My research for Murder in G Major extended beyond the distillery. One of my main characters is a ghost so paranormal activity landed at the top of my research list. A lot of my research took the former of binge watching Ghost Adventures on Sling TV (true confession: Zak Bagan is my secret crush) and listening to Derek Jacobi narrate M. R. James’s ghost stories on Audible. Side note: if you’ve never heard James’s ghost stories read aloud you owe yourself a listen. He read the stories aloud to friends at Christmas. They were meant to be heard. Just leave the lights on.Of course, I read about the paranormal, too. I learned a spellbook is called a grimoire, defined by dictionary.com as “a manual of magic or witchcraft” and by Wikipedia as “a textbook of magic, typically including instructions.” I learned ghost orbs come in different colors and the different colors have different meanings. I also learned that Ireland , an island covering roughly 30,000 square miles, provides enough supernatural material to keep you busy researching for two lifetimes. Since my novel is set in Ireland, I dove in.One tale I came across is that of the Banshee or wailing woman. Her story gives us the phrase, “screaming like a Banshee.” Some versions portray her as a beautiful woman, some as a hideous hagen, but in all of the tales she lets out a blood-curdling cry that portends death.A lesser known tale is that of the black cat of Killakee. When Killakee House in Dublin underwent renovations in the 1960s a mysterious black cat repeatedly appeared in the house, often in areas he couldn’t possibly have gotten into. He would snarl at workmen and the property owners then vanish. An exorcism got rid of him but an ill-advised séance brought him back.These are only two of Ireland’s countless paranormal tales. I wouldn’t want to encounter either face to face but research let me experience a thrill from a safe distance.
