Mayo-born author secures three-book deal
Tom McAndrew will publish his debut novel next month.
A Mayo author has been signed for a three-book deal with a United States publisher ahead of his debut crime mystery launching next month.
Tom McAndrew, who was born and raised in Knocknalower, Belmullet, will release the first book in the Detective Doocey Mystery Series, titled , on May 12 through Camel Press.
The story, which Tom describes as a "light-hearted take on the usual gritty crime drama", follows a quirky Irish detective named Doocey whose eyesight suddenly takes a turn for the worse just after he is assigned his first case to solve - the disappearance of an uptight crime writer’s wife.
“The story sounds like it could be gloomy but it isn’t really, it is written in a funny way,” Tom told the .
Tom, who is now living in Dublin, was inspired to write this story by his love of Agatha Christie’s detective stories and timeless TV detective Columbo.
“I always liked Agatha Christie’s books and for a challenge, I decided to try and write a mystery myself and I came up with a character, who like myself, has struggles with his eyesight,” he said.
“Doocey is a bit like Columbo. He is a scruffy little character, an underdog. It is an uplifting story, I hate stories that have too much doom and gloom.
“It is written in a very clean way, one of my mantras for writing is to write clean as a bone and not use extra words you don’t need. Agatha Christie often said her success was down to not using any fancy language, she wanted people to keep turning the pages and that is something I have aspired to with this book,” he added.
Tom has a second novel almost complete with a third planned as part of his three-book deal with Camel Press.
“I was a bit shocked to get a three-book deal. I had a few rejections but that is par for the course. People who like the story and the character have really liked it, so I think the series really has legs,” he said.
“I wanted the story to be a mystery but also for this to be a mystery about Doocey and what will happen to him at the end of the story. I’d like the story to be a succession and for him to develop and grow throughout.”
The novel will be available to purchase on Amazon.com when released on May 12. More information on tommcandrewwriter.com.
