The Witches of Môrlan
One hound. Many secrets. Ancient Welsh magic that doesn't ask permission.
Môrlan is a Welsh coastal town where the boundary between this world and the Otherworld is thinner than it should be. The magic here is old — rooted in Welsh folklore and mythology — and it doesn't particularly care about being convenient or explicable.
Each book centres on a different member of the coven — the same town, the same magic, the same secrets underneath it all.
Read if you like: paranormal mystery · Welsh folklore and mythology · immersive sense of place · magic that feels genuinely old · found community · Tân
Latest Release
Stormbound
The sea remembers what people forgot.
Cate Morgan has questions. Why did her mother flee this Welsh coastal town thirty years ago and never look back? What happened here that she refuses to speak of? Taking the harbourmaster job in Môrlan feels less like a career move and more like the only way she'll ever find out.
Within days of arriving, Cate finds herself drawn into a circle of witches who practise a magic she recognises in her bones — older and stranger than anything she taught herself: a baker who reads the truth beneath words, a forensic pathologist who speaks with the dead, a blacksmith who forges protection into iron, and a powerful witch with an Otherworld hound. They don't know her mother. But someone in Môrlan does. Someone who's been burying secrets for decades.
The closer Cate gets to the truth, the more dangerous the questions become. Because whatever happened to her mother thirty years ago is still happening.
Stormbound is a paranormal mystery rooted in Welsh folklore, set on the wild Pembrokeshire coast. Perfect for readers of TJ Green, Sarah Painter, and anyone who’s ever wanted to move to a harbour town and start over.
The Witches of Môrlan Series
Welsh paranormal mystery novels. Each book a new voice, the same ancient magic.
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Note from Toria
The Witches of Môrlan began with a hound.
Not Tân specifically — not at first — but the feeling of him… as I experienced with my ‘wolf’ Bear, who passed away in 2022. And the sense that somewhere in the old Welsh mythology I'd been reading since I was a child, there was a creature that didn't belong to anyone and couldn't be owned and would absolutely steal your heart anyway. The Cŵn Annwn are the hunting hounds of the Welsh Otherworld, ancient and terrifying in the original folklore. I made one of them a companion. He objected slightly, then decided it was fine.
Wales does something to me that Cornwall doesn't quite manage. It feels older, stranger, more resistant to being tidied up into something comfortable. Wales feels like home, and did from the moment I moved here 20 years ago. Môrlan grew out of that resistance. The magic here isn't decorative. It has opinions.
I hope it unsettles you in the best possible way.
FAQs
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Yes. Each book centres on a different member of the coven, but the story builds across the series, and the threads deepen from one book to the next. Starting with Stormbound will give you the best experience.
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The magic in Môrlan is rooted in Welsh folklore—older, stranger, and not always explained. It’s part of the world rather than something added on top of it, and it doesn’t behave in ways that are neat or convenient.
It’s not ritual-driven or performative; magic here is innate, instinctive, and something some people live with rather than summon.
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Not in the traditional sense. These aren’t light, comedic mysteries—while they’re grounded in community and place, the tone leans more atmospheric and uncanny. The stories draw on folklore and setting, with tension that builds gradually and magic that doesn’t always behave in predictable ways.
If you’re looking for humour-led cosy mysteries, this may not be the right fit—but if you enjoy folklore, atmosphere, and a strong sense of place, you’ll feel at home here. For something lighter and more overtly humorous, the Blooming Detectives series is probably more your speed—lighter, sharper, and a little less inclined to behave itself.
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If you enjoy series like TJ Green’s White Haven Witches, but are looking for something more atmospheric, less cosy in tone, Môrlan sits in that space. It may also appeal to readers who enjoy folklore-led British fantasy with a strong sense of place.
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In a fictional Welsh coastal town in Pembrokeshire. It’s very loosely modelled on Saundersfoot but situated near to Ceibwr Bay, where the boundary between this world and the Otherworld is thinner than it should be.
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Readers who enjoy folklore, place-led storytelling, and mysteries that unfold gradually—where atmosphere, character, and setting matter as much as plot.
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