Novelist

Crime.
Fantasy.
Something stranger.

Stories about outsiders, divided worlds and the uncomfortable spaces where the real and the impossible collide.

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Current novel

The Cursed Detective

Contemporary Crime Fantasy

He was investigating her murder. Then he woke up as her.

DI John Feeney hates the Fae of Westborough. Unfortunately, his latest murder investigation has put him at the centre of their world — and a witch's curse has transformed him into the victim.

To become himself again, Feeney must solve a murder while living as Leandra Silver, the woman whose death brought him here. But the deeper he investigates, the harder it becomes to tell where the curse ends and his own prejudices begin.

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The writing

Stories of transformation,
identity and divided worlds.

Phil Callaghan writes crime and fantasy fiction in which the supernatural isn't an escape from human problems — it is a way of seeing them differently.

Urban Fantasy Thriller

Nightland Witch

Gia is on the verge of becoming the Nightland’s first female Master Finder when her latent witch powers awaken. She is exiled from the Nightland and must learn to live among the witches of the Coven.

But magic doesn’t come easily to her – especially with trauma buried deep in her past. When witches start disappearing, all signs lead back to a powerful Nightland figure known only as The Immortal. Gia must use both her magic and Finder skills to uncover a plot against her new allies – and confront the trauma that nearly destroyed her.

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92,000 words
More to come

Future stories

New worlds, strange cases and characters caught between the lives they know and the lives they never expected to lead.

In development
Author Phil Callaghan
About Phil

A storyteller drawn to the strange.

Phil Callaghan is an Irish writer living in North Wales. He has always been a storyteller, and his love of traditional tales underpins his preference for fantasy.

His fiction explores divided cities and transformation, with recurring themes of identity, class and gender. His novels combine the momentum of crime fiction with supernatural worlds that aren't quite as far removed from our own as they first appear.

Selected recognition

Book Edit Writers’ Prize — winner, 2025
Killer Twist Pitch Prize — prize-winner, 2025
Ascent Novel Prize — top 100, 2025
Jericho Writers Friday Night Live — long-listed
Curtis Brown Creative Christmas Competition — prize-winner, 2022
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