On Christmas Day, 2025, I came down with the flu, which lasted through New Years. Rather than feel sorry for myself, I downloaded Author Mary Birk’s latest novel Violent Seed, from the Terrence Reid Mystery series. Readers, I’ve never binged watched or read anything. Mary Birk’s series changed all that. I’d already read The Mermaids of Bodega Bay, so I started with The First Cut, followed by Less than Treason, Most Gracious Advocate and finally Violent Seed. I enjoyed this series so much I emailed Mary and requested an interview. She graciously agreed. Following is our Q&A:
Author Mary Birk
Donnell: Mary, I’ve known you for years. I know you live in Colorado, so my first question has to be: How did you gain such an in-depth knowledge of Scotland?
Mary Birk: I’ve always been fascinated with Scotland, particularly because I have a large chunk of Scottish ancestors, one of which had the last name of Reid. When I decided to start writing mysteries, I knew I’d have to include Scotland in my stories. So, I traveled to Scotland many times, subscribed to Scottish newspapers, read mysteries by Scottish writers (which I’d been doing long before I started writing myself), as well as Scottish history, geography, police manuals, etc. It has been an entertaining and enlightening journey, every moment of which I’ve loved!
Donnell: The mystery in your series revolves around two central protagonists, Terrence Reid and Anne Michaels who marry after a whirlwind romance. In addition to being a high-level cop, Terrence Reid is the son of an earl and heir to a whiskey fortune. Anne is a master gardener who designs gardens and landscapes for wealthy clients. Terrence is Scottish; Anne is American.
The reader does not know any of this when book one, The Mermaids of Bodega Bay, opens. You weave all this information in through backstory but keep the story moving forward when a young child is kidnapped and Terrence arrives on scene. I found his arrival and reasons for being in Bodega Bay fascinating. I think you know backstory has doomed many an aspiring author. Not so you. Your first book was a finalist in the Colorado Gold and later named as a SELFe Book of the Year. Book Two, The First Cut, won the Colorado Gold!
Why did you choose to open Mermaids in this fashion by weaving in backstory as you wrote?
Mary Birk: Good question. I needed to start the story just before the crime is discovered in order to draw the reader in right away. As well, I wanted them to sense the tension between the main characters, so they had an idea of why the situation was fraught with extra drama.
But, as in real life, we don’t come to any situation without having some backstory the reader will need to know. I find weaving the backstory in, little by little, lets the reader (and me) stay in the action while slowly getting to know the characters and where they’re coming from.
I remember reading some writing advice that said, treat your backstory like a sheet of glass, throw it on the ground, then pick up the shards and insert them in small slivers throughout your story. That’s what I try to do, and it’s one of the most fun parts of the whole process.
Donnell: What inspired the creation of Superintendent Terrence Reid and Anne Michaels?
Mary Birk: I knew I wanted to write the books as a series, and I knew I wanted the characters to end up back in Scotland eventually, but I’d also been captivated years before by my first trip to Bodega Bay, California. As soon as I saw Bodega Bay, I knew it was the perfect place for the first novel in the series. It’s got a kind of Scottish feel, high cliffs, crashing waves, windy, and a bit mysterious. On subsequent visits, I found sites for all the scenes in the book, the most striking for me of which was where the first victim’s body was found.
I wanted the story to revolve around a young woman with her own vision of life, and I wanted to ground her in Bodega Bay, but still give her the ability to live her life on a bigger stage. Thus, I made Anne a woman determined to pursue her own career, but still young and a bit unformed. She’s caring, and passionate, but impulsive and not always realistic or wise. I gave her a career (restoring historic gardens) which could take her anywhere in the world where I wanted to set the next mystery.
Terrence Reid came about more organically. He literally formed himself in my mind after I created Anne. I wanted him to be Scottish, and he needed to have a complicated family past, as well as a complicated social and career situation. So, I made him the heir to an earldom and to a whiskey fortune. To make things tougher for him, I made him deeply Roman Catholic, in a country where that religion is in the minority and gave him strict moral values. He had to be in Scottish law enforcement but also have the ability to operate in other locations, so I created a special team for him to lead, then, over the life of the series, have given him even more range of movement.
Their personalities grew out of their backstories, and their relationship issues out of their personalities.
Donnell: How well did you know this story and your characters when you started writing, and did you plan several books in a series from the start?
Mary Birk: The first mystery had been evolving in my head for a while before I sat down to write it. As I mentioned, I had my characters and the first setting in mind, but I needed the crime.
I decided to try to handle the delicate subject of a child victim kidnapping, but to do it in a way the reader could absorb without putting the book down as too sad to handle. I’d been horrified by the Jon Benet Ramsey kidnapping, and that had stayed with me. I wanted my story, unlike the Jon Benet tragedy, to provide the reader with an answer to what happened.
Each book after Mermaids followed crimes which involve my main characters for some reason usually associated with their location, jobs, or their own or their family or friends’ personal lives.
From the start, I planned for the Terrence Reid/Anne Michaels mysteries to be a series. Why? Because I wanted to explore the ways my main characters evolved within the context of their jobs, investigating or experiencing crime, and their own relationships. I knew the series would travel back to Scotland, and to other places like the English Cotswolds in Violent Seed. That also gives me a chance to explore other places with them!
Plus, I love my characters (well, most of them) and wanted to keep spending time with them.
Donnell: You combine your gifts of description, settings and characters in every novel. Thanks to you I’ve spent time in California, Gloucester, Glasgow, Dunbaryn Castle and the Cotswold’s, and there’s a sinister plot afoot in every locale. You write with such authority and knowledge of these places. I believe they are real with the exception of perhaps Dunbaryn Castle? Is Dunbaryn based on a similar estate? Have you spent time at these places?
Mary Birk: I love staying in old castles and do so at every opportunity! Luckily for me, many are open to visitors who have no actual claim to a castle.
Dunbaryn Castle is loosely based on Dundas Castle, which is located near Edinburgh, Scotland, rather than in the Scottish Highlands. Check out their website-it’s gorgeous, but alas, open only for special events such as weddings, corporate events, etc. The raptor segment that we see in Less Than Treason was largely formed by the displays and questions to the falconry staff at the extremely grand Dunrobin Castle which is located in the Scottish Highlands.
Donnell: By the end of each novel, I’ve come away knowing your characters. Not just your protagonists and antagonists but the motivations, conflicts and histories of your secondary characters. You write from numerous points of view and go deep into characters’ heads. Do you do an in-depth character sketch before writing or do you learn more about these characters as you write?
Mary Birk: Both. I do an in-depth character sketch for my characters, but I also learn things about them as they show up on stage. Sometimes they surprise me, or more often, engage me to explore more about them. I feel like we’re walking down the path of the story together, and they beckon me to come another way. I take a step, then another, then, voilά, they reveal something unexpected.
Donnell: Your books are not for the faint of heart. You address painful issues. Child abduction, murder, human trafficking, extortion, drugs, jealousy, greed and revenge. Are you a fearless creator or do you have moments of doubt?
Mary Birk: Truthfully, sometimes I have to take a deep breath. Writing about difficult subjects is often like walking a tightrope between too much reality and too little. I try to open the scene with enough to let the reader know how awful something is, but then, close the curtain before we tumble off too much.
Donnell: I adore the Scottish dialogue and vernacular you include in your series. My Kindle vocabulary building is ridiculous thanks to you. I’ve never heard you speak with a Scottish brogue. How is this possible to have such an understanding?
Mary Birk: Again, I pick things up from traveling and listening to accents in place, reading Scottish books and periodicals, watching Scottish television and movies, and, of course, the internet. My narrator for Violent Seed, the incredibly talented Darren Eliker, does an amazing job with accents. As you know, Violent Seed includes characters with Scottish, Welsh, French, Mexican, American, English, and Irish accents. He does them all beautifully. (I can’t do accents myself, other than on paper.)
Donnell: As a mystery author, I expect you to be familiar with American police procedure. Further, Superintendent Reid was working with the FBI when he and Anne met. Still, how did you gain such a thorough knowledge of Scottish law? Was there a Scottish Writers Police Academy that I missed? 😊
Mary Birk: Another excellent question! When I started the series, I ordered a Scottish police manual, studied websites and other info on the various agencies, and used my legal research training from being a lawyer to make sure I was getting things right. 
To further complicate things, while I was in the middle of writing the series, the whole Scottish police system changed from locally based police districts to the national system known as Police Scotland which exists today. I kept the first five books in the timeframe before that switch, but in the next book I’ll jump up in time to current day, without my characters aging. I just can’t write fast enough to keep up with time!
Donnell: In Violent Seed you left readers with a cliff hanger. Can readers anticipate a book six? If so, any idea when?
Mary Birk: Definitely. If you read Violent Seed, you’ll know about the September fete that was being planned at Dunbaryn. That’s where the next book will pick up. I’m hoping to release it by December 2026.
Donnell: Mary, I found each of your books a page turner, the plots fascinating and the characters scintillating. My favorites, in addition to Reid and Anne have to be the couple’s family members, Reid’s best friend John Stirling. Finally, I adore Reid’s police team, especially his red-headed police sergeant and detective inspector Allison. Thanks for getting me through the flu and for joining me!
Mary Birk: Thank you for having me!
About the Author: Mary Birk, a former trial lawyer turned mystery writer, pens the award-winning Lord Terrence Reid/Anne Michaels mystery series, which combines her passion for travel, food, and gardening with her love for all things Scottish. She serves as president of her local Sisters in Crime chapter and is active with the Rocky Mountain chapter of Mystery Writers of America. Ms. Birk lives and writes in Colorado. She is currently writing the sixth Terrence Reid mystery and starting a new and lighter mystery series featuring dollhouse aficionados. Visit her website at marybirk.com to sign up for her newsletter and learn more. To learn more about Mary and her books: https://marybirk.com/
Another great interview, Donnell! I’m going to have to acquaint myself with Mary’s books. And Mary, I love that pane/shards analogy for backstory!
Thank you, Lois! So much fun finally to get answers to these questions! I love the pane/shards analogy too!
Thanks! I think it works because you can visualize easily what you need to slip in ever once in a while!
Thank you, Donnell and Mary, for sharing with us. Your series sounds fascinating.
Thank you! I find delving into character’s psyche helps make the plot develop organically.
Your series sound fascinating! They are on my “must read” list!
Thank you! I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Thanks, Donnell, for giving us another interesting and informative blog. I’ve not read any of Mary Birk’s series, but that is about to change. Mary, thank you for your method of weaving the back story into your books. It’s always a challenge to walk the narrow path between too much and too little. I like the pain of glass imagery. Wishing you every success with your next book! Bailey Herrington, Donnell’s across the street neighbor and author.
Thank you so much! Working on the next book now! Back in the Highlands. 🥰
Terrific discussion. Blown away by the awesome research Mary does into Scottish law and police procedures!
Thanks! Luckily, I love research!
Mary – I give you huge credit for tackling the Scottish police system, both past and newly current. I have a hard enough time understanding the Federal, State, County and Municipality rules in the US! I’m very much looking forward to reading your series.
Thanks to Donnell for great interview questions.
Donnell is a wonderful interviewer!!
Mary, like Donnell, I love your books. Thank you both for this fascinating interview. I hope we can schedule you as a guest author for SinC CO book club with your new book in 2027!
Thanks, Margaret! Im working on book 6 now!
Love that sheet of glass reference for backstory!! Great interview!!
I agree- it’s a great series to binge!
As is yours, Ann 🙂 xo
I love Mary’s books and definitely think they would provide an awesome Netflix series! By the way, I planted a packet of Violent Seeds I got at the book launch and they are nicely sprouting. I think that’s a sign of the books to come!
Great interview! I love this series, too.