A Distant Grave: Location, Location, Location

A Distant Grave, the second Maggie D'arcy mystery, is set on Long Island and in Ireland and I had a lot of fun exploring both settings in preparation for writing it. As Maggie and Conor and their kids set out on their (ill-fated) family vacation, they stop off at the Rock of Cashel in County Tipperary. When I visited Cashel, in 2019, I had a wonderful tour guide who made the long and fascinating history of this important site come alive. Here's a picture of the Rock.

And here are photos of some of the Long Island locations in the book. It was so much fun to take my two youngest kids along with me on my 2020 research trip and introduce them to the town where I grew up and show them some of my favorite spots. As it would turn out, it was our last trip anywhere before the pandemic shut everything down, so I was even more glad that we made the trip!

This is near the first crime scene in the book. Maggie responds to a mysterious murder scene in an upscale Long Island suburb, not knowing it will take her down a dangerous and deadly path . . .

And this is a view of the Fire island Lighthouse, on the South Shore of Long Island, from the boardwalk at Robert Moses State Park. Maggie and her partner, Dave Milich, walk along the shore when they're stymied by their murder case. The ocean has always been one of my favorite places for deep thinking too.