The Authorized Version

First, a huge “Thank You!” to my faithful readers who have so patiently enquired when the next Monastery Murder will be coming. At last, I can answer: “It’s on its way.” Specifically, we hope it will be out by the end of the year. I know—that’s still a long way away, but in the publishing world this is lightning speed. A few years ago, a two- or three-year gap between writing and seeing a book on the shelf was normal.

The Beginning

Of course, speed is a relative thing. One could say this book has been almost 30 years in the making. I don’t remember exactly when a friend told me about the Hebrides Revival, but I know it was in the 1990s because our daughter, who is now a mother of six, was in high school at the time. I knew instantly, however, that this was a story I wanted to tell.

I did the initial research in 2001 when my friend Evelyn Bennett and I set out on one of the first planes to leave Boise after 9/11 on the nearly 4,500-mile journey from Boise, Idaho, to Barvas, the Isle of Lewis, via London, Glasgow, Iona, and other stops. It was a wonderful trip that we still recall fondly. No book followed, however, as other projects intervened. At last, the time has come to tell the story.

A Wind in the Hebrides

From the beginning of my 40-some year career my focus has been telling the history of British Christianity through the medium of mystery and romance novels. For the Monastery Murders my contemporary characters reveal the story through their travels. Father Antony Sherwood, a church history lecturer at a theological college run by monks in Yorkshire, loves to tell the colorful events of England’s saints and heroes of the faith. His impetuous American wife Felicity is the one most likely to learn how events of the past can impact today—especially when the couple are thrown into solving murders.

A Wind in the Hebrides, book 7 in the series, finds Felicity curbing her rash instincts now that she has their five-year-old son in tow. The challenges to her new circumspection increase when Antony remains behind on the jewel-like Isle of Iona peacefully walking in the footsteps of Saint Columba with a group of students while Felicity and young Teddy go on to the Island of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. Felicity is on assignment to learn about the Hebrides Awakening, but she is determined to make this a holiday for Teddy and a pleasant break for herself. After all, post-World War II events shouldn’t be that difficult to uncover. And what danger could there possibly be?

Following the Progress

Well, that remains to be seen—and my plan is to let my followers see it all as Antony and Felicity's story progresses. As the plot unfolds, I will publish a blog every few weeks to give readers peeks at the adventure—literally, as I will include as many photographs from my research trips as I can.

It is always my goal to tell my stories in a way that takes my readers along with me—and I never write about a place I haven’t been to myself. I am hoping that inviting you along as this story develops will add to the fun. To be certain you don’t miss an installment in the adventure be sure to click this link or the “Follow this Blog” in the brown box above to the right.

Photo Journal Across Iona

Like Felicity and Antony, the first stop in the Hebrides for Evelyn and myself was St. Columba’s Iona, the cradle of Scottish Christianity. Whether in fiction or life, there is one way to reach Iona—by the little ferry that departs regularly from the tip of the Isle of Mull. The ride takes 10 minutes. 

Felicity and Antony stay at The Bishop’s House overlooking the bay. 

Evelyn and I were further up the hill at the Cnoc a’ Chalmain House of Prayer, 

With its windswept garden. 

Whether visiting Iona in fiction or in life the reconstructed Abbey, near the site where St. Columba and his monks established their monastery in the year 563, is a major focus,

As is the Abbey Museum housing the important stones and artifacts from the island’s history—including the stone incised with the iconic Iona Cross. 

Across the two-track road from the Abbey is Torr an Aba, the hillock where Columba built his cell. This is where Antony stands to give his listeners a look into the coming of Columba from Ireland to the land we now call Scotland. 

Then on to the ruined nunnery with its lovely garden. 

And St. Oran’s chapel and cemetery, keeping the remains of such Scottish luminaries as  Macbeth—who in reality was a good king. 

A mile and a half walk to the back of the island takes the visitor across the highest hill (333 feet), 

To the only lake,   

And past a lot of sheep. 

Columba’s Bay laps the southernmost tip of the island. Here, Columba and his little band of monks found land beyond the sight of Ireland—suitable for Columba’s exile from his beloved home. 

I hope this quick visit to Iona with Evelyn and me has whet your appetite to follow Antony and Felicity—and wee Teddy—through the Hebrides. I’ll be back with you soon as Felicity must be off for her own adventure on the Isle of Lewis. Remember to click this link or the “Follow” button above right so you won’t miss an episode.