Leitrim author launches new novel ‘Darkness at the edge of town’

Leitrim award-winning author launches new novel 'Darkness at the edge of town' at Charley Farrelly's Bar in Carrigallen next Friday, December 01, at 9pm. 

Kevin McManus is an active member of the CWA (The International Crime Writers Association) and has published six novels and two novellas since 2016. 

The novel is published by Book Hub and is set in the fictional town of Ballygorman in county Leitrim in 1978. 

The sleepy town is shaken by a terrible crime, and a web of dark secrets threatens to devastate the lives of its inhabitants. 

It is a tale of love, loyalty, and the resilience of the human spirit, the bonds of friendship of the central characters are tested, and the quest for truth becomes a matter of life and death.

'Darkness at the edge of town' is the eighth novel from Kevin McManus. He has also published an anthology of short stories and a poetry collection. 

Kevin's writing has also appeared in several international journals, including the London Grip, the Californian Catamaran, the Honest Ulsterman, the Fortnightly Review and the Galway Review.

In 2016, the Leitrim author was awarded the Leonard Trophy for his writing and in 2017, "Under the Red Winter Sky" was voted the best crime novel of the year out of 2,000 shortlisted books. 

Kevin published "The dark path" in 2019, the first in a series of books featuring a New York-based Detective called John Morrigan. 

Kevin is a schoolteacher in a school in Leitrim, and alongside writing crime fiction, the author writes poetry, and in 2022, his poem 'Lost Souls' was adapted into a short film and won the Blissfest film festival in Chicago.

The film was also a finalist in the Cork Poetry Film Festival and was selected for the Los Angeles Poetry Film Festival.

'Darkness at the edge of town' will be available in local bookshops from early December and on paperback and ebooks from the Book Hub website and from Amazon.co.uk.