S&S snares ‘stunning’ début novel by journalist Coughlan

Simon & Schuster has snapped up Where They Lie, an “atmospheric” crime début by Irish journalist Claire Coughlan.

Katherine Armstrong, deputy publishing director for fiction, acquired world all language rights from Sheila Crowley and Sabhbh Curran at Curtis Brown in a two-book deal. Where They Lie will publish in February 2024 as S&S’s lead crime début.

Described as John Banville meets Tana French with shades of Good Girls Revolt, Where They Lie is set in Dublin in 1968 and introduces ambitious junior reporter Nicoletta Sarto of the Irish Sentinel. 

“When the bones of a woman are discovered in the garden of a house on the outskirts of Dublin, Nicoletta is drawn into a 25-year-old mystery: that of the disappearance of actress Julia Bridges, who was last seen in 1943 entering the house of Gloria Fitzpatrick, who is later put on trial for the murder of another woman whose abortion she facilitated,” the synopsis reads. 

“But it was never proved that Gloria had a hand in Julia’s death, and after Gloria’s apparent suicide a few years later, it seemed that the truth of what happened to Julia Bridges would die with her. The story takes Nicoletta into the tangled underworld of the illegal abortion industry, stirring up long-buried secrets from her own past.”

Armstrong said: “From the very first line of Where They Lie, you know you’re in the hands of a brilliant storyteller. Claire has written a beautifully atmospheric début that explores the role of women in the workplace at a time and a place when being a working woman became a choice between having a career or having a family. It also looks at the still emotive and politically charged question of abortion rights and the right for a woman to have a say in what happens to her own body. 

“In Nicoletta, Claire has created a relatable heroine who is ambitious for her career yet also wants a family – the (amazingly, for the 21st century) still relevant issue of women being able to have it all on the same level as their male colleagues. As much a murder mystery story as a look at a young woman’s struggle to succeed in a man’s world, Where They Lie is a stunning début from an exciting new voice and I can’t wait to introduce Claire and Nicoletta to readers in 2024.”

Coughlan has worked as a journalist for the past 18 years, most recently for publications including BookBrunch, and the Sunday Independent. She is currently receiving mentoring as part of the Words Ireland mentoring programme, funded by Kildare Arts Service and the Arts Council. In 2017, she was mentored by crime novelist Tammy Cohen as part of the WoMentoring scheme. She has previously been the recipient of Arts Council funding, as well as a literature bursary from Dublin City Council. 

“I’m thrilled to be published by Simon & Schuster UK, and to be working with the mighty Katherine Armstrong, as well as Sheila Crowley and Sabhbh Curran at Curtis Brown, is a dream come true,” she said. “I’m a lifelong lover of crime and mystery fiction, ever since I started reading Agatha Christie at the age of 11. I’ve long wanted to explore Ireland’s recent past with an amateur sleuth getting to grips with her place in the world, and hopefully Nicoletta Sarto will resonate with readers.”