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Q. Your sleuth, Lara McClintoch, has been to Mexico's Yucatan, Malta, then Peru. This time it's Ireland, which seems something of a departure from the earlier settings. What was it about Ireland that attracted you to it as a setting for a mystery?
A. I chose Ireland for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that it is a very beautiful and fascinating country. But in addition to the present day setting, I always look for something that is interesting from an archaeological, historical or mythological point of view when I'm determining the setting for the mystery. Somewhat to my surprise, Ireland has a really rich mythology -- not just leprechauns and shamrocks as we've come to think of Ireland -- but really wonderful stories about waves of invasions of many different peoples to Ireland's shores, a pantheon of gods and goddesses, and great mythic battles between the powers of light and the powers of darkness. And what is quite extraordinary, I think, is that it is possible to find the places in present day Ireland where these great mythic adventures were supposed to have taken place.

Q. Can you give an example of what you mean?
A. The Book of Invasions of Ireland, which is a really ancient text, remnants of some very old stories, tell of a people called the Tuatha de Danaan. These people came to Ireland from four magic cities, and when they reached Ireland's shores fought two great battles called the Battles of Meg Tuired. The locations of these battles are considered to be a place now called Moyturra, which is more/less how Meg Tuired is pronounced, and Cong, which can also be found on the map of present-day Ireland. So these epic battles are rooted in every day places. A better known example might be Tara, seat of the High Kings of Ireland. You can visit Tara today, and see remnants of the old fortifications, and see a standing stone called Lia Fail. Lia Fail was supposed to come from one of the Tuatha de Danaan's magic city, and roared when touched by the true king of Ireland. So the myths live on in real places if you know what to look for.

Q. So how do we get from epic battles to your very modern-day sleuth?
A. The inspiration for the plot of the mystery came from fragments of an old poem that I found while I was researching the Celtic period in Ireland. It was written down perhaps as late as the 12th century by monks, but probably dates back much earlier than that. It is supposed to be a spell chanted by someone called Amairgen of the White Knee when he first set foot on Irish soil, the first Celt to do so.

The contemporary story is about the last Will and testament of a man by the name of Eamon Byrne, who, in an effort to bring his warring family together, has designed a treasure hunt of sorts for his family after his death, where the clues are all taken from Amairgen's song. Lara is in Ireland with her friend Alex Stewart, who is one of the people named in Byrne's Will, and is a recipient of one of the clues. The treasure hunt leads to murder, and Lara finds that she and her friends are in danger. I won't say more than that, because I don't want to spoil the story, but I hope that readers will not only enjoy Lara's adventures, but will also become as fascinated as I am by Ireland's Celtic history and mythology.

Q. So do you know where Lara is going next?
A. Tunisia, the site of the ancient city of Carthage. Lara will be taking an antiques and archaeology tour to Tunisia, and will find herself with at least one body on her hands, and a rather unusual bunch of travellers.