Irish Bestsellers 10th October 2020

We have another rash of new releases this week, with some great titles in the bestseller charts including Never Mind the B#ll*cks, Here’s the Science by Luke O’Neill, a great book looking at the challenges faced by the world today and in at no. 4; the authors of the ever-popular Oh My God, What A Complete Aisling series are back with Oh My God, What a Complete Diary 2021, branching out into the Paperback Non-Fiction top 10; and also in the Paperback Non-Fiction chart is the warm and wonderful David Attenbrough with his personal testimony on the climate change emergency, A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future at no. 9.

We can also see the usual effect of Christmas creeping closer; in the Children’s Top 10 we have both the Beano and the Dandy with their 2021 annuals, and across the board, sales figures are rising with the top thirteen titles now clocking over a thousand sales.

This week’s featured book was mentioned briefly last week, but Dr. Marie Cassidy’s memoir Beyond the Tape: The Life and Many Deaths of a State Pathologist has had a cracking week, climbing to no. 2 in the Top 20. Here’s the blurb:

In 1997, Dr Marie Cassidy arrived in Dublin from Glasgow. There to discuss a possible deputy state pathologist post with Professor John Harbison, instead she was whisked by police escort to a Grangegorman murder scene. There was no turning back.

She became Ireland’s State Pathologist from 2004 until 2018, her image synonymous with breaking news of high-profile cases – a trusted figure in turbulent times.

Here, with the scalpel-like precision and calm authority of her trade, Marie shares her remarkable personal journey from working-class Scotland into the world of forensic pathology, describing in candid detail the intricate processes central to solving modern crime.

She recounts her work following the tragic deaths of Rachel O’Reilly, Siobhan Kearney, Robert Holohan, Tom O’Gorman and others – along with the Stardust exhumations and lesser known cases from her long career – outlining the subtle methods by which pathology and the justice system meet.

Beyond the Tape is a unique behind-the-scenes journey into the mysteries of unexplained and sudden death – by turns poignant, stark and deeply compelling.

And now this week’s charts, with the Top 20 followed by the Top 10 in each category.