‘I couldn’t do my job. For months, I couldn’t open a letter coming in the door.’ Crime writer Patricia Gibney on losing her husband at 49

She took to writing to deal with the grief of her husband’s death. She has since sold two million of her Lottie Parker series

Author Patricia Gibney in her native Westmeath. Photo: Gerry Mooney

Sarah Caden

Like many people, Patricia Gibney always wanted to write a book – and about 30 years ago, she sat down and did it.

Gibney says she’d take a day’s leave from her work in Westmeath County Council and write. It was a crime novel, she says, “because that’s what I love reading”.