Andrea Mara: “I just love that idea of unpeeling layers and discovering something extraordinary about an ordinary person, and deep dark secrets – all of that”

Dublin crime writer Andrea Mara has had a somewhat unorthodox career trajectory, having only published her debut novel, 2017’s The Other Side Of The Wall, when she was in her forties. Previously working in financial services, an unexpected redundancy proved the springboard into a new professional life, when – having initially made waves with a popular blog – Mara secured a book deal.

In the time since, she has penned a string of bestsellers, including One Click, All Her Fault, Someone In The Attic and more. Her latest book, It Should Have Been You, focuses on Susan, a South Dublin woman who sends a message to her sister and accidentally posts it in the neighbourhood WhatsApp group, sparking a wave of hatred and abuse.

The following morning, Susan realises that someone was killed in a nearby house with the same address as hers, and suspects that the killer – provoked by her message – targeted her house.

It’s a thoroughly gripping read, and like all of Mara’s books, has a strong narrative hook at its centre. Had she been thinking about building a story around WhatsApp groups for a while?

“I know lots of people hate them,” considers Mara. “I kind of love them, because they’re a great distraction when I’m supposed to be doing something more productive. We live in a really big estate and there’s about 300 people in our neighbourhood WhatsApp group. It’s mostly just lovely things, like, ‘Does anyone want this couch? We’re giving it away.

“But of course, every now and then, someone posts something they meant to send to their friend. Sometimes it could be a late-at-night, slightly inebriated voice note – you never really know what you’re gonna get! Other times, there are deleted messages, and I’ll be there to my husband going, ‘Did you see it? What got deleted?’ Because someone has said something they shouldn’t have said.

“When you’re working from home on your own all day, it’s a great source of distraction. We’ve all probably posted something in a wrong group ourselves from time to time. Usually it’s something fairly benign – I’ve posted to my sister the surprise birthday present that I’m meant to post to my other sister, that kind of thing. But it made me think, ‘What if you say something that you shouldn’t have said?’”

Andrea Mara. Photo: Abigail Ring

Mara’s books have stylistic parallels with writers such as Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl) and Paula Hawkins (The Girl On The Train), who also excel at propulsive narratives.

“Gillian Flynn is amazing and her books before Gone Girl are so good as well,” she enthuses. “I think she’s busy doing lots of screenwriting now. I’d love another book from her, but she seems too busy screenwriting. But absolutely, I adored both Gone Girl and The Girl On The Train. To a huge extent, they were the forerunners of the increased interest in psychological suspense, and domestic noir in particular.

“It’s always been there. I mean, I loved the books Ruth Rendell used to write as Barbara Vine. They were domestic noir as well, because the characters were just ordinary people. I had read a lot of police procedural and detective fiction, and then came across these books about regular characters. There’s one in particular I love, called The Chimney Sweeper’s Boy by Barbara Vine, where it’s just a normal enough family. Then the dad dies, and through his obituary and trying to write his memoir, they start to uncover that he was not who he said at all. I just love that idea of unpeeling layers and discovering something extraordinary about an ordinary person, and deep dark secrets – all of that. I think those books were out in the late ’90s, and I loved all of those psychological suspense stories.”

“But I suppose Gone Girl and The Girl On The Train were two massive global hits, and that’s maybe what helped with the wider popularity of the genre.”

Mara is also set for a major screen adaptation herself, with 2021’s All Her Fault – about a woman who turns up to collect her son from a play-date, only to find he’s disappeared – being turned into a forthcoming mini-series by US streamer Peacock, starring Dakota Fanning and Succession’s Sarah Snook.

“It’s a another pinch-me moment,” the author acknowledges. “It was filmed in Melbourne and I got to go see it for a week, which was amazing. I got a hug from Sarah Snook! I got the news about it around a year ago – my agent rang me at 10 o’clock at night, which would never happen. She was like, ‘Look at your email.’ It was a link to an article in Variety or Deadline, saying, ‘Peacock have ordered the TV adaptation of All Her Fault to go straight to series.

“I didn’t even know what that meant! I didn’t know that it meant instead of a pilot, and then potentially nothing, it meant it was absolutely happening. So that was huge. And then in May or June, I came home one day and checked my email, and there was a load of messages going, ‘You’re going to get an email later today with exciting news – check back later.’ I was going, ‘What is the email?!’”

It would prove another remarkable moment.

“Then an email came through saying Sarah Snook was going to play the lead,” Andrea continues. “I mean, I’m a massive fan of Succession like so many people, and I adore her character and love Sarah Snook. So the fact she was gonna be in it, I screamed and ran down and showed my husband!

“In a way, I suppose you never know what anything will be like, because you hand it over. You don’t get to control any of it, and that’s fine – that’s as it should be. But when I heard Sarah Snook was gonna be in it, that allayed any last remaining doubts.”

Andrea Mara. Photo: Abigail Ring

Another notable element of Mara’s books is the way she so vividly captures south county Dublin.

“I suppose I’ve read lots of books set in small Irish towns,” she considers. “And then obviously there are books based more in the centre of Dublin. But I hadn’t read loads of books set in the suburbs. I mean, there are some, but I live in a suburb and – I guess out of sheer laziness as well! – my first book was based in a fictional version of the estate I live in. So it kind of went on from there.

“In All Her Fault, the setting is very much a wealthy road with private houses, which is not where I live, but there are places like that not too far away that I’ve driven past, so I know what they’re like. It was fun to play around with the whole rich people doing bad things idea.”

One particular landmark is a recurring feature in her stories.

“A lot of the characters end up walking Dun Laoghaire pier,” notes Andrea. “I may need to branch out from doing that! But that’s where I go when I need a bit of air and the sea view. Or I’ll walk the dog, or walk with the kids, whichever. It’s where we lived during lockdown when there was nowhere else to go.

“I remember standing on Dun Laoghaire pier pressing send on an email on my phone, back in 2016, and looking out at the Poolbeg Chimneys and making a wish. And that email ended up becoming the first book. So, Dun Laoghaire pier is a place that means a lot to me, and it’s ended up in all the books I’ve written so far. Along with the very typical housing estates that are hopefully relatable to readers.”

The author further considers how she writes about south Dublin.

“I use real places, like Blackrock, Dun Laoghaire and Stillorgan, because as a reader, I like reading about real places,” she says. “You can’t always do it, because if you’re getting down to the tiny detail, you don’t want to use a real housing estate. You can’t give the specific address, because it’s a real place and somebody lives there, and you can’t be putting their house in a book.

“But you can use wider, real places like Blackrock, Dun Laoghaire or Dublin city centre. As a reader, I find it can be jarring if you’re reading about fictional towns – so if you can get away with it, it’s nice to read about real towns. I’m very attached, I’ve lived in Dublin since I was 13. I think I’ll always end up setting my books there, because it’s home and what feels right to me.”

• It Should Have Been You is out now.