When Ghosts Whisper: A New Cozy Mystery Series Launches with Funeral Vows by Gaya Koljay at Wicked Ink Publishing
Wicked Ink Publishing is excited to announce the signing of Gaya Koljay, an internationally published author whose storytelling effortlessly bridges cultures, emotional depth, and genre charm. Her novel Funeral Vows, the first book in The Funeral Home Mysteries, brings a fresh and spirited voice to the cozy mystery genre, where grief, humor, romance, and the supernatural quietly coexist.
Set in the coastal town of Mangawhai, Funeral Vows follows Ida, an Austrian expatriate whose life has been shaped by loss, movement, and reinvention. After relocating to New Zealand and surviving a near-death experience of her own, Ida finds herself working at Eden Funeral Home, and discovering she can see ghosts. As she attempts to rebuild her life, navigate unfamiliar shores, and consider the possibility of love again, a suspicious death threatens the town’s calm façade. A strange bruise on a rest home resident, missing next of kin, and disrupted funeral arrangements suggest that this passing may not have been as peaceful as it first appeared.
Racing against time before a scheduled cremation, Ida turns to Constable Dean Mackay, an officer she knows all too well from frequent crime scene transfers, to uncover the truth. With her sixth sense and his grounded skepticism, the two are drawn into an investigation where secrets linger, emotions run high, and the dead may have more to say than expected. Blending warmth, wit, and gentle suspense, Funeral Vows proves that even in death, relationships, identity, and unfinished business still matter.
Gaya Koljay’s storytelling is deeply informed by her international background. Born in Poland, gaining her education in psychology in the Netherlands, and now based in New Zealand, where she earned a doctoral degree in creative writing. She brings a nuanced understanding of displacement, resilience, and emotional complexity to her work. Gaya is a member of the Polish Writers’ Association, the European Association of Creative Writing Programmes, and Romance Writers of New Zealand.
Writing under the name Gaja Kołodziej, she has published more than a dozen novels across Young Adult, New Adult, romance, women’s fiction, and cozy mystery. Her fiction is known for its vivid characters, emotional authenticity, and page-turning plots that explore connection and renewal, qualities that shine throughout Funeral Vows.
We are thrilled to welcome Gaya Koljay to Wicked Ink Publishing and look forward to sharing this cozy mystery series with mystery lovers, ghost enthusiasts, and readers who enjoy wit with their whodunits.
In this town, death is only the beginning.
Ida didn’t plan to move from Austria to New Zealand or seek employment at Eden Funeral Home in the quiet town of Mangawhai. But things went south when her Kiwi husband died and she herself went through an out-of-body experience and a near death during her first dip in the Pacific Ocean. Since then, she has been working as a funeral director, and if this on its own wasn’t strange enough, she has acquired an ability to see ghosts!
But now things are finally starting to look up: a handsome paramedic invited her for a beer. While Ida comes to terms with the concept of ‘moving on’, a strange bruise appears on the body of a rest home resident, suggesting the cause of death was something other than old age. Ida’s suspicions grow when she meets the next of kin who turns to dust all prior funeral arrangements.
Racing against time to solve the mystery before the cremation takes place, Ida seeks help from Constable Dean Mackay. They aren’t friends, though they have been meeting frequently while she transfers victims from crime scenes on behalf of the coroner. Will his toned muscles and her sixth sense suffice to dig up clues about who could have had it in for the rest home resident?
Ghosts beware: it’s going to be one unforgettable week on-call!
