Sometimes, the real and imaginary blend together in fiction. And, Suspicion is no exception. Suspicion is set in Northampton, and I’ve purposefully avoided using real places with some exceptions. The decision behind this was fuelled by the content of the story. So, if you’re a local, you’ll notice how many liberties I’ve taken to create this fictional but a very real city of Northampton.
Real or Not
In particular, on the cover, you’ll notice the Northampton Guild Hall. Its facade inspired the Northampton Museum of Anthropology. The surrounding streets and narrow laneways also appear in Suspicion. Yes, I’m sorry to say that this museum is not a real place you can visit.
Fear not you fellow museum buff, there is a museum situated within Cambridge University called the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. It’s interior, and some of the contents were the inspiration behind the Northampton Museum of Anthropology. I loved this small and very fascinating museum, so much that I used it as a backdrop to the fight scene in chapters thirty-two through to thirty-eight. And, I have to admit it was a super fun and somewhat tragic scene to write because a few of the beautiful artefacts become damaged or broken.
While we’re talking about things that aren’t quite real, the Northampton Tribune is not a real newspaper, unless there’s a small newspaper with a similar name that did not come up during the various stages of research as I wrote and revised Suspicion.
The Chateaux
Yes, the chateaux featured in this book are real. And you can visit both of them. Tintagel which is essentially castle ruins, is in Cornwall and can be visited at certain times of the year. Quite tragically, I was unable to visit these beautiful ruins while I was writing this book because it was closed due to renovations to one of the pedestrian bridges. As you have probably guessed, I’m a bit of a chateaux enthusiast, much like James’s grandfather, Dr Francois Lalonde. One of the reasons why I chose this chateaux and Pierrefonds, is due to their connections to Arthurian legend.
The beautiful Chateau de Pierrefonds, which is literally translated from French to English as the castle of Pierrefonds, is in the small French town of Pierrefonds. It’s approximately two hours drive from Paris. Unfortunately, I was not able to visit this chateau as well, but this time it was due to the French Railway Strikes making it challenging to travel and hire vehicles during this time. So, in a way, I’m a little jinxed. Or, so it seems. For those of who are Merlin fan’s, you will know this is the filming location for Camelot. Thus, this chateau was chosen for its Arthurian connections.