Shane wrote his crime fiction series under the name S. A. Dunphy, with the intention of making the distinction between his non-fiction and fiction writing as clear as possible – if you buy a book that was written by Shane Dunphy, you are buying non-fiction. If it is written by S. A. Dunphy, then you are buying crime-fiction.
Shane intends to continue this trend with his ongoing crime fiction – so watch out for further publications from S. A. Dunphy.
The Dunnigan series all feature the emotionally scarred criminologist, David Dunnigan, and focus on the search for his missing niece, Beth.
They books are:
After She Vanished (published July 2017)
Five people living on Dublin’s streets have gone missing and criminologist David Dunnigan has been tasked with finding them.
His search leads him to ten-year-old Harry, living alone in an abandoned warehouse, who has been waiting days for his parents’ return …
Dunnigan knows more than he would wish to about unexplained disappearances. Almost twenty years ago, his young niece Beth vanished during their annual Christmas shopping trip. No trace of her was ever discovered. And the tragic mystery has loomed over Dunnigan’s life ever since.
As his current investigation draws him deeper into the city’s dark underbelly, Dunnigan’s resolve to help Harry and unravel this mystery grows stronger.
And could it lead him one step closer to finding out what became of Beth?
‘A cracking debut thriller packed with great characters that leaves the reader wanting more.’ Irish Independent
‘A crime book with beautifully drawn character.’ The Irish Examiner
When She Was Gone (published March 2018)
Criminologist David Dunnigan’s niece has ben missing for eighteen years without a trace — until now.
Someone has sent Dunnigan a shoe – one Beth was wearing the day she disappeared — and the investigation is swiftly reignited, along with her uncle’s hopes of finding her alive. But is he ready for what else he might find?
As new evidence starts to link Beth’s abduction to a series of apparent suicides and a horrifying people-trafficking network, Dunnigan furiously chases down leads before the trail goes cold once more and Beth is lost forever. And when the search brings Dunnigan, accompanied by his loyal friend Miley and ex-soldier partner-in-crime Diane, to the frozen north of Greenland, the hunt starts to become more and more dangerous.
But where will it end, and will it lead him to Beth, after all this time?
‘A thrilling read.’ The Sunday Times.
‘Scandinavian noir with a Dublin accent.’ The Ontario Journal.
If She Returned (published February 2019)
David Dunnigan just received the phone call he has spent eighteen years waiting for.
A young woman has been found — and she’s claiming to be his niece Beth, who disappeared as a child. Is she telling the truth? And, if she is, will Dunnigan finally rid himself of his demons, and help her to rebuild her life?
Meanwhile, an investigation into a gruesome murder leads the criminologist to five prominent men, seemingly unlinked, who say they are being stalked by a shadowy figure. But ‘Mother Joan’ seems to merely be an urban legend, a ghostly avenger who punishes the wicked. So, if these men fear her wrath, what sins have they committed?
As Dunnigan pursues this strange mystery, enemies from his past are closing in. And when the case leads him to the crowded streets of London and then to the dark forest of Kielder, myth and reality become terrifyingly linked.
But is Dunnigan prepared for what, and who, he will face?
‘Taut, compelling and authentic… an edge-of-your-seat thriller.’ Bestselling author Andrea Carter.
‘A heart-in-mouth read that urges you to finish in one sitting.’ Woman’s Way.
Why She Ran (tpublished March 2020)
David Dunnigan and his niece, Beth, are on the run.
Beth, it seems, has killed a British police detective, and even though her criminologist uncle believes in his heart that she is guilty of the crime, he also knows how her experiences at the hands of the sinister After Dark Campaign have damaged her – the sweet and gentle girl he once knew is still in there somewhere, but that child is buried beneath a fathomless pool of rage at the abuses she suffered.
With the help of Father Bill and Miley Timoney, Dunnigan and Beth set out to track down the man responsible for her abduction – the terrifying Ernest Frobisher – while also evading the police.
The chase leads them from Hamburg to Prague, and from there to a compound in the bleak expanse of the Nevada desert, where the twisted husk that used to be a man called Frobisher is slowly wasting away, tended by the deranged psychiatrist Philippe Ressler.
As they dig deeper into the sinister underworld Frobisher inhabits, other figures come into focus: Nathaniel Joel, the Irish intelligence officer who seems invested in protecting Frobisher from all who might wish him ill; Suzanna Merrick, the American industrialist who would pay a king’s ransom to have the monster killed; and Ambrose Harmon, formerly Frobisher’s closest associate, who says he knows a secret that will end the After Dark Campaign once and for all, if Dunnigan is brave enough to use it.
And as they hunt for Frobisher, someone is hunting them – a shadowy figure known as The Harpy is dogging their heels. And where The Harpy goes, no one usually comes out alive.
As all these figures come hurtling towards an inevitable confrontation, the story that began with After She Vanished races towards a heart-stopping conclusion not all of them will live to see.
“A dark, chilling and fantastic read,” Bestselling author Patricia Gibney.
“The final action-packed Dunnigan book is written with all the dash and brio that have made the three previous adventures bestsellers.” Myles McWeeney, Irish Independent.
Shane Dunphy 