Charlie and Amy Jordan (The Dark Hours) discuss the Irish police force, the Garda, in the 1990s, particularly where it involves sexism. They also discuss the effects on a relationship of being a member of the police, and the way trauma can influence extreme actions.

A transcript is available on my site

General references:
The New York Times review (paywall)

Books mentioned by name or extensively:
Amy Jordan: The Dark Hours

Release details: recorded 14th January 2025; published 12th May 2025

Where to find Amy online: Instagram

Where to find Charlie online: Website || Twitter || Instagram || TikTok

Discussions

01:31 The inspiration
03:19 Writing Julia and exploring the effects of what she's been through
09:21 Exploring trauma and its effects
14:22 The pacing
18:49 More about how Amy included Julia's husband and what he goes through as a result of her career, which includes talking about people Amy knows
23:26 Where Julia says, "Call me Julia"
25:22 The misogyny and the Garda in general in the 1990s
32:36 Brendon and his Morse Code
35:08 Creating the fictional villages, and Amy's spooky story of a real house
38:33 Minor details of book 2, including where Amy will take Julia and Philip's relationship

Charlie and Amy Engel (I Did It For You) discuss her literary thriller wherein the killer did it but it isn't that simple, wherein both the victim's and killer's families are given empathy, and wherein the sister of the victim and the brother of the killer start a romance.

Please note that whilst there are no references to detailed violence, this episode looks at various issues surrounding murder cases.

A transcript is available on my site

General references:
It was indeed Elmore Leonard who said, "You take out the parts that people skip when they're reading". This link has more information.

Books mentioned by name or extensively:
Amy Engel: The Familiar Dark
Amy Engel: I Did It For You

Release details: recorded 17th December 2024; published 28th April 2025

Where to find Amy online: Website || Twitter || Instagram || Facebook

Where to find Charlie online: Website || Twitter || Instagram || TikTok

Discussions

01:15 The inspiration - location and character
02:37 Creating Greer
04:50 Creating Ludlow and the well-drawn townspeople
07:53 How Amy works with secrets and reveals
09:24 How was it writing Greer in terms of her being an unreliable narrator?
11:10 The different extra narratives
12:33 Roy, the killer's, difference, his potential neurodivergence, and the importance of looking at this
15:41 Did you ever consider not having Roy 'do' it?
17:33 The grief in the book, including a look at the different sets of parents
19:46 Including Dean and humanising the family of the murderer
22:30 Amy tells us more about how her career in law influenced her writing
24:35 The slower pacing, which isn't so usual for a thriller, and how Amy categorises her novels. We then move on to what Amy added to the novel in editing
27:59 Amy's thought process and planning in regards to the bad guy (different person to the killer)
34:03 Amy deciding to end Greer and Dean's romance
36:29 Where Greer and Dean may end up, separately, beyond the pages of the book. We then move on to Greer's parents in the same vein
39:03 What Amy is writing and planning now