From leaving school with no formal education, joining the army, becoming a journalist, a near-death experience in Spain to now publishing two crime novels, Mayo native Michael Scanlon’s life experience has been nothing if not interesting.

And for those interested in crime novels, Scanlon’s name is one that people will be hearing more of in the coming years. Picked up by publisher Bookouture in early 2018, he has released two novels this year – both receiving positive reviews and with sales topping 7,000, a third book is expected in 2020. However in 2014, his establishment in the literary world was a distant dream for the Ballina man. A chain of unfortunate events left him on death’s door and in hospital in Tarragona, Spain for three months in late 2014. When he returned to Ireland, he spent a further six weeks in hospital in Castlebar and London. The condition remains unknown, but writing proved a saving grace for the then 53-year-old.

“I was walking along the beach in Salou with my daughter in 25-degree heat, when I started shivering with the cold. For three days it got worse and then my skin started burning up. I went to a health centre on three occasions and on the final one, I was put in an ambulance and rushed to casualty in Tarragona hospital. I was put in insolation for a month and was there for three in total.”

“To this day no one knows what happened to me. The doctors call me ‘The Mystery Man’. I’m undiagnosed and today I’m 80% off where I used to be, health-wise. Some days are better than others.

“However, every cloud has a silver lining, and it was having all this time on my hands that gave me the opportunity to get down to serious writing. It also gave me something to focus on and occupy my mind, because otherwise I would have fallen into a black hole of depression. It was a difficult time and writing saved me.’

“I wasn’t working when I came back to Ireland and had time on my hands. I started writing chapters of books and sending them to publishers and literary agents in 2015 and 2016,” he explained.

The eventual publishers, Bookouture, agreed to take a chance on Scanlon’s work. In January 2018 a deal was brokered. Almost a year later, Scanlon’s first book was published.

The books

The two books he has released are similar in terms of genre. Both are crime novels and both explore the intricacies between extraordinary situations and rural Ireland. In particular they examine small rural village reactions to unusual events. The first novel, Where She Lies, is about a young girl, whose body is found in a forest. The second, The Child Before, tells the story of a woman who is murdered and her baby is missing.

Both are set in the fictitious Co Galway town of Cross Beg, centering on a detective named Finnegan Beck, newly demoted from a high-powered job in Dublin and banished to the backwoods.

A current Department of Justice employee (he is on sick leave at the moment but worked as a civilian member of the Gardaí), Scanlon gives an interesting inside perspective and a level of detail that should be present in every crime novel. His writing background allows him to eloquently interweave the intricate storylines, ensuring the quality of writing doesn’t suffer.

Where She Lies was released in February 2019 and the second novel came onto the shelves in early June.

An interesting tale

Scanlon’s own story is no less interesting than the tales he has created. A former soldier, he served along the border during the Troubles. He was also a journalist in Dublin and London during the 1980s and 1990s and spent time in Iceland.

Leaving school at 16 without an education, he subsequently returned to the National University of Maynooth as a mature student in 2000 and completed a degree in history and sociology. After this he completed an M.Phil in creative writing at Dublin’s Trinity College, graduating with a first-class honours with distinction in 2004.

The third book

His third book is now in the pipeline, and is expected to be completed and published by early 2020. Both books are available on Amazon, Kobo, iTunes, Apple books, Googleplay and in paperback format through Amazon and also can be ordered through any bookshop. If recent reviews are anything to go by, it may be well worth the read.