Marnie Reilly Mysteries - Who's Who

Come meet the Marnie Reilly Mysteries characters from Divine Guidance and Torn Veil!

Creekwood, NY

A fictional town located along the Hudson River somewhere between the Adirondack Mountains and Hudson, NY. A statue of Henry Hudson stands in Creekwood Town Square

Marnie Reilly (Divine Guidance and Torn Veil)

Marnie Reilly is compassionate, ethical, quirky and loyal – qualities that actually irk some people. She is a force of nature for sure. Tall and athletically built, Marnie’s style is casual – she opts for jeans and boots over skirts and heels. Her job calls for skirts and heels – her home life the former. Her straight blonde hair, with hints of strawberry shining through the long layers, falls just below her shoulders. She normally wears it in a ponytail, but Danny loves it when she lets it fall loose around her shoulders.

Marnie is incredibly independent and guarded. People who know her well attribute this to the tragic and untimely death of her mother and, just a few years later, her father. She believes that she can take care of herself. She hates asking for help, and she doesn’t let people in easily, but when she does, she expects them to be kind, considerate and honest. She’s had her fair share of bad relationships. The worst, or the absolute worst, had been Ken Wilder; he was a cruel and abusive cheater – not a good guy.

The first thing that most people notice about Marnie is her eyes – aquamarine and haunted. Aquamarine is the color; haunted is her gift of clairvoyance revealing itself. The second thing that people notice about her is her undying devotion to her Border Collie Tater. They’re a package deal.

Marnie dedicates her life to fixing things – mainly people and stray dogs. She’s a psychologist, but she refers to herself most often as a counselor. Marnie is often so busy fixing things for others that she forgets to take care of herself. Does she really forget, or is there just so much to fix that she focuses on other things? Danny isn’t sure, but he plans to stick around to find out.

Marnie has a scar on her neck from Ken Wilder trying to strangle her with piano wire (DG)
Nicknames: Marn, Madame Séance and Good Witch of the North

Tater (Divine Guidance and Torn Veil)

Tater is Marnie Reilly’s rough-coat, black and white border collie. He’s an athletic dog with sharp, intelligent eyes and a cheeky disposition.

Tater knows a number of on-command tricks including how to play dead, how to crawl on his tummy like a snake, how to shake (literally) and how to open the fridge.

Tater also has a few tricks he has learned by watching Marnie – like how to open doors, how to open his kennel, how to train humans. And he instinctively herds people, other dogs, sheep and bad guys. He’s a clever boy.

Nicknames: Tater Tot

Detective (Lieutenant) Daniel Gregg (Divine Guidance and Torn Veil)

Danny was an oddly handsome man. His dimpled smile didn’t quite go with the rugged face that wore well laugh lines and the slight crinkle of crow’s feet. His thick, sandy brown hair was often slightly messy from running his fingers through it when thinking or stressed. He was a tall man, solidly built and some would say a force to be reckoned with when angered or protecting the innocent. His sharp wit and astute sixth sense about people made him a great cop. A steely blue gaze is the second thing that most people notice about Danny. The first is his badge; he wears his gold shield with great pride.

A widower, Danny lost his late wife Sarah several years back to suicide. No matter how Danny tried to forgive himself, just under the surface loomed guilt for not saving Sarah from her deep dive into depression. He lost his mother Carol to depression and suicide, too. He still carried a great deal of guilt because he couldn’t save the two women whom he loved dearly. Danny typically steered clear of relationships. Investing emotionally in love was low on his list of priorities – until now. Danny met Marnie while investigating the murder of her ex-lover, Ken Wilder. She annoyed the hell out of Danny, and he had found her to be the most irritating woman whom he had ever met. Her kindness, independent nature, warmth, wisdom, sassiness and beauty won him over, yet she still frustrated him beyond belief.

Nicknames: Danny

Detective Thomas Keller (Divine Guidance and Torn Veil)

Tom’s tall lanky frame always made Marnie laugh just a little. He was built like a distance runner, he had short black hair, he sported chiseled features and his eyes were so blue that they were almost violet. He would be handsome if he wasn’t Tom. He was cute, though. Marnie knew him too well, and while most women swooned over him, she would always remember him as he was when they were kids. She loved him just the same.

Nicknames: Tom, Tommy

Margaret “Gram” Ryan (Divine Guidance and Torn Veil)

Margaret “Gram” Ryan is Irish/American. She moved to the United States with her now late husband, Daniel Ryan, when they were in their late twenties. They purchased the diner, which back in their day had been an Irish pub, just a few years after immigrating. Gram changed the name to Ryan’s Diner after her husband passed away because she worried it wasn’t ladylike for a woman to own a pub, albeit she still has her license and regularly pulls a pint or two. Margaret and Daniel Ryan had three children – a daughter, Carol, and two sons, Fionn and Liam. Detective Danny Gregg’s late mother, Carol was the eldest. Fionn and Liam both emigrated to Ireland as college students and remain there to this day.

Gram has maintained her Irish brogue all of these years. She speaks with friends and family back in Ireland often, and she visits when able. Her sons visit her from time to time, too. She is a huge fan of Irish television programs and watches them regularly; thus, her accent has barely faded. Gram is average height and, some would say, amply built and fit. She wears her thick, wavy white hair short, and her blue eyes dance when she smiles.

Gram fully embraces her keen sixth sense – she, like Marnie, is a talented clairvoyant. Gram’s finely honed gift has made her a bit of a legend in Creekwood. She knows everything and everyone and where all of the skeletons of Creekwood are hidden. No one knows if the rumors about Gram’s gift are true; people just trust that Margaret Ryan is, indeed, a powerhouse.

Carl Parkins (Divine Guidance and Torn Veil)

His short russet hair with graying temples and his perfectly groomed silver-specked russet beard and mustache added to his professor-like appearance – things most people found comforting. He’d been told that his deep brown eyes held warmth, empathy, wisdom and a spark of mischief. Carl looked down at his clothes – chinos, button-down shirt and suede driving shoes – perfectly normal for a successful psychotherapist.

Nicknames: Captain Crystals

Carl smokes a pipe.
Carl was a captain in the army

Kate Parish (Divine Guidance and Torn Veil)

A petite woman stepped from the shadows. She was dressed in a pair of dark navy jeans; long black boots; and a chunky, cable-knit, dove gray, turtle necked sweater. A wool wrap, gloves and a beret all perfectly coordinated in robin’s egg blue complemented tonight’s casual style. Beneath the beret, her raven hair was long and sleek. Her features were stunning, and her eyes – indigo – were sharp and cunning.

Kate is missing he ring finger on her left hand.

Special Agent Hannah Patterson (Torn Veil)

Special Agent Hannah Patterson was around 5’5”. She wore charcoal gray slacks, a matching jacket, a burgundy scarf and a wrinkly white button-down shirt – all covered by a well-worn black wool overcoat with matte silver buttons. She wore low-heeled black boots that were in need of a polish. She had messy shoulder length mahogany hair and icy gray eyes shielded by rimless glasses with thin black stems that needed to be tightened; she was thinner than a law enforcement officer should be. Tom thought to himself that a strong breeze would knock her down.

DEA Agent
Hannah is Danny’s twin sister

Patrick Kowalski (Torn Veil)

Tom saw a man of medium height with the build of a wrestler. He had short brown hair, hazel eyes and a broad face with high cheekbones and a crooked nose. He looked like he’d been through a war. He had a scar across his forehead that, at first glance, could have been a very long wrinkle, but Patrick wasn’t old enough for that. Patrick’s left ear was horribly scarred, and his left hand was, too. The scars appeared to be from burns. Serious burns. He wore a well-worn camouflage jacket; a blue flannel shirt; faded, worn jeans; and work boots. He was clean and tidy, but definitely didn’t spend money on his clothes. There was something in his eyes. He’d lived a lot of years in a very short time.

Retired army
Suffers from PTSD
Has a stutter

Divine Guidance Preview

There is a very thin veil between this life and the hereafter and we should not tear the veil down for personal gain. Those that dance between the veil of this life and the hereafter have a duty of care to protect the souls of the living and the realm of the spirit world. For some it is a double-edged sword, inspiring love and hate in equal measure – sometimes with deadly results...

Read the first few chapters of Divine Guidance.