An interview with writer Marsali Taylor

Writer, Marsali Taylor draws much of her inspiration from the islands she calls home. Her novels are known for their rich sense of atmosphere, memorable characters, and stories that capture both the beauty and mystery of Scotland’s northern isles. In this interview, she talks about her journey as a writer, how Shetland continues to shape her work, and her role as curator of the Shetland Noir festival.

when I went south, I was asked things like, ‘Is it not very bleak up there?’, ‘Do you have electricity?’ and, most frequently, ‘But what on earth do you find to do with yourself up there?’ I wanted to show them how wrong they were!

Q. Have you always been a keen writer?

A. Yes, always, right from when I was a child – in fact I still have my first book, a small notebook covered with Christmas paper, with a series of stories written about what we got up to in our summers on the west coast. Going by the spelling, I was five or six. I kept on writing, and managed a couple of book-length stories as a teenager, before University hit. When I came up to Shetland as a probationer teacher, I started writing seriously – first two historical romances, which got kind rejection letters, then a trilogy of Shetland crime novels, which got me an agent, Teresa Chris, but not yet a publisher, then finally the Cass series. I’m now working on no. 16.

I’ve also written a huge number of plays for my pupils – I keep meaning to publish them as a collection, so that other teachers can use them. I’m keen on history too, and self-published Women’s Suffrage in Shetland, a 320 page book which was meant to be a pamphlet, except that I discovered there was a lot to be said about the women working for the vote in this remote archipelago. We had women on school boards only a year behind Edinburgh and London, and the first president of the second WSS was the wife of the New Zealand premier who’d brought in women’s suffrage there, and a friend of Emmeline Pankhurst.

Q. How do the islands’ weather, light, and sea shape the mood of your writing?

A. The weather and landscape of Shetland has a huge influence on my writing. Each book’s set at a different time, with the investigation lasting around ten days. For research I spend ten days at that time writing down everything I see, hear and feel, whether it’s deep snow in A Shetland Winter Mystery or summer skies and sea in Death on a Shetland Isle.

Q. Is there a specific place in Shetland that repeatedly appears in your work?

A. Several of the books are set around my own sailing area of Swarback’s Minn, the hand-shape of water between Aith, Voe and Brae. At first, Cass is living aboard her own small yacht in Delting Marina, then she moves to a house at The Ladie, in the sound between Brae and Aith. I also enjoy sending her to other areas in Shetland, because each place has its own particular flavour. The Shetland Sea Murders is set on Papa Stour and Foula, the islands to the west; Death in a Shetland Lane features the creepy Windhouse in Yell.

Q. How does island life influence the characters you create?

A. I try very hard to make my characters believable, without basing them on real people. Shetland characters like Cass’s seaman friend Magnie, and Inga who was at school with her, are the backbone of every Shetland community. I also have fun with the way everyone knows everyone, and what they do – that’s very Shetland!

Q. How do you balance authenticity with imagination when writing about real places?

A. I like using real places because the kind of puzzle murders Cass gets mixed up in are totally implausible in Shetland. It’s good to have other aspects of the story grounded in reality, and readers enjoy tracing Cass’s adventures on Google maps. As the stories become better known, I try to be more careful – for Cass and Gavin’s house, rather than giving them an existing one, I “rebuilt” the ruin at The Ladie.

Q. Which local voices or traditions have most influenced your writing style?

A. The late Bertie Deyell’s collection of Shetland Proverbs is a super way of introducing readers to the musical, expressive Shaetlan language, and proverbs from his book are used as chapter headings in many of the books. I’ve also used Shaetlan songs as section headings in Death at a Shetland Festival, and A Shetland Winter Mystery is written around the old Yule customs.

Q. What aspects of island culture do you most enjoy sharing with readers?

A. I love featuring the different events that take place through the year – they’re great for letting Cass meet people and spot clues.

Q. What would you tell a first-time visitor to notice while travelling to Shetland?

A. Look out for all the Norse things that make us so different! Our flag – the way villages are laid out along the shore, instead of clustered round a crossroad; the double-ended boats; the older crofthouses which look like Norse longhouses, and the new wooden ‘kit’ houses from Norway; the modern facilities, like our museums, country halls and beautiful schools… oh, and do try to hear some Shaetlan spoken.

Q. How do you hope your writing shapes readers’ perceptions of Shetland?

A. When I began writing the Cass series, I was a woman on a misson. I’d come to this beautiful, friendly place, with lots always going on, from Up Helly Aa in January to Christmas pantomimes, and I was  teaching in a newly-built school with all mod cons – yet when I went south, I was asked things like, ‘Is it not very bleak up there?’, ‘Do you have electricity?’ and, most frequently, ‘But what on earth do you find to do with yourself up there?’ I wanted to show them how wrong they were!

It’s also a wonderful place for children. When my London grandchildren visited, aged ten and twelve, I took them down to our local leisure centre, and as they were shown the pool, gym and climbing wall, their eyes got rounder and rounder. ‘We don’t have anything like this in Balham,’ they said. They signed up for the holiday activities, met local children and disappeared for the rest of the holiday, charging round the hills and beach with them. They couldn’t do that in Balham either! Maybe the teenager activities in A Shetland Winter Mystery are a little far-fetched, but they’re not totally improbable. Our bairns are a feisty, self-reliant lot!

Q. How did you get involved in Shetland Noir?

A. Shetland Noir was suggested by Ann Cleeves way back in 2015, in partnership with the hugely successful Iceland Noir, and I set up an event in the library, allowing authors to meet local folk: members of the Up Helly A Jarl Squad in full regalia, a local pony breeder, our County archivist and archaeologist… then I was fully involved as Curator in 2023 and now in 2026, organising the panels and shaping the overall programme.

Q. Can you tell us a bit about Shetland Noir and the participating authors?

A. We have an amazing line up for Shetland Noir 2026. The headliners include Lee Child, Louise Penny and Yrsa Sigurdursdottir, and there are thirty panel authors. Our theme this year is ‘International’ so the panels include discussion of policing round the world, authors’ lives in different countries, and trans-crime anthology collaborations. We’re ending the festival with a ‘You the Jury’ event and a fun Murder Quiz. The weekend tickets sold out very quickly, but there are still day tickets and tickets for headliner events, and spaces in the workshops, one each day, focusing on different aspects of crime writing. We also have authors going into local schools. At the moment it’s a whirl of organising, but it’s going to be a lot of fun.

You can read more about Marsali and her writing on her website.

By Victoria Dixon Orkney and Shetland fanatic, likes to capture life through a lens, loves creating, eclectic taste in music, enjoys being a Mum; would secretly love to be a star of the West End!

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