Murder of Mr Moonlight: The tragic story of a young widow's search for happiness and the killing of an innocent man

The Murder of Mr. Moonlight is a book by Catherine Fegan that tells the story of Bobby Ryan's disappearance and murder in rural Tipperary in 2011, and how his body was found 22 months later on the farm of Mary Lowry, the wealthy young widow he had been seeing. Pat Quirke, Mary Lowry's brother-in-law, financial advisor, tenant, and one-time lover, was convicted of murder in May 2019 after years of exhaustive work by gardaí. The book is a definitive account of the investigation and the compelling story of how an innocent man paid the price for another man's obsessions.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 304 pages
Publication date: 24 September 2020
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

The No.1 Bestseller!

I was a very vulnerable young woman with three small children. I was lost in a world of confusion and despair, struggling to cope with the challenges of life. Pat Quirke, a man who seemed to have it all, tried to come in and control everything. Bobby Ryan's disappearance in rural Tipperary in June 2011 mystified all who knew him. The truck driver and part-time DJ, known as Mr. Moonlight, was an easy-going fellow with no enemies. Or so everyone thought.

When Ryan's body was found 22 months later on the farm of Mary Lowry, the wealthy young widow he had been seeing, it was clear that he had met a violent end. And the most likely person to have brought about that end? Pat Quirke, the man who had discovered the body - Mary Lowry's brother-in-law, financial advisor, tenant, and one-time lover.

Following the longest-running murder trial in Irish criminal history, Quirke was convicted of murder in May 2019. It had taken years of exhaustive work by gardaí to get to that day. The Murder of Mr. Moonlight is the definitive account of their investigation as well as the compelling story of how an innocent man paid the price for another man's obsessions.

Catherine Fegan, Irish Journalist of the Year (2017), and Chief Correspondent at the Irish Daily Mail, covered every day of Quirke's trial. Over many months, she also conducted interviews in Tipperary and further afield. She has written an extraordinary, insightful, and meticulous account of the case that gripped the nation.

[An] excellent book that shows all the colours of the story that intrigued the nation. Irish Daily Mail

Well-researched and highly readable, Fegan proves her journalistic mettle, delivering forensic detail in accessible language. Anyone who followed the trial will not be disappointed by Fegan's book.

Sunday Business Post

Absolutely compulsive reading (as I know).

Weight: 228g
Dimension: 128 x 196 x 23 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780241988497