Three Little Birds is getting incredible reader feedback and has spent six weeks in the Irish Times top 10!
Here’s some of the coverage to date, with links to watch back, although I wouldn’t recommend taking my financial advice – Chris McGale is the man you need to follow!
Newstalk – The Hard Shoulder with Kieran Cuddihy – March 5th 5.30pm
I was thrilled to join Kieran Cuddihy on his drivetime radio show, The Hard Shoulder, for his weekly book segment ‘The Bookshelf with…’
We discussed some epic *must* read books including my all time favourite, what I’m reading now, what I’ve just read and why they NEED to be on your TBR pile!
🎧Listen back here: https://www.newstalk.com/podcasts/highlights-from-the-hard-shoulder/the-bookshelf-with-sam-blake
Sunday Independent (February 4th)
Ireland AM with Virgin Media (January 31st)
I had such a lovely chat with Muireann O’Connell and Tommy Bowe – they are both huge supporters of Irish writers.
Pen names and princes, facial reconstruction research, Bob Marley, the two Paul’s and Dr Carla Steele – and Cat Connolly! Where else would you get it on a Wednesday morning?!
You can watch back: https://www.virginmediatelevision.ie/player/show/Sam-Blake
The Sunday Times (January 28th)
Three Little Birds flew into No 8 in the overall Irish bestseller list – and was No 3 in the Irish Times Original Fiction chart snapping at the heels of my pals the two Paul’s. Very good company indeed!
Huge thanks to everyone who is reading, reviewing and sharing, it means the world!
What’s the Story? (January 28th)
‘What’s the Story?’ kicked off the new year in January with fabulous host Tara Lynne O’Neill, who was joined in studio by Emma Doran who reviewed Munich Wolf by Rory Clements and international best selling author Andrea Mara who delved into Three Little Birds by Sam Blake.’ And what a wonderful review from Andrea!
‘What’s the Story?’ is a monthly book show created by Eason in partnership with Virgin Media, featuring exclusive author interviews and book reviews. Now available on Virgin Media Player, and you can watch back here:
Watch ‘What’s the Story?’ on Virgin Media Player
The Meath Chronicle (January 27th ) – Review by Anne Cunningham
https://www.meathchronicle.ie/2024/01/27/wild-atlantic-way-anthology-has-some-surprises/
“There’s plenty of action and intrigue, not to mention lightly worn but meticulous research on the part of the author to keep the reader engaged right to the end.
Sam Blake is the nom-de-plume of literary agent, author, publication consultant and founder of the writing.ie website, Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin, who has tirelessly championed the cause of dozens of emerging Irish authors over the last twenty years. Since her debut, Little Bones, in 2016, she has proven herself to be up there with the best when it comes to crime/noir novels. This novel is grim in parts (very!) but it’s an utterly immersive thriller.”
Irish Independent Book Review (January 14th)
“With deft plotting, pacey writing and a dramatic finale, this is one to devour.” – Breda Browne
https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/books/book-reviews/skull-in-lake-leads-to-an-immersive-pool-of-grim-secrets-in-three-little-birds/a404640847.html
When divers find a skull in a lake in Coynes Cross village in Co Mayo, Dr Carla Steele, a forensic facial reconstruction specialist, is called in by Detective Sergeant Jack Maguire to assist in the investigation.
Carla runs the forensic anthropology and computer enhancement department at Garda Headquarters and works with skulls to build a model of the face of the dead person to help with the identification process. Her job is to find out the who, so others can find out the why.
She’s quickly able to tell Jack that the skull belonged to a young female and had been in the water for a number of years. With fracture lines evident, she also reveals that whatever happened to the victim involved a blow to the head. But how and why had she ended up in the lake?
Carla and her girlfriend Dr Grace Franciosi, a forensic psychologist who fronts a cold case series on TV, travel to Coynes Cross to see the victim’s last resting place. While there, the pair are shocked when a local woman is found murdered. When another copycat murder follows, fear spreads over the locality.
How is the killer choosing his prey? Why are they positioning each body in a particular way? And could these murders have anything to do with the skull discovered in the lake?
Three Little Birds, the 10th novel from Irish author Sam Blake, is an immersive thriller that offers a fascinating insight into forensic facial reconstruction. Dr Steele is a memorable protagonist and, combined with Grace’s psychological nous and Jack’s intricate police work, the trio make a formidable team.
With deft plotting, pacey writing and a dramatic finale, this is one to devour.
Irish Examiner Book review: Sam Blake’s Three Little Birds (January 13th)
‘Sam Blake has written another cracker of a crime novel with just the right amount of technical detail. It also has an emotional core’ – Colette Sheridan
https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/artsandculture/arid-41305144.html
Ticket, The Irish Times Culture Magazine with Martin Doyle (January 13th)
Thanks to Martin Doyle for these brilliant questions and for running my answers in today’s Ticket, the Irish Times Culture Magazine – the Orient Express is definitely on my bucket list!!
RTE Culture 5 – your cultural highlights for the next seven days
(January 12th)
Newstalk FM (January 11th)
I had a great time chatting to Pat Kenny, Newstalk FM about Three Little Birds.
Pat is such a huge champion of books, we talked forensic facial reconstruction, where ideas come from and detail!
You can listen back here 🎧- https://www.newstalk.com/podcasts/highlights-from-the-pat-kenny-show/author-sam-blake-on-her-new-book
Big Issue – Patricia Scanlan’s Book Club Picks (January Issue 2024)
https://irelandsbigissuemagazine.com/assets/images/laptopmagazinepdfs/January2024Laptop.pdf
The Belfast Telegraph (January 6th) – Review by Aine Toner
https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/life/books/new-reads-for-the-new-year/a1375720593.html
“Dr Carla Steele is a facial reconstruction expert working within Garda headquarters in Dublin. Upon hearing that a skull was discovered in Loch Coyne, Carla’s interest is piqued. Visiting the site, she wants to gather information about not only whose skull it is, but also how they lived their life. She and partner Grace — a criminal psychologist — team up with DS Jack Maguire and the trio work together nicely… which is handy, as a body is later discovered in the area. All three will have different skills and insights on hand to help solve the whodunnit. To be able to maintain a reader’s attention over 500 pages, keeping them turning the pages, also takes skill and, once again, Sam Blake has demonstrated her writing prowess.”
The Gloss Magazine (January 4th)
‘A gripping and dark thriller perfect for the January fireside‘ – Edel Coffey
https://thegloss.ie/the-best-books-to-read-this-january/
Three Little Birds is a Dubray staff recommended read (January)
https://www.dubraybooks.ie/pp/recommended-reads
Myles McWeeney Irish Independent (January 1st)
Dr Carla Steele has a most unusual profession. She’s the director of the Forensic Anthropology and Computer Enhancement department, affectionately known as FACE, at Garda Headquarters in the Phoenix Park.
She and her small team can take a skull and quickly make a three-dimensional recreation in clay and latex of the victim’s head and face. Carla’s skill is particularly useful in cold cases, as her creations help identify the victims and bring closure to the families of missing people.
When DS Jack Maguire from the village of Coyne’s Cross in Mayo arrives in her office with a skull just dredged up from the seabed, Carla and her life partner, the eminent and extremely elegant criminal psychologist Professor Grace Franciosi, find themselves plunged into a real-life murder enquiry. When she and Grace decide to spend a weekend in Coyne’s Cross to see the spot where the skull was found, Carla and Jack Maguire stumble across the gruesomely displayed and mutilated body of a woman, one of two sisters who own the ‘big house’ outside the village.
Ever since her best friend Lizzi had disappeared many years ago, Carla felt her task in life was to bring the dead home. Now the living need her just as badly as the body count in Coyne’s Cross begins to mount. Can she, Grace and Jack unearth the secrets of the past and stop a serial killer determined to keep them buried? Highly entertaining.
The Journal.ie (January 1st)
https://www.thejournal.ie/irish-novels-short-story-collections-published-2024-6245954-Jan2024
Huge thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed Three Little Birds – without the support of the media, bookshops, book bloggers and reviewers, readers might not be aware of it – THANK YOU!
