The Inspiration Behind The Fox & Thistle Mysteries

Every mystery has a beginning. For The Fox & Thistle Mysteries, that beginning was a blend of personal loves, atmospheric places, and a fascination with the secrets that small towns keep.

At its heart, this series is a love letter to bookshops, coastal towns, and the timeless appeal of a good whodunit. But like any good story, its origins are woven together from different threads—some real, some imagined, and some that simply refused to be ignored.

A Bookshop at the Center of It All

There’s something magical about a bookshop. The scent of old paper, the quiet hum of conversations, the feeling that any book you pick up could change everything. I wanted The Fox & Thistle Bookshop to feel like that—a place where stories begin, where people come for books but leave with something more.

In many ways, the bookshop is a character of its own. It’s been standing in Cowesport for generations, holding secrets in its shelves and whispers in its walls. Winnie Lynch, the woman who built it, knew that a bookshop is more than just a shop. It’s a meeting place, a hiding spot, a refuge. And now, with Cordelia at its helm, The Fox & Thistle is still at the center of everything—especially when the mysteries begin.

The Town That Lives and Breathes

Cowesport, the fictional town where the series takes place, is a little windswept, a little weather-worn, but filled with life. It was inspired by small Irish coastal towns, the kind where cobbled streets lead to hidden corners, and where every shop has a story of its own.

I wanted Cowesport to feel like a place you could step into. Somewhere where the pub is always buzzing with gossip, the sea mist rolls in like an omen, and the past is never quite buried. A town that isn’t just a backdrop to the mystery, but part of it.

It’s also a town where everyone has a role to play. The straight-laced detective trying to keep order. The bookshop owner with a habit of meddling. The town gossip who knows everything before it happens. In a small town, no one is a stranger for long—and in Cowesport, that means nothing stays secret forever.

A Cozy Mystery with a Little Bite

I’ve always loved cozy mysteries—the ones where the setting draws you in, the characters feel like people you know, and the mystery keeps you turning pages long into the night. But I also wanted The Fox & Thistle Mysteries to have a little sharpness beneath the surface.

The books are filled with small-town warmth, dry humor, and the kind of relationships that make (and break) a community. But there’s also tension. Old stories that don’t sit right. Questions that never got answered. Clues hidden where no one thought to look. Because even in the coziest of towns, mystery has a way of creeping in.

The Start of Something New

Every book begins as a whisper of an idea. A scene, a feeling, a question that won’t go away.

For The Fox & Thistle Mysteries, that whisper sounded like the rustling pages of an old book in a quiet shop. The distant crash of waves against the cliffs. The low murmur of voices over a pint at a pub where everyone knows your name.

That whisper became a town. A bookshop. A woman who never planned to solve mysteries, but can’t seem to help herself.

And now, that whisper is about to become something more.

This is just the beginning of The Fox & Thistle Mysteries. I can’t wait to share the rest.