rostrevor, County Down, Northern Ireland
Claire McGowan in Rostrevor.
Oxford University, Oxford, England, United Kingdom
McGowan graduated from Oxford University in 1999.
Claire McGowan is a member and the Director of the Crime Writers’ Association.
Novelist Claire McGowan.
Novelist Claire McGowan.
(Bad things never happen to Charlotte. But her fiancé Dan ...)
Bad things never happen to Charlotte. But her fiancé Dan has been hiding a secret, and the pressure is pushing him over the edge. When he's arrested for killing a nightclub owner, Charlotte's future is shattered. Then she opens her door to Keisha, an angry and frustrated stranger with a story to tell. Convinced of Dan's innocence, Charlotte must fight for him - even if it means destroying her perfect life. But what Keisha knows will threaten everyone she loves and put Charlotte's own life in danger...
https://www.amazon.com/Fall-murder-brings-together-apart-ebook/dp/B00GVFNQ04/?tag=2022091-20
2012
(When two teenage girls go missing along the Irish border,...)
When two teenage girls go missing along the Irish border, forensic psychologist Paula Maguire has to return to the hometown she left years before. Swirling with rumor and secrets, the town is gripped by fear of a serial killer. But the truth could be even darker. Not everyone who's lost wants to be found Surrounded by people and places she tried to forget, Paula digs into the cases as the truth twists further away. What's the link with two other disappearances from 1985? And why does everything lead back to the town's dark past- including the reasons her own mother went missing years before? Nothing is what it seems As the shocking truth is revealed, Paula learns that sometimes, it's better not to find what you've lost...
https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Paula-Maguire-Claire-McGowan/dp/075538640X/?tag=2022091-20
2013
(Forensic psychologist Paula Maguire, already wrestling wi...)
Forensic psychologist Paula Maguire, already wrestling with the hardest decision of her life, is forced to put her own problems on hold when she's asked to help find a baby taken from a local hospital. Then the brutal, ritualistic murder of a woman found lying on a remote stone circle indicates a connection to the kidnapping and Paula knows that they will have to move fast if they are to find the person responsible. When another child is taken and a pregnant woman goes missing, Paula finds herself caught up in a deadly hunt for a killer determined to leave no trace, and discovers every decision she makes really is a matter of life and death...
https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Ground-Paula-Maguire-heart-stopping-ebook/dp/B00ICYHZEA/?tag=2022091-20
2014
(Cause of death: Hanging. Initial impression - murder. ID:...)
Cause of death: Hanging. Initial impression - murder. ID: Mickey Doyle. Suspected terrorist and member of the Mayday Five. The officers at the crime scene know exactly who the victim is. Doyle was one of five suspected bombers who caused the deaths of sixteen people. The remaining four are also missing and when a second body is found, decapitated, it's clear they are being killed by the same methods their victims suffered. Forensic psychologist Paula Maguire is assigned the case but she is up against the clock - both personally and professionally. With moral boundaries blurred between victim and perpetrator, will Paula be able to find those responsible?
https://www.amazon.com/Silent-Dead-Paula-Maguire-thriller-ebook/dp/B00OP5EUBQ/?tag=2022091-20
2015
(Irish Times Victim: Female. Twenty-two years of age. Reas...)
Irish Times Victim: Female. Twenty-two years of age. Reason for investigation: Missing person. ID: Alice Morgan. Student. Last seen at a remote religious shrine in Ballyterrin. Alice Morgan's disappearance raises immediate questions for forensic psychologist Paula Maguire. Alice, the daughter of a life pee0r in the Home Office, has vanished along with a holy relic - the bones of a saint - and the only trace is the bloodstains on the altar. With no body to confirm the death, the pressure in this high-profile case is all-consuming, and Paula knows that she will have to put her own life, including her imminent marriage, on hold, if they are to find the truth.
https://www.amazon.com/Savage-Hunger-Paula-Maguire-spine-tingling-ebook/dp/B015ERLXJK/?tag=2022091-20
2016
(Called in to investigate the disappearance of a young cou...)
Called in to investigate the disappearance of a young couple during a violent storm, Paula Maguire, forensic psychologist, has mixed feelings about going back to Bone Island. Her last family holiday as a child was spent on its beautiful, remote beaches and returning brings back haunting memories of her long-lost mother. It soon becomes clear that outsiders aren't welcome on the island, and with no choice but to investigate the local community, Paula soon suspects foul play, realizing that the islanders are hiding secrets from her, and each other. With another storm fast approaching, Paula is faced with a choice. Leave alive or risk being trapped with a killer on an inescapable island, as the blood tide rushes in...
https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Tide-Paula-Maguire-chilling-ebook/dp/B01LL8C3EU/?tag=2022091-20
2017
(It was supposed to be the perfect reunion: six university...)
It was supposed to be the perfect reunion: six university friends together again after twenty years. Host Ali finally has the life she always wanted, a career she can be proud of and a wonderful family with her college boyfriend, now husband. But that night her best friend makes an accusation so shocking that nothing will ever be the same again. When Karen staggers in from the garden, bleeding and traumatized, she claims that she has been assaulted - by Ali’s husband, Mike. Ali must make a split-second decision: who should she believe?
https://www.amazon.com/What-You-Did-Claire-McGowan-ebook/dp/B07KPFLD6Q/?tag=2022091-20
2019
(She’s a total stranger. But she knows who you are… Suzi d...)
She’s a total stranger. But she knows who you are… Suzi did a bad thing. She’s paying for it now, pregnant, scared, and living in an isolated cottage with her jealous husband, Nick. When Nora moves into the only house nearby, Suzi is delighted to have a friend. So much so that she’s almost tempted to tell Nora her terrible secret. But there’s more to Nora than meets the eye. It’s impossible - does she already know what Suzi did? Meanwhile, Elle spends her days in her perfect home, fixated on keeping up appearances. But when her husband betrays her, it unravels a secret going all the way back to her childhood.
https://www.amazon.com/Other-Wife-Claire-McGowan-ebook/dp/B07S6MY67W/?tag=2022091-20
2019
educator novelist scriptwriter writer
Claire McGowan was born in 1981 in a small village in Northern Ireland.
McGowan graduated from Oxford University in 1999 majoring in English and French.
After getting a degree in English and French from Oxford University, Claire lived in China and France for a while and then moved to London where she worked in the charity sector. Now lives in London, where she runs a Master of Arts program in creative writing at City University.
Her 2012 debut novel The Fall is about a woman whose life falls apart when her banker boyfriend is accused of murder. It came to life in a dream she had and was published to rave reviews after being shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize for young writers.
She has also written a series of novels about the forensic psychologist Paula Maguire, which currently consists of The Lost (2013), The Dead Ground (2014), The Silent Dead (2015), and the novella Controlled Explosions (2015). There are three more novels to follow in the series. This crime series has been optioned by BBC Drama.
Claire ran the Crime Writers’ Association and is now a Senior Lecturer in Crime Writing at City University London.
(Forensic psychologist Paula Maguire, already wrestling wi...)
2014(Called in to investigate the disappearance of a young cou...)
2017(When two teenage girls go missing along the Irish border,...)
2013(It was supposed to be the perfect reunion: six university...)
2019(Bad things never happen to Charlotte. But her fiancé Dan ...)
2012(Irish Times Victim: Female. Twenty-two years of age. Reas...)
2016(Cause of death: Hanging. Initial impression - murder. ID:...)
2015(She’s a total stranger. But she knows who you are… Suzi d...)
2019According to McGowan, her first novel, The Fall was completely a surprise to her because when penning it down, she completely had no idea that she was working on a crime fiction novel. This is mainly because Claire McGowan believed that crime novels were mainly whodunits and detective novels. However, later on, Claire McGowan discovered that there were so much involved in the crime fiction genre.
Quotations:
"I think that I've always written most of my life. I've always been the kind of person that has a lot of ideas. I don't know if everyone has that. I always say that's the kind of thing you can't really teach. You can teach people to write better I think, but I don't know if you can teach them to have ideas."
"We live in a society where – it’s actually been said by the legal service – we’re not going to try to prosecute for a lot of cases. There is this sense of trying to draw a line under it and move on. To save the peace. Incidents of vengeance are very uncommon in Northern Ireland. I think that’s probably because people are still very religious. But it’s not unheard of and I wonder why it’s not more common really. I’m fascinated by, what is justice? What do you do if the justice system has failed you?"
Claire McGowan is a member and the Director of the Crime Writers’ Association.
"I’ve always loved Stephen King, I think he is so brilliant and people who don’t know his work can underestimate him. I’m a big Marian Keyes fan. I’m a big fan of Irish female writers, particularly Marian Keyes, and also Tana French. She’s a crime writer, she’s so good that I sometimes read her books again to try and learn what she does. So I use them a little bit as textbooks. There is a huge writing talent in Ireland. I hope that I could somehow be part of that in some small way. It’s great to come from that tradition.
I read a very wide spectrum of crime, from noir to action to fantasy crossover. My personal favorite has always been the psychological thriller, in the vein of Barbara Vine, and so I probably most enjoyed books by Sophie Hannah, Erin Kelly, Julia Crouch, and Kate Atkinson. All women, for some reason."