Murder mystery hits Coolum book shelves

Murder mystery set in Coolum hits book shelves.

MURDER MYSTERY: Marion Birkenbeil is excited to have her new novel in her hands after two years of writing.

A CHILLING murder mystery has hit the shores of Coolum with German author Marion Birkenbeil publishing her fourth book.

The Man with the Yellow Running Shoes is set in Coolum and follows a family of four's journey after finding a corpse while walking their dog at Stumers Creek beach.

Birkenbeil said writing the story for the past two years had been very exciting.

"I don't really plan anything," she said.

"For me, it's almost like reading because I'm surprising myself how the characters develop.

"For example, there was a character who was supposed to be a bad guy at the beginning and later, he is kind of a hero.

"And the murder case I never really planned who the murderer would be and sometimes at night I was still wondering who the murderer could be.

"For me, it's really exciting. It's almost like reading a book myself.

"Unfortunately, I can only write in German, although I have been here for about 22 years now.

"But I think it comes out more fluently and if I tried to translate it into English, I would run into problems."

Despite being written in German, Birkenbeil said she hoped by "describing the Australian landscapes" and including stories about animals, the book could inform other Germans about Australia.

"It's a nice gift for other Germans who want to know more about the Australian way of life," she said.

"I have some German friends who think I'm crazy for moving to Australia because of all the dangerous animals.

"But in the book, I describe the snakes as being more scared of us than we are of them."

Primary a murder mystery, the novel includes stories of first love, disappointment, friendship and dog anecdotes that are based on Birkenbeil's life experiences as a former 4 Paws foster carer.

The landscape architect said she had always had a fascination with crime novels and decided to write the murder mystery as a sequel to her first crime book Murder and Fire Flooding and Sand.

"As a little child, I always wanted to write a book and a crime story for some reason.

"When I was 10 I thought about it but I never did and then one day I wanted to give a gift to my mum for Christmas and she was always loved reading.

"So I sat down and wrote for three months and found a publisher who published my first book.

"This is the sequel but this one is only for people over 15 because there is more violence and drugs involved.

"But there is no reason to read this (first instalment) as it is a brand-new story with another murder mystery."

Published on December 2, Birkenbeil said she had already started her next book which will be a cookbook written in both English and German.

The Man with the Yellow Running Shoes is published by Books on Demand and can be requested at bookstores or as an e-book.

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