Books & Series
Elle Cunningham Mackay Mysteries
A series of modern day, Scottish-flavored murder mysteries featuring researcher and historian Elle Cunningham Mackay.
Thou Shalt Not Kilt
What would you do to keep your family’s legacy alive?
For nearly three centuries, the MacUspaig clan has ruled Roan Island, a remote speck in North Carolina’s Cape Fear River crowned by the grand manor of Aldermire. Now the bloodline is down to its last few heirs, and charming, reckless Stuart MacUspaig has just stunned his dinner guests: he’s divorcing his wife, evicting his family, and selling the island to the highest bidder.
Researcher and historian Elle Cunningham Mackay came to Aldermire to document a clan on the brink of extinction and, she hopes, to get her own messy life back on track. The morning after Stuart’s bombshell revelation, she finds him facedown on the terrace with a family heirloom buried in his back. Every soul at Aldermire had a reason to want Stuart gone: his bitter father, his scorned wife, his resentful younger brother, and countless kin. Elle soon realizes the killer is still sleeping under the same roof.
As a fierce storm cuts the island off from the mainland, Elle digs through crypts, hidden tunnels, and long-buried family secrets. She discovers that a decades-old disappearance may have been the beginning of something far darker. Can Elle untangle the clan’s sinister history before the storm breaks, or will the MacUspaig line come to a bloody end, taking Elle with it?
I could have read this book in one or two sittings but instead went through each chapter like a glass of good whisky. Savored the characters and setting and story.— Amazon Review
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Off Scot Free
How far would you go to unmask a killer hiding in plain sight?
Five years ago, handyman Duncan Scott went to prison for the brutal murder of single mother Shona Mackay. His unexpected release throws his sleepy North Carolina hometown into an uproar, and his freedom is soon cut short by a competition pitchfork stolen from the local Highland Games.
When the police set their sights on Shona’s son Daniel Mackay, researcher and historian Elle Cunningham Mackay leaps to the defense of her ex-husband. He may be a philanderer, but he’s no murderer, and Elle isn’t about to let his daughter, Paige, lose her father. As she digs into their family’s past, every clue points to an uncomfortable conclusion: Duncan was innocent.
Then another suspicious death hits close to home, and it’s clear someone will go to any lengths to keep the truth buried. Can Elle expose the shocking secrets that link these murders, even if it turns the town she loves against her, or will she become the real killer’s next victim?
This book is even better than the first. The flow of the story is terrific, and the plot twists keep you guessing until the end when the villain is identified as . . . just kidding, you’ll have to get the book to see how it ends!
— Amazon Review
Get a signed copy from Liam at County Argyle or find it on Amazon:
Under Loch And Key
When a murder mystery weekend turns deadly, who do you trust?
Bestselling cozy author Beatrice Bonnie is done with writing fiction. To launch her first true crime book, she summons a handpicked group to a remote North Carolina lodge for a weekend of cocktails, clues, and a staged reenactment of a notorious unsolved murder. The guest list includes the victim’s grieving family, two rival true crime podcasters, a sharp-tongued literary critic, and at least one person Bea swears she never invited.
Researcher and historian Elle Cunningham Mackay came for a quiet getaway with her ex-husband, Dan. By the end of the first night, one participant is found floating in the hidden lake behind the lodge. As the snow deepens and the roads close, Elle realizes the tragedy was no accident. Everyone at the lodge is hiding something, and the cold case murder Bea wanted to solve may be more important than anyone imagined.
Cut off from the outside world, the guests begin turning on one another, and the bodies keep piling up. Can Elle separate the performance from the truth before the killer writes her into the final chapter, or will this mystery weekend end with no one left to solve it?
Get a signed copy from Liam at County Argyle or find it on Amazon:
Haunts & Hollows Travel Guides
An exclusive series of road trip travel guides to the dark side of the Gothic South.
Florida Coast
A Guided Road Trip to Florida’s Dark Side
Florida is a land of contrasts. White sand beaches and thrilling attractions sit alongside historic ruins and roads to nowhere. Beneath the sunshine and neon, however, lingers a darker tale: one of mystery, tragedy, and the unmistakable pull of secrets best left undisturbed.
Florida Coast is a road trip in a book. The 80+ entries will guide you stop by stop from Fernandina Beach through St. Augustine, Orlando, Miami, and more — all the way to Mile 0 in Key West. It includes:
✦ The Ghosts of St. Augustine
✦ The Town of Cassadaga
✦ The Judge Chillingworth Murders
✦ The Wreck of the Evening Star
✦ Key West Cemetery
✦ And more than 75 other Florida locales
Every Haunts & Hollows volume takes you on a guided tour of the hidden and unexpected: paranormal sites, forgotten family graves, abandoned burial grounds, true crime scenes, and historic anomalies. Each stop includes scannable GPS coordinates, histories, and more.
Get a signed copy from Liam at Haunts & Hollows or find it on Amazon:
Haint Tales & Other Stories
Southern Folktales to Chill the Soul
The South is a land of rich history and dark secrets. Beneath every moss-covered oak and behind every weathered gravestone there lies a shadow, and within that shadow, there hides a story. Here such tales aren’t just told, they are handed down from one generation to the next like family treasures. They are treated with hushed reverence and embellished with every retelling.
Haint Tales & Other Stories offers a collection of these traditional Southern ghost legends as told by the original storytellers. This volume includes:
✦ The Legend of Skinned Tom
✦ The Woman in White
✦ Bury My Bones
✦ The Ghost of Barbleue
✦ The Red Lady of Huntingdon College
✦ And more than 35 other ghostly tales
Every Haunts & Hollows volume takes you on a guided tour of the hidden and unexpected: Southern Gothic folklore, true crime tales, forgotten family graves, historic mysteries, and much more.
Get a signed copy from Liam at Haunts & Hollows or find it on Amazon:
Georgia Backroads
A Guided Road Trip to Georgia’s Dark Side
From its historic coastal cities to the antebellum plantations of a society long passed, Georgia has no shortage of destinations for those who love to explore. Behind the rich facade, however, lies a grim legacy steeped in the dark, the bizarre, and the macabre.
Georgia Backroads is a road trip in a book. The 80+ entries will guide you stop by stop from St. Marys and Savannah through Athens, Gainesville, and more — all the way to the North Carolina state line. It includes:
✦ The Surrency Horror
✦ Old Candler Hospital
✦ The Screven Spook Light
✦ The Legend of Abram Simons & The Devil
✦ The Town Beneath Lake Burton
✦ And more than 75 other Georgia locales
Every Haunts & Hollows volume takes you on a guided tour of the hidden and unexpected: paranormal sites, forgotten family graves, abandoned burial grounds, true crime scenes, and historic anomalies. Each stop includes scannable GPS coordinates, histories, and more.
Get a signed copy from Liam at Haunts & Hollows or find it on Amazon:
