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WORK TITLE: Deadly Animals
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COUNTRY: United Kingdom
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PERSONAL
Born in Birmingham, England; married; childred: son.
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Writer.
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SIDELIGHTS
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Born in Birmingham, England, Marie Tierney is a paranormal crime novelist, a writer of plays and poetry, and a visual artist. She names Richard Adams, Margaret Atwood, Angela Carter, and Stephen King as among her literary influences. In 2024 she published Deadly Animals, which was a finalist in The Daily Mail First Novel competition and was favored by best-selling crime author Peter James.
Set in Britain, Deadly Animals features 14-year-old Ava Bonney, whose hobby is performing forensic investigation of roadkill, determining how the animals died and how they decompose. But then she discovers the body of the class bully who had his throat ripped out by human teeth and suspects it was a vicious killer with lycanthropy. She convinces Det. Sgt. Seth Delahaye of the West Midlands Police that this is not a normal homicide. When other teenagers are found dead, Ava works with the police to find the killer.
“By turns terrifying and heartbreaking in its depictions of the bloodthirsty killer… this eloquent, darkly suspenseful debut novel will haunt the reader’s imagination,” according to a Kirkus Reviews critic. A writer in Publishers Weekly noted that the book has two-dimensional secondary characters, wacky plotting, and lurid descriptions of violence, nevertheless: “Ava earns readers’ investment in this macabre procedural—she’s a clever, compassionate, and resourceful protagonist with series-carrying potential.”
In an interview with Elise Dumpleton at Nerd Daily, Tierney said the inspiration for the book came from her interest in criminal history. She observed: “I enjoyed writing all of the novel because I love to create worlds and populate it with people who behave and make mistakes and learn from them as people do in the real world but make them extraordinary.” Tierney told Ilina Jha online at Redbrick that the character of Ava reflects herself as a young teenager: “I am a dark-minded person interested in macabre subjects and themes, and I have always been this way… The idea of a young girl as a detective is simply me living a childhood dream through fiction—what if I had found the dead body of a missing child?”
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BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, November 1, 2024, review of Deadly Animals.
Publishers Weekly, August 19, 2024, review of Deadly Animals, p. 52.
ONLINE
LBA Books, https://lbabooks.com/ (March 1, 2025), “Marie Tierney.”
Nerd Daily, https://thenerddaily.com/ (November 13, 2024), Elise Dumpleton, “Q&A: Marie Tierney, Author of ‘Deadly Animals.’”
Redbrick, https://www.redbrick.me/ (February 28, 2024), Ilina Jha, “Author Intervew: Marie Tierney.”
Marie Tierney
Represented by Luigi Bonomi
Marie Tierney was a finalist in The Daily Mail First Novel competition., and he debut novel, Deadly Animals, was selected by best-selling crime author Peter James as his winner.
She cites Richard Adams, Margaret Atwood, Angela Carter and Stephen King among her literary influences. When she isn’t researching criminal history, she writes plays poetry, and creates art in different mediums.
Born and raised in South Birmingham, Marie held various jobs in four counties and dedicated almost twenty years to working in education before becoming a full-time writer.
She now lives in The Fens with her husband and son.
Q&A: Marie Tierney, Author of ‘Deadly Animals’
Elise Dumpleton·Writers Corner·November 13, 2024·3 min read
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We chat with author Marie Tierney about Deadly Animals, which is a chillingly beautiful mystery, only the obsessive spirit of youth can save a desperate town from the savagery within.
Hi, Marie! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I am Marie Tierney, author of the debut crime fiction novel Deadly Animals. I am originally from Birmingham in the West Midlands – Peaky Blinders territory! I have worked in many jobs and met many incredible people in all of them which is excellent source material for stories! I now live in East Anglia, in the UK, and Iam married with a nineteen-year-old son. I write, paint and sculpt as well as look after my two lovely cats.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
When I was three-years-old, my father grew tired of me trying to write cursive in all his text books so taught me to write and draw at the kitchen table instead. I hold my pen in an unusual way as a result but I don’t get writer’s cramp! As a result of my father’s patience, and when he realised I had an aptitude for learning, we then went on to non-fiction and fiction books.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
The first book you ever remember reading: The Brothers Grimm Complete fairytales with original illustrations by Arthur Rackham
The one that made you want to become an author: Watership Down by Richard Adams
The one that you can’t stop thinking about: Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood
Your debut novel, Deadly Animals, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Dark, sparkling, macabre, fascinating, honest
What can readers expect?
A modern twist on an old fairytale merged with a historical criminal case that has been brought into the 1980s with a quirky and interesting protagonist and a detective who defies the usual stereotypes. If you like Thomas Harris, Minette Walters, Belinda Bauer and Mo Hayder then readers might like Deadly Animals.
Where did the inspiration for Deadly Animals come from?
My own childhood, my own interests then as now, and the cases in criminal history that inspired the crimes in my novel.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
Describing the first scene, recalling what it was like to venture out into the dark and the excitement of being outside, alone at night. I enjoyed writing all of the novel because I love to create worlds and populate it with people who behave and make mistakes and learn from them as people do in the real world but make them extraordinary. I write everything in longhand first, with scene and character sketches as well as research notes in notebooks, almost as a personal letter to the reader.
See also
A Closer Look at the World of Speculative Fiction
This is your debut published novel! What was the road to becoming a published author like for you?
This is a book fifty years in the making. I have worked in many different jobs in different parts of England, and I have met interesting people along the way as inspiration. am one of the rare authors who had an agent approach them first rather than vice versa, and who loved the 1000 words of a competition entry and asked me to write the rest of the book. It was sold quite quickly afterwards. I have never had a rejection as a result of this experience. I have learned so much from my editor, and to hold my first hardback published novel was akin to holding my baby son for the first time. It was an incredibly moving experience.
What’s next for you?
I am currently writing the sequel to Deadly Animals which will be set in 1985.
Lastly, what books have you enjoyed this year and are there any that you can’t wait to get your hands on in 2025?
I read a great many books across genres so it is difficult to choose! I enjoyed Suzy Apsley’s incredible crime fiction debut Crow Moon, and Jo Callaghan’s intriguing Leave No Trace. I read a great many books across genres and while in New Orleans on holiday this year, I read the beautiful The Missing by Tim Gautreux which is set in New Orleans. It had such an impact on my experience in that amazing city. I am looking forward to reading Lynda la Plante’s autobiography Getting Away With Murder.
Will you be picking up Deadly Animals? Tell us in the comments below!
Culture Editor Ilina Jha interviews Birmingham born-and-bred author Marie Tierney, discussing the inspiration and process of writing her debut crime novel
Written by Ilina Jha
Published at 15:00 on 28 February 2024
Images by Deadly Animals by Marie Tierney on Waterstones.com (Published by Bonnier Books)
Birmingham born-and-bred Marie Tierney recently published her debut novel, Deadly Animals – a crime fiction story set in Birmingham and starring a teenage detective, Ava. I interviewed Marie to chat about her novel, its inspiration, and what is next for her.
Marie, this is the moment that every aspiring author dreams of – the publication of their debut novel. How does it feel?
It feels surreal and wonderful. I’m still in shock! It was something I always wanted to do: write a book and get it published. When I held my first hardback copy of Deadly Animals in my hands, it was akin to holding my newborn son – something I have created that has monumental importance to me and will hopefully grow to have a positive impact on the rest of the world.
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People underestimate the innovative power of daydreaming, of thinking for thinking’s sake and then acting on an idea that comes to mind.
Tell us a bit about your life growing up in Birmingham. What does Birmingham mean to you?
I grew up the eldest of three sisters, raised by a single mother on council estates in South Birmingham. We were poor but bright. We had to entertain ourselves because there were only three-channels on TV in those days and two of those hid behind a test-card for most of the day, so we had to find things to do. We listened to records, taught ourselves to sing and dance, we painted and sketched and we wrote our own stories. We could play out and stay out, make dens, go for long rambles in the nearby woods and fields. We had access to libraries and the Birmingham art galleries and museums. And most of all we had freedom to daydream – people underestimate the innovative power of daydreaming, of thinking for thinking’s sake and then acting on an idea that comes to mind.
Birmingham means a great deal to me because it forged the person I became, who I am today.
What drew you to writing a crime novel, and specifically one that stars a young teenager as a detective?
I am a dark-minded person interested in macabre subjects and themes, and I have always been this way. Ava, the protagonist in Deadly Animals, is based on me as a child. I can’t write romances and I certainly can’t write children’s books! I’ve always loved crime fiction by authors such as Thomas Harris and Lynda la Plante, and I’ve always loved horror, such as Stephen King and Edgar Allen Poe. Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment had a profound effect on me when I first read it as a teenager. There are many more great influences on my work and they all seem to push me in the direction of crime fiction writing. The idea of a young girl as a detective is simply me living a childhood dream through fiction – what if I had found the dead body of a missing child? Which of my skill sets and interests would I have used to assist [in] the investigation? Everybody underestimates children – especially girls and especially back then – so [Ava’s] subterfuge detective work is very in keeping with how I was and how the world was at the time. I liked that challenge.
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The idea of a young girl as a detective is simply me living a childhood dream through fiction
Who read your early drafts of Deadly Animals? Has the novel turned out as you expected it would when you began writing, or is the end result rather different from what you imagined?
I had two lovely people who read the early drafts: a close friend who I trusted and my honest agent. Both read through the early drafts and their overwhelming positivity encouraged me to not only keep going with it, but to finish. It became a huge project and I had to whittle it down to 100,000 words. It was originally a Whydunnit? – like The Silence of The Lambs – where we knew who the antagonist was very quickly, but it was the detective’s journey to the same discovery that kept us on edge. My publisher/editor encouraged me to change it into a Whodunnit?, which meant an overhaul of the original style while keeping the core character and plot of the story. I think it works better and I loved making the changes. I am glad I took on the suggestions because it made it a better book. It is a better end result to what I imagined.
Have your husband and son read your book – and if so, what do they think?
My husband is reading it at the moment and my son will do so when he isn’t as busy as he is at the moment. They’ll let me know what they think of it when they’re ready!
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I am currently writing the sequel to Deadly Animals and I am really enjoying the process
Who is the crime writer you would most like to meet?
There are many authors I would love to meet, but I would love to meet Lynda la Plante because I have read so many of her books and watched so many of the television series she has created, and I love them.
What’s next for you?
Writing full-time! I am currently writing the sequel to Deadly Animals and I am really enjoying the process, especially having learned so much from creating the first novel.
Deadly Animals by Marie Tierney is published by Zaffre at £16.99
Tierney, Marie DEADLY ANIMALS Henry Holt (Fiction None) $29.99 11, 12 ISBN: 9781250357595
A teenage girl with a taste for the macabre makes a series of horrific discoveries that turn her life and the lives of everyone in her British neighborhood upside down.
Fourteen-year-old Ava Bonney loves nothing better than to study the decomposing bodies of animals she finds littered along the motorway that runs through Birmingham. But when she accidentally comes across the bodies of two young people--one a teenager like herself, and the other a small boy--who have had their throats ripped out by a set of human teeth, she realizes a predator is stalking the town's children. In this chilling novel, Tierney pairs the precocious Ava with an open-minded police detective named Seth Delahaye to create an unlikely--and memorable--crime fighting duo. An "eternal student" gifted with the willingness to learn from everyone he meets, Delahaye appreciates Ava's intelligence and preternatural ability to read between the lines of physical evidence, which he witnesses firsthand when she begins anonymously calling the police station with information about the murders. Her observation that the murderer is a deeply disturbed young person who suffers from clinical lycanthropy goes against what Delahaye expects to find. But the closer the two get to uncovering the killer, the more it becomes clear that Ava's shocking conclusions hold more truth than anyone could want or imagine. By turns terrifying and heartbreaking in its depictions of the bloodthirsty killer--and, by extension, the brutality that lies at the heart of every human being--this eloquent, darkly suspenseful debut novel will haunt the reader's imagination.
An edge-of-your-seat thriller with a savage twist.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Tierney, Marie: DEADLY ANIMALS." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Nov. 2024. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A813883519/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=31642a5a. Accessed 31 Jan. 2025.
Deadly Animals
Marie Tierney. Holt, $29.99 (368p) ISBN 978-1-250-35759-5
A precocious teenager helps British cops hunt a killer in Tierney's offbeat debut. Aspiring 14-year-old forensic pathologist Ava Bonney is sneaking out of her South Birmingham home at 2 a.m. to visit the secret spot where she stashes and studies roadkill when she discovers the corpse of local teen bully Mickey Grant, who's been missing for two weeks. It's dark, but Ava can still see human bite marks on Mickey's decomposing flesh. She calls the authorities from a phone booth, disguising her voice, and returns home. When Det. Sgt. Seth Delahaye of the West Midlands Police comes canvassing the next day, Ava keeps quiet about the call, but offers keen observations about Mickey that prompt Delahaye to consult her when other children go missing. Meanwhile, Ava conducts her own clandestine investigation, discovering a disturbingly cruel animal death that may be the work of the same killer and digging into rumors about a man-sized wolf. Despite two-dimensional supporting characters and the disorienting juxtaposition of wacky plotting with lurid descriptions of violence, Ava earns readers' investmentin this macabre procedural--she's a clever, compassionate, and resourceful protagonist with series-carrying potential. Mo Hayder fans will find much to admire. (Nov.)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
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Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Deadly Animals." Publishers Weekly, vol. 271, no. 32, 19 Aug. 2024, p. 52. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A807359375/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=80622106. Accessed 31 Jan. 2025.