Paraic O’Donnell Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Paraic O’Donnell is an Irish published author of fiction.

The author was born in Dublin, Ireland. He is known for being a writer in many different formats, from poetry to fiction. He has also penned essays and criticism. He has had his reviews and essays featured in publications such as Winter Papers, Irish Times, Guardian, and more.

Paraic is married and lives with his wife in Wicklow, Ireland. They have two children together. When he is not busy writing, you may discover Paraic working in his garden.

Paraic O’Donnell first became a published author of literary novels with the release of his book The Maker of Swans in 2016. The fictional novel was received very well and was praised by a number of outlets, authors, readers, and critics. It was picked in February of 2016 as the “Rising Stars Debut of the Month” on Amazon. It also made the shortlist for the “Newcomer of the Year” at the Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards.

The Maker of Swans is the first fictional novel to be penned by Irish author Paraic O’Donnell. The Independent loved the novel, calling it “strange” and “captivating”. If you love horror or mystery stories with plenty of suspense, then be sure to check this book out!

The main character in this story is a man named Mr. Crowe. He used to have it all. The means and the education were his, and he would be toasted whenever he went to the salons. He would go to places all over the world, and people that met him were always enthralled.

Now the man does what he likes and has made his life about the pleasures that Earth has to offer. He has gone back to live at his estate in the country. There he resides along with Clara, a young ward of which little is known, and his man servant Eustace.

Mr. Crowe has a large library there full of books to read, and grand gardens that were once manicured and cultivated with care. Now the books in his library all have dust on top of them and the gardens have been given over to the wild. Although things have fallen into disrepair now, Mr. Crowe was once known as a man of charisma who had many gifts to share.

Mr. Crowe may be retreating from the world, but not everyone has forgotten about his gifts. One day when he acts out over a woman, he gets the attention of someone else. Dr. Chastern serves as a secret society’s figurehead, and Crowe is a member still of that society. The man comes to the estate to get Crowe to account for what he did. But what comes after may end up threatening all those in his life that he holds dear.

Clara also has gifts, and the power that she holds is not something that she is yet fully able to yield. But to save her friends, she must master them. Can she do it in time to save them? Read this book to find out!

The House on Vesper Sands is the second novel from Paraic O’Donnell. The book was named a book of the year by Observer and Guardian in 2018, and was a Best Book pick for Apple Books, a Library Reads Pick, Indie Next Pick, Best of the Month for Amazon Fiction & Literature, and was named one of the “Best Historical Novels of 2021” by Oprah Daily. The book was released in the United States in 2021.

The year is 1893 and the place is London. A house sits in the middle of a dark night while it snows outside. High up in this house, a seamstress is standing on her own by the window. This is how the Victorian mystery begins as the reader enters into O’Donnell’s uniquely constructed world.

This is the tale with so many questions to be answered. The reader wants to know along with the authorities in this story why the seamstress chose to apparently leap from the window. Was it an act of quiet desperation? Did someone go out of their way to push her or throw her out of the window and then simply disappear to make it look as though the woman chose to take her own life?

It’s anyone’s guess as the mystery grows deeper when a message is found literally stitched into the poor woman’s skin. This unusual clue makes the authorities think that it’s got to be more than a simple case of suicide. This was foul play. More than that, there have also been instances of girls going missing around the city. Could the two be linked?

A man named Inspector Cutter is determined to find out the answer. Perhaps there is no better man for the job than Cutter, since the detective is just about as quick and sharp as they come. He takes his job very seriously and while he is committed to cases also happens to have a dry humor to him.

Then there’s Gideon Bliss. He’s sort of become the sidekick to the detective. Gideon dropped out of Cambridge and has the unfortunate problem of being in love with someone who has joined the list of the missing. There is also Octavia Hillingdon, a journalist who is clever enough to know when she is close to an intriguing story.

The young journalist thinks this is the chance to bring her readers coverage of something that actually matters for a change. But her employer thinks that when it comes to print, Octavia ought to be sticking to her society column. Meanwhile, Inspector Cutter is on the case and doing his best to unravel the many layers to this case.

But will he find that the house located at Vesper Sands has simply more to hide than he bargained for? Can Cutter get to the bottom of what happened to all of those missing girls and solve the case of the seamstress’s murder as well? Dark, surprising, and engaging, check out this intelligent mystery and see what secrets The House on Vesper Sands holds!