Research Albums

Researching Monastery Murders Book 1: A Very Private Grave

Legendary buried treasure, a brutal murder and lurking danger.

Following Fr. Dominic's enigmatic poem and the itinerary of his recent spiritual pilgrimage leads Felicity and Antony into adventure, danger, and perhaps the stirrings of romance. Many of the scenes they visit whilst chasing or being chased by murderous shadows are ones I visited on my own pilgrimage undertaken in 2001.

At that time I thought I would be publishing a nonfiction book on pilgrimage. That book didn't happen, but I have found a far more intriguing method of telling my stories.

A Very Private Grave takes my reader to St. Cuthbert's beloved Holy Isle of Lindisfarne, which I visited with my daughter; to St. Ninian's remote Whithorn in southwest Scotland; to St. Hilda's high windswept hill in Whitby; to The Venerable Bede's cozy Jarrow; and to the wonderful, medieval hilltop cathedral in Durham.

My pictures are only faint echoes of the beauty and mystery I encountered, but I love sharing them and thinking of Felicity and Antony walking, or fleeing, those same scenes.

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