Paul Whitington

1 month ago | irishexaminer.com | Paul Whitington

There Came A-Tapping  Andrea Carter  Constable, €15.99 In her Inishowen mysteries, Andrea Carter used a slow pace and Agatha Christie flourishes to investigate a series of polite murders in rural Donegal. Very elegant they were too, but in this, her first standalone novel, she moves closer to home. Ms Carter grew up in Ballyfin, Co Laois, and the Slieve Bloom mountains form an atmospheric backdrop to this eerie tale of trauma and absence.

1 month ago | independent.ie | Paul Whitington

An Aussie offshoot of a fiendishly clever Danish show, ‘MAFSAU’ is one of a number of international versions, but is without doubt the best. Good weather, sub-tropical settings and the terrifying candour of the locals combine to make it irresistibly compelling. I was recently hooked via a family member who has every contestant’s number and wags her finger at the television, berating them for their bad behaviour. She has plenty to give out about.

1 month ago | independent.ie | Paul Whitington

TV and film have long been obsessed with the many guises of the Catholic Church’s most powerful figureAs the Vatican’s monolithic political machine cranks up the engines for another papal election, people have been streaming the hell out of Conclave.

1 month ago | irishexaminer.com | Paul Whitington

Rembrandt’s Promise  Barbara Leahy  Eriu, €15.99  In 1642, not long after the death of his beloved wife Saskia van Ulyenburgh, Rembrandt van Rijn began a sexual relationship with one of his servants. Geertje Dircx, a childless widow from Edam, had been hired to look after Rembrandt’s baby son, Titus, during Saskia’s illness. But she stayed on, became the painter’s lover, and for at least five years they lived as though husband and wife.

1 month ago | independent.ie | Paul Whitington

HistoryIn a rare interview given in 2003, Augusto Pinochet described himself as “an angel” and said that he had “always acted democratically”. History might beg to differ. After rising through the ranks of Chile’s army, the general seized his chance in 1973 during the CIA-backed coup that deposed the democratically elected left-wing government of Salvador Allende.