The Writer’s Center presents a FREE virtual book launch! We’re joined by author Paraic O’Donnell to discuss his new novel, The Naming of the Birds. Paraic is in conversation with his editor at Tin House, Masie Cochran.
RSVP below to receive login information (our virtual events are held via Zoom). FREE and open to the public, all times Eastern
We encourage you to order a copy of the book from your local, independent bookseller or online »
Paraic O’Donnell is the author of The House on Vesper Sands and The Maker of Swans. He lives in Wicklow, Ireland, with his wife and two children, and can usually be found in the garden.
Masie Cochran (she/her) is the Publisher and Editorial Director at Tin House. Before coming to Tin House, she worked at InkWell Management Literary Agency in New York, NY.
About the Book
The next installment of the “thrilling gothic mystery” (TIME) series, following the acclaimed bestseller The House on Vesper Sands, arrives in full force as Inspector Cutter and Sergeant Bliss solve their strangest and most personal case yet.
Something is troubling Inspector Henry Cutter. Sergeant Gideon Bliss is accustomed to his ill-tempered outbursts, but lately the inspector has grown silent and withdrawn.
Then, the murders begin. The first to die is the elderly Sir Aneurin Considine, a decorated but obscure civil servant who long ago retired to tend his orchids. If the motive for his killing is a mystery, the manner of his death is more bewildering still. The victims that follow suffer similar fates, their deaths gruesome but immaculately orchestrated. The murderer comes and goes like a ghost, leaving only carefully considered traces. As the hunt for this implacable adversary mounts, the inspector’s gloom deepens, and to Sergeant Bliss, his methods seem as mystifying as the crimes themselves.
Why is he digging through dusty archives while the murderer stalks further victims? And as hints of past wrongdoing emerge—and with them the faint promise of a motive—why does Cutter seem haunted by some long-ago failing of his own?
To find the answers, the meek and hapless sergeant must step out of the inspector’s shadow. Aided by Octavia Hillingdon, a steely and resourceful journalist, Bliss will uncover truths that test his deepest beliefs.
Hypnotic and twisty, Paraic O’Donnell’s The Naming of the Birds will ensnare you until the final pages and leave you questioning what matters most—solving a case or serving justice.
If you need an accommodation for this event, please contact us at access@writer.org. We will attempt to fulfill all requests, but advance notice is necessary to arrange for some accessibility services.