Twenty-four-year-old Conor Dolan had intended to surprise his older brother and catch up after years apart. However, what he finds when he arrives in Chicago will spark a harrowing mystery, in A Long Way from Clare by Robert W. Smith.
Kevin, a beat cop in twentieth-century Chicago’s worst neighborhood, was found six weeks before Conor’s visit, in what the police have dubbed a suicide. However, Conor has his doubts. Each time he asks people about Kevin, he is met with resistance and denial. When Conor speaks with Detective Flynn, the man assigned to Kevin’s case, his suspicions become certainties. Flynn’s bizarre behavior, the minimal effort on the police’s part to investigate, and the men following Conor at every turn convince him to stay in Chicago rather than return to his home in Springfield.
Conor’s determination to find answers to Kevin’s death lead him in a dangerous dance with darkness amidst the shadows of Chicago’s underworld.
He finds an ally in undercover Pinkerton agent Rebecca Fletcher, who has been assigned to find information on a secret Irish society, Clan na Gael. Clan na Gael, a militant organization bent on establishing a united, independent Ireland, is planning the assassination of a visiting British dignitary. And Rebecca has uncovered evidence linking Kevin with them. Now Conor finds himself in the middle of a corrupt city, fighting for justice for poor immigrants and searching for the truth about Kevin’s life. The more he learns about his brother, the less sure he is that he actually wants that truth. At great risk to himself, Conor faces the corruption, where his own destruction is just one misstep away.
A Long Way from Clare revolves around the brotherly love between Kevin and Conor.
The reader sees their relationship through Conor’s memories. Kevin gave up so much to make sure his brother became more than himself. A seven-year-old Conor was once protected from the reality of eviction by Kevin, who strives to make the whole thing seem like a grand adventure even as their mother sends them across the ocean to their uncle. He does this again on the horrifying journey from Ireland to America aboard a cramped, filthy ship. Conor is never fearful because Kevin has given him strength and assurance that all will be well as long as they are together.
As a young adult, Kevin joins the army and later the police force to provide Conor with an education. He made certain Conor became a lawyer while Kevin himself walked the beat of the worst section of Chicago. Conor truly begins to understand Kevin’s sacrifice as he investigates Kevin’s death. However, he also finds a duality in the brother he loved and respected. He’s uncertain and confused when he learns of Kevin’s secretive life, struggling to reconcile this with his kind and caring brother.
Chicago itself becomes an integral part of the novel. The massive government corruption in the early twentieth century defines Conor’s story just as much as the other characters.
Conor’s fledgling law office cannot survive without the consent of precinct bosses, their “heelers,” and the coppers patrolling the ward. Everyone from the local priest to the court clerk has their hands in the coffers. Stuck in the capital of debauchery, Conor cannot fathom how his caring brother has spent most of his adult life working in the ward. The smog, the filth, and the human depravity overwhelm Conor’s upright values. Though he feels the pressure to break laws to benefit his “protectors,” Conor refuses.
The plight of immigrants, especially the Irish, becomes foremost in Conor’s mind since the city itself seems to devour these poor masses.
In his search for answers, he encounters so many people – women in particular – who’ve been abused and used, crushed beneath the feet of men seeking their own freedom from those at the top. They hurt those beneath them because they themselves are being hurt, going so far as to kill their own children rather than allow the city to consume them piece by piece. This dark and horrifying picture of the Windy City is the one that Conor must face.
A Long Wayfrom Clare skillfully entwines the bonds of family, the underbelly of a corrupt city, and the resilience of those who struggle for justice. Robert W. Smith’s storytelling plunges readers into early twentieth-century Chicago to deliver a riveting narrative where the truth is irresistible.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day my dear Chanticleerians! We love all the myriad topics that this holiday brings to mind, Irish History, Mystery, Magic, Romance, and maybe a little beer!
A few fun facts about the holiday:
St Patrick’s is held on the traditional Day of Death, not St. Patrick’s Birthday
Singing happy birthday to St. Patrick is a great idea, but the actual date of his birth is unknown?
Interestingly enough, the color associated with St. Patrick used to be blue!
Why all the beer?
St. Patrick’s Day is often seen as a religious tradition, but a holiday in the middle of Lent can be a little prohibitive in terms of how it’s celebrated. So, the Church would actually lift the restriction on alcohol consumption and meat for the day, so bring on the green beer and Rueben sandwiches!
Why the clover?
The supposed history of the shamrock is that St. Patrick used the three leaves of the clover to explain the Holy Trinity when he preached.
Closer to Home
The US hosts the largest St Patrick’s Day Parade in the World in New York City, though of course that is postponed due to the pandemic. Oddly though, St. Patrick’s Day is only recognized as an official holiday in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, despite people all around the country choosing to celebrate it. However, we have declared March Irish Heritage Month since 1991.
It’s not easy being Green
Maybe skip the leprechaun outfits—no one likes to be a stereotype. Many Irish people, when they first migrated to the US during the potato famine of 1845-49, faced discrimination like most new arrivals here do to this day. They fought for both cultural and religious acceptance.
And Now!
Some of our favorite books we like to curl up with before the weather truly transitions to Spring.
Historical Fiction
To submit to one of our Historical Fiction Awards see the Chaucer Awards (pre-1750s Historical Fiction) here, the Goethe Awards (post-1750s Historical Fiction) here, and the Laramie Awards for Western Fiction here.
I’ll TAKE YOU HOME KATHLEEN by J.P. Kenna
Grand Prize Winner in the Goethe Awards
The 1800s was the age of expansion in the United States, and railroads played a major part in the efforts to move Americans and industry to the Western shores. By the 1860s, this great country, the American experiment as it was called, became engulfed in a brother versus brother bloody Civil War. As the century drew to a close in the late 1880s and early 1890s, America was still reeling from the emotional and economic damage the war had caused. J.P. Kenna uses this struggle as the backdrop for his book I’ll Take You Home Kathleen, the second in his series titled Beyond the Divide.
Kenna’s novel captures the years 1882 to 1898 with its focal point being the Irish immigrants who were seeking to escape famine, lack of land reform along with desiring religious freedom, came to America seeking a better life and more opportunity. The first wave of immigrants were seeking escape from one of the grimmest periods in Irish history–the Great Famine from 1845 to 1852. Author Kenna follows this hard-working group of immigrants who helped lead America into a post-Civil War, industrial, and economic boom that some have called the Second Industrial Revolution.
SHAME the DEVIL by Donna Scott
First Place Winner in the Chaucer Awards
Colin and Roddy Blackburne are sent into indentured servitude in England in 1643 with their father. Gavan Blackburne supported the divine right of King Charles I. Still, after the tragic death of his wife that both Colin and Roddy witnessed, he relinquishes his efforts to protect the remainder of his family.
The Blackburnes become stable hands at Appleton Hall, where the viscount’s daughter Emma quickly catches the eye of young Colin. Emma is curious about the young Scots in the stable and drags along Alston, the son of Lord Stillingfleet. The four children start a friendship that intertwines their lives forever.
FENIAN’S TRACE by Sean P. Mahoney
First Place Winner in the Goethe Awards
Rory McCabe and Conor O’Neill are hard-working 12-year-olds, whose exploits and progress are narrated by the namesake of Clancy’s Pub who’s taken a liking to them. At times, he rewards the boys’ efforts with tales of their shared Irish heritage, its heroes and its glories. The boys have very different personalities, as Clancy discerns from their reactions to his lore. Rory is outraged as he hears of Ireland’s treatment by the British, while Conor accepts the information more quietly, studiously.
The two boys will soon meet a beautiful girl, Maria, the daughter of a well-to-do neighbor secretly aligned with a revolutionary resistance movement. Both will fall in love, but of the two, Rory will be the more open about his interest, while Conor will hold back, respectful but clearly smitten.
To submit to one of our Mystery or Thriller Fiction Awards see the Mystery & Mayhem Awards here, the Clue Awards here, and the Global Thriller Awards here.
EVIL UNDER the STARS: The Agatha Christie Book Club (Book 3) by C.A. Larmer
First Place Winner in the Mystery & Mayhem Awards
Who commits a murder in a crowd of a hundred people relaxing in a park, and how did the Agatha Christie Book Club miss the entire thing from only a few feet away? In the trendy Sydney suburb of Balmain, Kat Mumford, social media interior design star, has been murdered during the inaugural Cinema Under the Stars. Her distraught husband, Eliot, is clearly the prime suspect, but at the time of Kat’s strangulation, he is nowhere near her. In fact, no one was sitting near Kat, and the crowd seems to have been so absorbed by the movie, Agatha Christie’s Evil Under Sun, that no one saw a thing out of the ordinary.
The question is not if history will catch up with you but instead, when will it attack with a vengeance. Characters with a Legacy of Lies discover they can run, but they can’t hide from past actions. When Caren Johnson sees her family and life literally explode in flames, her uncertain future falls into the hands of a mysterious Irishman. His name is Declan Malone, and he claims he’s been sent by her brother to save her from assassins determined to kill her too. How can that be when her brother’s death was reported ten years ago? Declan’s reasons for a hasty departure from Ireland appear suspect and put a target on his back too.
To submit to one of our Romance or Contemporary Fiction Awards see the Chatelaine Awards here and the Somerset Awards here.
The PARTICULAR APPEAL of GILLIAN PUGSLEY by Susan Örnbratt
First Place Winner in the Chatelaine Awards
Irish-born Gillian McAllister knew she was meant for bigger things than a quiet life among her large extended family. Leaving home at seventeen against her protective father’s wishes, Gillian is looking for adventure – and that’s exactly what she finds. She was a nanny for a maharaja, a caretaker for WWII internees, and a nurse on the Isle of Man before finally becoming a wife, mother, and grandmother in London, Canada, where she spent the majority of her eighty-nine years.
However, with only weeks to live after being stricken by cancer, she knows her time with her beloved granddaughter and namesake is truly precious. Before she goes, she wants to pass on the poems that capture her long, adventurous life to the junior Gilly in hopes the girl will use the poems to write about her adventure – her hidden love story.
BLAME it on the BET (Whiskey Sisters, Book 1) by L.E. Rico
First Place Winner in the Chatelaine Awards
Twenty-six-year-old Hennessy O’Halloran should have it all. She should be enjoying her overpriced apartment in St. Paul, Minnesota, her successful legal career, and her “friends with benefits” neighbor, but in the month since her father’s sudden death, all of those things have become unimportant.
She thought she and her sisters had some time to figure out what to do with Jack’s legacy, an Irish pub he and their deceased mother built from scratch. Still, when they discover a substantial loan agreement secreted away in Jack’s belongings, they realize they only have six weeks to come up with over $100,000, money he borrowed against the business to help finance various expenses on his daughters’ behalves. She finds herself back home in Mayhem, Minnesota, living above the pub and trying desperately to find the funds to save the business.
Choileach, Chanticleer’s Irish cousin, wishes you this:
May your heart be light and happy, may your smile be big and wide, and may your pockets always have a coin or two inside!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day from Sharon & Kiffer & David and the whole Chanticleer Team!
And Remember! You can join the Chanticleer Family Anytime!
Sign up for our Newsletter here! Join our online community, The Roost, here for discounts and special offers!
Join us at our (Virtual) Chanticleer Authors Conference April 21-25, 2021. Read more about our headliners and workshops for that here!
VCAC 21 will feature Bestselling Crime Author Cathy Ace, J.D. Barker – Master of Suspense, C.C. Humphreys – Historical Fiction with a twist, Jessica Morrell – Top-tiered Developmental Editor, and more!
Check out our Editorial Services here and our Manuscript Overviews here, OR, if your work is already polished to a fine shine, it’s time to submit to our Editorial Reviews here and our Chanticleer International Book Awards (CIBAs) here!
Rory McCabe and Conor O’Neill are hard-working 12-year-olds, whose exploits and progress are narrated by the namesake of Clancy’s Pub who’s taken a liking to them. At times, he rewards the boys’ efforts with tales of their shared Irish heritage, its heroes and its glories. The boys have very different personalities, as Clancy discerns from their reactions to his lore. Rory is outraged as he hears of Ireland’s treatment by the British, while Conor accepts the information more quietly, studiously.
The two boys will soon meet a beautiful girl, Maria, the daughter of a well-to-do neighbor secretly aligned with a revolutionary resistance movement. Both will fall in love, but of the two, Rory will be the more open about his interest, while Conor will hold back, respectful but clearly smitten.
When the deep divide between Ireland and its oppressors begins to heat up, the boys, older now and more independent, again respond differently. Rory wants to join in and even die, if need be, for freedom, while Conor takes a more practical path. Then circumstances force both of them to the test, to demonstrate their deepest loyalties.
Author Sean P. Mahoney has won a prestigious Nicholl Fellowship for his screenplay version of Fenian’s Trace, which he subsequently adapted to the novel. The story focuses on the Easter Rising of 1916, when Irish patriots rose up, incensed by fighting alongside the British in World War I, while Britain continued the suppression of Irish rights. It is into this hotbed of revolutionary fervor that Rory and Conor, along with many others, are swept up.
Mahoney peppers his narrative with atmospheric touches, including many Irish words and speech cadences (captured wonderfully in the audiobook narration of Liam Carney) along with the fabled legacy of Fenian’s Trace, a patriot’s gravesite. It is on those grounds that the boys establish their chosen fortress, with significant consequences.
This wide-ranging panorama is a rich mix of folklore and fact, heroism during warfare, politics, and a star-crossed youthful love affair that will take on increasingly deeper meaning and, in the end, call for the ultimate sacrifice. Fenian’s Trace will appeal to readers across several genres, and as one might expect from Mahoney’s success in screenwriting, readers will delight in this colorful tale that begs for a cinematic version.
Fenian’s Trace won 1st Place in the 2017 Goethe Awards for Historical Fiction (post-1750s).
