Tag Archives: London

A Depraved Indifference

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Newsletter

First, my monthly newsletter will be sent out this morning (Saturday) at 10.00 GMT + 2. It contains a brief news section and a heap of new promo suggestions with everything from steamy MM to standard historical fiction. Look out for that, and if you haven’t already subscribed, you know what to do!

A Depraved Indifference

The update here is that I am now up to 35,000 words of the first draft, so about four chapters away from the halfway mark. It’s not set in stone that I write each novel to 100,000 words, but it is what I like to aim for. I think my longest is 150,000 words, which is ‘The Larkspur Legacy’, but then, that is really parts two and three of a much longer story that starts with ‘Starting with Secrets.’ I guess you could say, together, they make one continuous mystery adventure of around 260,000 words.

The complete sentence that inspired the title of Delamere Ten is, A Depraved Indifference to human life, and it looks like this mystery is going to give Jack and Baxter some gruesome scenes to investigate. So far, I have three connected mysteries, one of which is a nasty and inventive murder. I now need to invent a few more and give Jack a worthy adversary who may go on to become his archenemy.

At the moment, I am looking into the history of a church called St Dunstan’s and All Saints, in Stepney, East London. I came across a blog titled, A London Inheritance, which has a fascinating post about the church, if you are interested, go and have a read. It also held this image:

It’s a map from 1720, and the church is ringed in red. What I also find interesting here is that at the bottom of this image, you can see both Shadwell, where Baxter comes from, and next to it, Limehouse, where Jack and Will Merrit are from. As you can see, they are noted as being hamlets. Later, the wider area became known as Tower Hamlets because it comprises an area near the Tower of London that was made up of hamlets.

St Dunstan’s is only one of several locations used in my next book, which is set in August 1893, and starts at the time of Simeon’s 17th birthday.

Of course, none of this will make any sense unless you have read the Delamere Files books, but if you have, you will be pleased to know that life goes on in Delamere House, although with a moral Vs professional dilemma for my main man, Jack.

More will be revealed in time – but not too much! Have a great weekend, and remember to look out for the newsletter and check out the promos.

The blog is well worth visiting if you are interested in London history and want a guided walk.

Baxter’s London

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Actually, it’s only a part of Baxter’s London…

Today, I want to share a gallery with you. When I was in London briefly in February, we stayed in Drury Lane, and as we only had a day and two evenings there, we stayed around the Covent Garden area. While there, I attempted to take some photos of places mentioned in the Clearwater, Larkspur and Delamere mysteries, and so, what I have today are some of them, with notes to explain what they are.

Before you venture into the gallery, though, you might like to know I have, this morning, completed work on ‘Acts of Faith’ and will be sending it to the layout team later today. They are going to do their best to have it back to me in time for me to send up to Amazon on Wednesday – but they are busy, and I may yet find issues with uploading (rare, but not unknown). All being well, you’ll be able to start on it next week. So, here’s the gallery in no particular order.

Bow Street Magistrates Court and police station. This appears in several books, but Fallen Splendour in particular, when Silas is arrested. I think it is now some kind of hotel or restaurant, and there is/was a police museum there too.
The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. This is the setting for the grand finale of ‘Unspeakable Acts.’
Neil having lunch at La Garrick, not, sadly, the Garrick Club which you can see through the window. Archer, Lord Clearwater, is a member of this club.
Charing Cross railways station features in several of the books.
This is beneath Charing Cross station. The row of arches used to house the entrance to the famous Heaven nightclub, but also, still houses the entrance to what was the Charing Cross Music Hall, as visited by Jack Merrit and Max Pascoe where they interview Marie Lloyd in ‘Follow the Van.’
A bust of WS Gilbert on the Embankment, near the Savoy Theatre.
The Embankment looking downstream.
A plaque on the side of the Savoy Theatre, the venue for the climax of ‘Speaking in Silence.’
The cobbles of Covent Garden that Silas, Micky-Nick, Fecker and other homeless lads would have walked back in the 1880s.
The Palace Theatre, Cambridge Circus. Now home to a Harry Potter play, Clearwater and others including Jasper Blackwood, attended the opening performance of ‘Ivanhoe’, by Sir Arthur Sullivan in 1891.
A Penhaligon’s shop in Covent Garden. Archer and Silas both wear Penhaligon’s, and when I was there, I was very tempted to buy the perfume they wear, Hamam Bouquet, but the only size they had was too big for my carry-on luggage, and the price too big for my pocket. I went for a smaller bottle of Halfeti instead.
This isn’t London. In fact, it is the proposed interior of a block of flats in Folkestone. However, it is/was the auditorium of the theatre I worked in back in the late 1970s, The Lease Pavilion Theatre. The gallery and arches are the same, and form a classic music hall style setup, as often described in my stories.