It was great to have my novel The Case of the Disappearing Double launched as part of the O’Brien Press spring collection in Hodges Figgis bookshop in Dawson Street.
With a full house, and a great atmosphere, it made for a really enjoyable night of celebration.
ONE MYSTERY, ONE TOWN
I was delighted to have my novel The Case of the Vanishing painting chosen by Edgeworthstown Library for their One Mystery, One Town project, whereby the whole town read the same book over the course of several weeks
This was a highly imaginative undertaking, lead by librarian Kim Taylor, and teacher Enda Ward.
Students from St Mary’s National School created artwork and book covers inspired by the novel as well as creating fictitious newspaper pages dealing with incidents in the book, while some inventive students even created a board game based on The Case of the Vanishing Painting.
The project was covered by RTE News both on TV and radio on World Book Day and was really successful in making reading into a fun-filled activity.
It was a pleasure to participate at the 2025 Librarians Association of Ireland conference in the Dromoland Inn.
Former RTE news anchor Bryan Dobson chaired a panel discussion entitled How Reading Anchors us as AI reshapes the Creative Landscape. My fellow panellists were authors Kathleen Mc Mahon and Ashwin Chacko, and with plenty of audience participation, there was a lively and wide-ranging discussion.
It was a privilege to be invited as the opening speaker at the Aras Inis Gluaire Literary Festival in Belmullet in County Mayo. A great few day of wonderful talks and events.
I was delighted that St Brigid’s School in Castleknock choose The Case of The Vanishing Painting as their One Book, One School project. Almost five hundred pupils and teachers were involved, with sixteen classes reading the book simultaneously.
On the final day of the project there was a wonderful atmosphere when I visited the school and read the last two chapters of the book!
It was good to be back in County Clare, during which I visited Ennis CBS, Ennis Gaelscoil, Barefield National School, and Lahinch National School, all organised by Feargal O’Dulaing of the wonderful Ennis Bookshop.
I had an action-packed week around World Book Day, with visits and readings in Clonmel, Blackrock, Dundalk, Cork City, Finglas, Dublin City, and Ballingeary.
It was great to meet the enthusiastic students from St. Stephen’s School during my visit to Waterford library during the Waterford Writers weekend.
It was good to be back in County Clare for Literacy Week in Ennis, during which I visited Ennis CBS, Ennis National, and Barefield National School. Here I am with Feargal O’Dulaing of the wonderful Ennis Bookshop, after I heard the good news that my latest book The Case of the Vanishing Painting, was Number Two in the top ten of Irish bestsellers.
It’s been great to see such a positive response to my new novel, The Case of the Vanishing Painting, the first book in a new mystery series that I’m writing for O’Brien Press.
Brian Gallagher 