REXBURG — A detective needs all the help they can get when solving a mystery. Imagine if they had help from those who were the victims.
That is the premise of the latest book, “We Are Shadows: An Irish Ghost Story,” from author Gail Grant Park. Park said the idea for the story came from her own life.
“When I was a young girl, 9, 10, 11, I loved reading Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden mysteries,” Park said. “I just devoured them. And I wanted to be a detective. And so, my best friend and I put together business cards and we were called Instant Investigations. And we were detectives in our little town. And we drove our bicycles all over solving supposed crimes that were nonexistent. But we had fun.”
Park took those fond memories of her childhood and transformed them into this book. The story follows Moira Gallagher, who, since she was five, has been able to converse with the dead. Now that she is grown and has ventured into the world of mystery as a detective, this special ability is coming in handy.
Park said that although she has not visited Ireland, she felt that the country should serve as the backdrop for the storyline.
“I have Irish ancestry,” Park said. “My mother is a Connolly, and that's one of the names of the family. Their grandmother is an O'Brien, which also is in my family. I have several cousins that I'm in contact with in Ireland still. With my Irish ancestry and just my love of all things Irish, I don't know, I just felt like I had to put the setting there.”
Park said that at times she is asked if some of the events of the book are taken from her own life experiences. Park admits that she draws from her own, as well as the experiences of people she knows. One of which was her neighbor.
“He stopped me on the street yesterday and said, ‘Okay now, is this a story about you and your life? Are these things real?’ Well, some of the things sort of kind of happened to some people I know,” Park said.
“We Are Shadows: An Irish Ghost Story” is the first book in what will ultimately turn into a series. Park said she is about a third of the way through the second installment.
To find more about Gail Grant Park and her books, visit www.gailgrantpark.weebly.com. Her books are also available for purchase on Amazon.