Welcome to The Irish Times Books Podcast. In this latest episode, I talk to The Irish Times’s two regular crime fiction reviewers, Declan Burke and Declan Hughes, both acclaimed crime writers themselves, about their favourite crime fiction of 2019. I chip in with some thoughts of my own (Mick Herron – he’s great; and Jane Harper’s The Lost Man is simply superb), although as I get most of my recommendations from the two Declans, I can’t claim that they are terrribly original.

Given that both reviewers are called Declan, this may be a little confusing for listeners, but the first person I talk to is Declan Hughes, so if you pay close attention to his dulcet tones, you’ll be grand.

So get your pen and paper ready to take note of some excellent suggestions for your crime reading pleasure.