Shane Dunphy

About Shane

Childcare expert, author, teacher, journalist, broadcaster, musician, nerd, husband, Dad, Grandad.

Shane Dunphy was born in Brighton in 1973, but grew up in Ireland, where he has lived and worked for most of his life. A child protection worker for 15 years, he is the bestselling author of 26 books. His first nine titles dealt with his time on the frontline of social care work, and include the number one bestseller Wednesday’s Child. His series of crime novels (written under the name SA Dunphy) feature the emotionally damaged criminologist David Dunnigan. Stories From the Margins, his new series of True Crime books written for Audible, is critically acclaimed as well as being an audio-bestseller. Click here for a the full story: https://shanedunphyauthor.org/biography/

Watch Wednesday’s Child on the RTE Player

You can now watch the short film adaptation of the first chapter of my debut book, Wednesday’d Child, on the RTE Player. Just follow the link below.

https://www.rte.ie/player/movie/shortscreen-wednesday-s-child-s1-e1/720038440156

Shane is the main contributor in a new documentary on Social Care

Shane’s story is at the centre of a gripping and insightful new documentary by director, writer and actress Caroline Harvey. ‘I’m Grand’ addresses the challenges, victories and cost of working on the frontline of social care and child protection in Ireland, and premieres at the Disappear Here Film Festival in Ballyliffen, Co Donegal on October 6th.

Shane and Caroline previously collaborated on the award-winning short film adaptation of Shane’s first book and Number 1 bestseller, Wednesday’s Child.

Shane’s Latest Book

Her Lonely Soul is Book 3 in Shane’s brilliant new Tessa Burns series, which combines all the thrills of his crime writing with the emotional impact of his child protection writing.

Here’s the blurb:

‘I’ve come to report a murder,’ the little girl declares, lips trembling, her head only just high enough to see over the police counter. ‘Please, you have to help me.’

When tearful young Ellie O’Farrell walks into a rural Irish police station to report she’s dreamed a murder that hasn’t happened yet, she is gently, but firmly, sent on her way. But the very next night a beloved local grandfather is found dead, lethal knife wounds showing a struggle exactly as she’d described. How did innocent Ellie know what was going to happen?

Called in to investigate, Detective Tessa Burns has never seen anything like this. Meeting Ellie and her desperate parents, it’s clear Ellie’s home is filled with love. She swears she has never met the victim: Tessa’s case seems to stall before it’s even begun. But when Tessa gets a frantic call from the young girl only days later to say she’s had a terrifying second dream, the race is on to prevent another murder.

Was Tessa’s usually flawless instinct about Ellie’s home life wrong? Has Ellie overheard something she shouldn’t? With only hours to go until Ellie’s terrible prediction comes true, Tessa is shocked to get a deadly warning from someone in her own dark past. Leave the case alone, or she – and Ellie – are next.

Tessa refuses to stop her investigation – it’s the only way to save Ellie. But then a deadly attack leaves Tessa’s team fighting for their lives, and Ellie taken… Tessa would risk everything to unmask the most twisted killer she’s ever encountered. But first she must rescue Ellie, before it’s too late for them all…

A totally unputdownable Irish police procedural with jaw-dropping twists. Perfect for fans of Patricia Gibney, Lisa Regan and Angela Marsons.

Have you read the other Tessa Burns Books?

On February 12th, 2024, the first two novels in Shane’s new crime series featuring DI Tessa Burns and her team, Detective Danny Murphy and Family Liaison Officer Maggie Doolan (and Maggie’s dog, Pavlov) were published.

Here’s the blurb for Book 1, Little Witness:

They came in the dark. They took her parents. And now she is the only one who can save them.

Hidden away in an isolated cabin on the edge of her farm, seven-year-old Aisling Connolly shivers as the cold night air whistles through her thin jacket. It’s been two days since the men came, since her mammy told her to run like she’d never run before, to not look back. She hasn’t seen her parents since. And she’s terrified.

But when Aisling is finally found by the police, she knows instinctively she can trust Detective Tessa Burns. A former child-witness herself, Tessa understands what Aisling has been through, and that Aisling must remember everything she can about that terrible, dark night if she’s to save her parents. Something Tessa was unable to do for her own parents all those years ago.

As the little girl slowly starts to open up, Tessa uncovers much more than she’d bargained for – another murder, clearly a horrific warning to Aisling not to speak. But time is running out, and any hope of finding Aisling’s parents alive is rapidly fading. And Tessa must do everything in her power to ensure the little girl isn’t next…

An utterly gripping Irish police procedural filled with unexpected twists. Perfect for fans of Peter May, Lisa Regan, and Patricia Gibney.

And the blurb for Book 2, Only the Children:

The little girl stares up at Tessa, trembling so hard her whole body shakes. Her brothers stand clutching her hands, both pale with shock. ‘They told us not to speak,’ she finally whispers. But the terror in her tear-filled eyes tells Tessa all she needs to know…

When a cargo ship runs aground off the Irish coast, the police are horrified to find the captain dead at the helm, the crew missing, and three little red-haired children, terrified but unharmed, locked in the galley kitchen. As an expert detective running a child-centred taskforce, Detective Tessa Burns is called in to lead the case.

Despite Tessa’s best efforts, the children won’t reveal a thing – not even their own names. Slowly gaining their trust, Tessa uncovers a deadly secret about their past – and the mystery of their missing parents’ whereabouts – that turns everything she thought she knew on its head.

But just as it seems she’s cracked the case, Tessa’s team is attacked one dark night, and the youngest boy is kidnapped yet again. It’s clear the children are still in terrible danger. And when another senseless killing sends shockwaves through her team, Tessa realises the murderer is someone much closer to home than they could have ever imagined. Will she be able to uncover the truth in time, or will it be too late for her, and, most devastating of all, for the children…?

A totally unputdownable Irish police procedural with jaw-dropping twists. Perfect for fans of Patricia Gibney, Lisa Regan and Angela Marsons.