Diane Hoy, a Belfast writer and former development officer for the Ulster Scots Heritage Council, has released her debut paranormal novel The Spirits of Place. The book, published by Colour Point Books in Newtownards, centers on locations across the Ards peninsula including Greyabbey, Newtownards and Cloughey.

The story follows five people who gather at Laverock, a renovated 19th-century gate lodge in the fishing village of Annalong in the Kingdom of Mourne. Parapsychological events disturb the family there, awakening spirits and uncovering secrets.

Hoy set the novel in Ulster-Scots heartlands to showcase Strangford Lough and the Mourne Mountains alongside historical ties to the area. She researched the 1606 settlement by Hamilton and Montgomery, centered on the Ards peninsula.

As events in the story turn more severe, a Presbyterian deliverance ministry intervenes. Hoy consulted two Presbyterian ministers at Union Theological College in Belfast, who described the process as a house clearance rather than exorcism.

The ministers explained that such ceremonies involve prayer to cleanse a house of dark forces entering through a portal. They advised against naming or engaging spirits directly.

Hoy previously authored a children's book on Strangford Lough stories and a collection of Ulster-Scots recipes. The Spirits of Place is available online and in stores via colourpoint.books.com.