Uncover the deadly secrets hidden behind impenetrable walls in A Carol for the Dead, the first Illaun Bowe crime thriller by bestselling master of Irish crime fiction Patrick Dunne
December 16, dead midwinter. A light dusting of snow is falling over Newgrange, an innocent white to cover the dark soil. A small group is huddled around a shallow grave, dug out of the earth, one of them reaching out to touch what lies inside …
When an ancient female body is discovered in a peat bog close to the megalithic tomb of Newgrange, archaeologist Illaun Bowe hopes it is the career-boosting find she’s been searching for. But the body she finds is like none she’s encountered before – its eyes have been gouged out, its throat slashed and there is a sprinkling of holly berries in the earth beside it. Who could have subjected it to such a grotesque and violent end?
Hoping the brutalised body will provide much-needed scientific data on the rituals of the pre-Celtic people who built the famous Boyne Valley necropolis, Illaun begins her research in an area full of supernatural history and ghost stories, encountering shady property developers, mysterious locals and, most interestingly of all, a secluded convent that doesn’t appear on any maps.
And then the murders begin. One by one, those who were with Illaun at the site are picked off: eyes gouged out, mouths stuffed with holly. It would seem that there are more than bodies buried in the ancient soil … and someone is prepared to go to any lengths to safeguard them …
Gripping, clever and unpredictable, A Carol for the Dead is a captivating and suspense-filled thriller by internationally renowned crime writer Patrick Dunne. Contemporary murders are intertwined with ancient Celtic mysteries in an intoxicating web of spine-tingling conspiracies. You won’t be able to put it down!
The past always comes back to haunt us …
Praise for Patrick Dunne
Dunne may be the next big thing in the thriller field out of Ireland.
Irish Independent
[Patrick Dunne], in his multi-layered novels, explores the darker recesses of the human psyche where his plots are powered by the mysterious and the macabre and include strange happenings in such places as ‘plague pits’ and cemeteries.
The Meath Chronicle
A Carol for the Dead is a very exciting crime novel; it is filled with unexpected turns, which keeps you on the edge of your seat until the surprising ending.
The Crime House
Archaeologist Illaun Bowe is the character charged with uncovering a complicated and many-layered plot which takes so many turns that it leaves the reader's head spinning.
The Irish Emigrant
… attractively-drawn heroine Illaun Bowe neatly combines archaeology, medieval history and current sociological tensions in Ireland in an absorbing read.
Irish Independent

A Carol for the Dead – Illaun Bowe Crime Thriller #1