Declan Hughes is an Irish novelist, playwright and screenwriter. He was born in 1963 and grew up in Dalkey, a suburb of Dublin. He was educated at Marian College, Ballsbridge and Trinity College, Dublin. He received the Shamus Award for Best First PI Novel in 2007 for his debut crime novel, The Wrong Type of Blood, which introduced Irish-American detective, Ed Loy. Loy was named in homage to the character Sam Spade from The Maltese Falcon, as a loy is a traditional Irish spade. Other titles in the Ed Loy Series include; The Color of Blood, The Price of Blood, All the Dead Voices and City of Lost Girls. Declan's most recent novel is entitled All the Things You Are.