Paranormal Cozy Mystery
So. I did it. I actually moved to Ireland.
If you’d told me a year ago that I’d be writing this from a draughty 1860s farmhouse in the west of County Limerick, I’d have laughed and gone back to stressing about packing boxes in Frankfurt. But here I am. The boxes are (mostly) unpacked, the house is (mostly) standing, and my husband is (mostly) not losing his mind over the renovation. This is the house he grew up in, and we’re bringing it back to life one crumbling wall at a time. There’s something poetic about that, if you
squint. If you don’t squint, it’s just plaster dust and arguments about where the washing machine goes.
It hasn’t all been easy. My mom went into care back in the autumn, and I still fly to Germany once a month to see her. Those trips are hard in a way I don’t always have words for. But she’s settled, and she’s safe, and we drink tea together and she tells me the same stories I’ve heard a hundred times, and I love every single one of them. Life is complicated and messy and beautiful, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
BUT ENOUGH ABOUT ME. LET’S TALK BOOKS!
I wanted to introduce myself properly, because if you’re reading this, you might be new here. Hello! I’m Marian, and I write paranormal cozy mysteries set in Ireland.Why Ireland? Well, apart from the obvious (I live here now, so I’d better make it count), there’s something about this landscape that practically DEMANDS stories. The fields behind my house are scattered with old stone ruins and fairy forts that the farmers still won’t touch. My neighbours talk about the banshee like she’s a woman down the road they’d rather not run into. The holy wells have rags tied to the branches above them — prayers and wishes left by people who believe, or at least aren’t willing to risk not believing.
You can’t live here and not feel the thin places, the spots where the veil between the everyday and the otherworldly is just… worn through. That’s where my stories live. Cozy village life with a generous helping of the supernatural, a protagonist who’s finding her feet in a place that’s stranger than it looks, and plenty of bodies turning up where they shouldn’t.
My debut novel, The Banshee’s Warning, is the first in the Ashford Cross Mysteries series — five books set in a fictional town in West Limerick. Think tea, cake, nosy neighbours, ancient magic, and murder. My kind of Tuesday.
More details coming soon. Watch this space!
Did You Know?
In Irish folklore, a fairy fort (or rath) is an ancient ring fort that’s believed to belong to the sí — the fairy folk. To this day, many Irish farmers refuse to cut down a lone hawthorn tree growing on or near a rath, for fear of bringing bad luck on the household. In 1999, a planned motorway in County Clare was actually rerouted to avoid disturbing a fairy fort. I’m not saying my neighbours have opinions about the one at the back of our field, but let’s just say the hedge trimmer stops at a very specific point.
If you enjoyed this, forward it to a friend who loves cozy mysteries!
Until next time, xo Marian