duffy
fiddle city
putting the boot in
going to the dogs
home

 

Duffy

 

Duffy, by Dan Kavanagh (Jonathan Cape, 1980)

 

Dan Kavanagh's first novel. Duffy, a bi-sexual ex-police officer, explores the seedy underbelly of Soho.

"Well-told and very, very grubby" — The Listener

"Definitely not for the squeamish"— Spectator

"Duffy is a wonderfully appealing character who could never be anything but the creation of a top-flight imagination." — Daily Mail

"Funny, sleazy, fast-paced and written with brio" — Guardian

"It is bleak, but it is good. Really good." — Me and My Big Mouth - Scott Pack

"Duffy is not your typical detective - and this is not your typical detective novel. It's gripping, witty and sometimes horrible and hysterical at the same time ... an absolute riot - and the good news is there are three more reissues featuring Nick Duffy to look forward to over the next 12 months." — Crime Fiction Lover

"There is plenty of goodwill for his witty books featuring his bisexual sleuth" — Independent

"Exciting, funny and refreshingly nasty" — Martin Amis

"The characterization is exact, the action gripping, and the writing pleasantly ironic" — The Times

"Treat yourself. One of the most colourful and entertaining English thrillers" — Evening Standard

"The laughs are as many as the gasps" — Financial Times

"Marvellously aerated by bubbles of Mr Kavanagh's very dry, sly, wide-ranging and Eighties humour" — Sunday Times
 

English Editions

Duffy. London: Jonathan Cape, 1980. (First UK edition, hardback).

Duffy. [St. Albans]: Triad/Granada, 1982.

Duffy. New York: Pantheon, 1986. (First American edition, paperback. No hardback released in the US).

Duffy. London: Penguin, 1987.

Duffy. New York: Harper & Row/Perennial Library, 1989.

The Duffy Omnibus. London: Penguin, 1991. [Includes all four Kavanagh novels].

Duffy. London: Orion Publishing, 2014. [Hardback & Paperback issued].


Translations

La nuit est sale. [Paris]: Gallimard, 1981. Pp. 217 [1]. Translated by F.M. Watkins. Série noire. (French).

Duffy. Frankfurt: Ullstein Krimi, 1981. Pp. 156. Translated by Bernd Jost. (German).

Kaoyaku o utte. Tokyo: Hayakawa Shobo, 1981. Pp. 169. Translated by Yoshinobu Tamura. (Japanese).

Duffy en de pornokoning. Amsterdam: Uitgeverij de Arbeiderspers, 1982. Pp. 199. Translated by C. A. G. van den Broek. (Dutch).

Duffy, il doppio. Milano: Giallo d'Azione Mondadori, 1982. Pp. 182. Translated by Gigi Coretti. (Italian).

Duffy. Arles: Actes Sud, 1992. Pp. 283 [1]. Translated by Philippe Loubat-Delranc. (French).

Duffy. Zürich: Haffmans Verlag, 1988. Pp. 237 [1]. Translated by Willi Winkler. Other edition: Reinbeck bei Hamburg: Rowohlt Taschenbuch, 2000. Pp. 218. (German).

Duffy. Parede: Puma, 1993. Pp. 186. Translated by Paula Reis. (Portuguese - Portugal).

Die Duffy-Krimis. Zürich: Haffmans Verlag, 1995. Pp. 712 [1]. Translated by Willi Winkler, Michael Bodmer, and Verena Schröder. [Includes all four Kavanagh novels]. (German).

Bendeniz Duffy. Istanbul: Ayrinti Yayinlari, 2000. Pp. 172. Translated by Serdar Rifat Kiroglu. (Turkish).

Duffy sau cum se taie cascavalul (Duffy). Bucuresti: Nemira, 2005. Pp. 192. Translated by Gabriel Stoian. (Romanian).


Reviews

Hiscock, Eric. "Personally Speaking." The Bookseller, 29 March 1980: 1444-1446.

Rudman, Frank. "Untitled." Spectator, 29 March 1980): 25.

McEwan, Ian. "The Cross-Legged Reader." Quarto 8 (July 1980): 8.

Firth, Gay. "Fiction." The Times (London), 3 July 1980: 17.

FG. "An Unscrupulous Set of Characters." Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph, 4 July 1980.

Lewis, Peter. "Sex-Shopped in Soho." Times Literary Supplement, 4 July 1980: 749.

Howell, Alan. "Fiction." Evening News, 7 July 1980.

Coleman, John. "John Coleman on New Thrillers." The Sunday Times (London), 13 July 1980: 42.

Wordsworth, Christopher. "Crime Ration." The Observer (London), 20 July 1980: 28.

Hopkins, Kenneth. "Crime File." Eastern Daily Press, 28 July 1980.

Kilcommons, Denis. "Untitled." Huddersfield Examiner, 29 July 1980.

Curran, John. "Thrillers." Hibernia, 31 July 1980.

Heald, Tim. "The Making of a Super Sleuth." Now!, 1 August 1980.

Rayner, Richard. "Fiction." Time Out, 8-14 August 1980: 22.

Rudman, Frank. "Untitled." Spectator, 16 August 1980: 21.

Laski, Marghanita. "Long Thrills." The Listener, 13 November 1980: 665.

 

Copyright 2006-Present by Bob Ryan
President, Dan Kavanagh Fan Club		 If you like Dan Kavanagh, try Julian Barnes.