Maurice O'Scanaill/Rory McCormac

Dr Maurice O’Scanaill [aka Rory McCormac] lives with his wife, Alex, in Clifden, Connemara, Ireland. He has two grown sons, Rory and Cormac - hence his nom de plume – and an increasing number of grandchildren.

Maurice has had an extraordinarily varied career, moving from general veterinary practice in his native Ireland to dairy practice on the Mediterranean island of Malta and, from there, to equine and wildlife practice in The Sultanate of Oman, where he was Head Veterinarian at the Stud (Breeding) section of The Royal Stables, and Veterinary Advisor to various wildlife programs initiated by Oman’s ruler, Sultan Qaboos ibn Said. These involved the rare White Oryx and the even rarer Arabian Leopard. Maurice’s only regret about his eventful life at the time was that he was far away, in the trackless deserts of Oman, while his books were being launched in London. “Though I loved every minute of my seven years in the Middle-East, I’ve always regretted not being closer to home for marketing … signings, launches, readings, libraries, book-clubs, interviews, that sort of thing….”

A very busy veterinarian, Maurice’s early professional ‘literary’ output was confined to compiling the weekly ‘Procrustes’ cryptic crossword for Ireland’s national Radio/TV Guide, and it wasn’t until much later that he found time to write full-length thrillers. In August 1994, he submitted his first, SNAPSHOT, and the first half of his second, OUTBREAK, to twelve London agents. Within two weeks, he’d received four offers to represent him and, by November, he’d secured a three-book deal with Random House. Hodder & Stoughton were the under-bidders. Returning home in 2002, he set about establishing a busy multi-vet practice in Connemara on Ireland’s rugged west coast and, now that that’s up and running, he has resumed his writing. He has just finished his latest thriller, WIDOW’S PIQUE (see synopsis). He still compiles deviously cryptic crosswords – again as Procrustes, for Ireland’s national satirical magazine, Phoenix, and, as Bogman, for his local newspaper, The Connemara View.

He is a member of:

· International Thriller Writers, Inc. USA.
· The Society of Authors, London
· The Arts Club, London
· The Irish Writers’ Union, Dublin
· Society of Medical Writers, London