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Biography
British

Adrian McKinty

1968

The architect of one of crime fiction's great comeback stories, Adrian McKinty wrote the Sean Duffy trilogy set during the Northern Irish Troubles — police procedurals about a Catholic detective in the Protestant Royal Ulster Constabulary — to critical acclaim but commercial indifference, quit writing, became an Uber driver in Melbourne, and was persuaded to write one more novel. The Chain (2019) — a high-concept thriller about a kidnapping ring — became a massive international bestseller, vindicating a career spent writing some of the finest crime fiction of the 2010s.

Past sales0
PeriodContemporary
NationalityBritish
1. Biography

A short life of the author

Adrian McKinty (b. 1968) was born on 8 March 1968 in Carrickfergus, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. He studied politics and philosophy at the University of Warwick, then emigrated to the United States, living in Harlem, Denver, and eventually Melbourne, Australia. He has worked as a bartender, construction worker, rugby coach, librarian, and Uber driver.

Life and Career

Dead I Well May Be (2003) — about an undocumented Irish immigrant in 1990s New York drawn into organised crime — was his debut. The Michael Forsythe trilogy (Dead I Well May Be, The Dead Yard, The Bloomsday Dead) was taut, violent, and mordantly funny.

The Sean Duffy series — The Cold Cold Ground (2012), I Hear the Sirens in the Street (2013), In the Morning I’ll Be Gone (2014), Gun Street Girl (2015), Rain Dogs (2016), Police at the Station and They Don’t Look Friendly (2017) — is his masterwork. Set in 1980s Belfast during the Troubles, the novels follow Duffy, a Catholic detective in the almost entirely Protestant RUC, as he investigates murders against a backdrop of paramilitary violence, political corruption, and sectarian hatred. The series won the Edgar Award and was shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger, but it sold poorly.

McKinty quit writing and drove for Uber in Melbourne to support his family. Don Winslow persuaded him to write one more book. The Chain (2019) — about a mother whose daughter is kidnapped by a criminal ring that forces each victim’s family to kidnap another child to secure their release — was a global bestseller, selling in 40 countries. Paramount acquired the film rights.

Major Works and Themes

McKinty writes about Northern Ireland with the specificity and moral ambiguity of someone who grew up during the Troubles. His Duffy novels use the crime procedural to anatomise a society at war with itself. His thrillers use high-concept premises to explore parental terror and moral compromise.

Key Works

  • Dead I Well May Be (2003)
  • The Cold Cold Ground (2012)
  • In the Morning I’ll Be Gone (2014)
  • The Chain (2019)

Collecting McKinty

Dead I Well May Be (2003, Scribner) brings $50–$200.

The Duffy novels (Serpent’s Tail/Seventh Street Books) bring $20–$80. The Chain (2019, Mulholland Books) brings $20–$50. McKinty signs at events.