Historical Note

All of the characters in this novella are fictional, unless specifically mentioned below.

Weather, timings, general political events, and places (and descriptions of places) are historically accurate to the best of my knowledge, save for the exceptions listed below.

As in the other Posie Parker books, I refer to the First World War of 1914–1918 as the ‘Great War’ throughout, which is simpler for the modern reader, although it would not have been referred to in this way in 1925.

As ever, Posie’s work address in London (Grape Street, Bloomsbury, WC1) and her home address around the corner (Museum Chambers, WC1) are both very real, although you might have to do a bit of imagining to find her there.

The Mermaid Inn, as described in this story is, of course, very real and has carved its own piece of rich history for over five hundred years in the East Sussex port town of Rye. It has cellars dating from 1156 and the inn as it stands today was rebuilt in 1420, its original incarnation (together with the whole town of Rye) having been burnt to the ground by French raiders in 1377.

Most famous for being the meeting-point of the infamous and violent Hawkhurst Gang of smugglers (whose activity at the inn is dated around 1735–1749), it is reported to be haunted by a collection of ghosts associated with this gang.

It is an inn which has attracted royalty and famous personages (including Shakespeare himself) through the ages, it is a uniquely riveting place, heavy with the feel of its own history, and yet it is also a wonderfully warm and welcoming place for the modern-day visitor. The superb restaurant and luxury rooms are certainly unforgettable. See: https://www.mermaidinn.com/

1. (Chapter Three) The book I describe Lovelace handing to Posie, Patterson’s Guide to Smuggling and Tax Evasion: History and Legal Precedents , is completely fictional. But Highways & Byways in Sussex by E. V. Lucas (published 1919), which Posie reads on the train to Rye, was very real. Second-hand copies can still be obtained, although they are, by now, rare, and collector’s editions.

2. (Chapter Three) The train journey from London to Rye on a Southern Railway train which Posie and Richard undertake would actually have included a change at Ashford in Kent, or at Hastings in Sussex, which for the sake of brevity and the story arc I do not mention here. The train journey remains the same today.

3. (Chapter Three and throughout) The story of Rosa Parker, Posie’s mother, and the full mystery behind why she left the Parker family in 1903 is explored more fully in the stand-alone novella by L. B. Hathaway, A Christmas Case: A Posie Parker Novella .

4. (Chapter Four) For the High Street in Rye and in particular The George Hotel, I have used E.V. Lucas’ description in Highways & Byways in Sussex . For the same hotel today see: https://thegeorgeinrye.com

5. (Chapter Four) The painting which Posie looks at in the window of a gallery in the High Street is based on a contemporary one, by local artist Richard Adams, entitled Ticket to Rye (see the previous section). I have described the picture as is, but I have added the dancing couple on the quay as a plot device all of my own.

6. (Chapter Five and throughout) The Proprietress, Mrs Joab, and the receptionist, Evans, at the Mermaid are both fictional. Please note I have gone for an atmospheric rather than a strictly historical approach when describing the appearance and layout of the Mermaid. I have described it as if the visitor was entering the hotel today, rather than in the year 1925, when this novel is set.

7. (Chapter Five) The story I give for the naming of the Mermaid is entirely fictional and my own conjecture.

8. (Throughout) The storyline regarding Rosa Rossoli, the summer tea-dances at the Mermaid and her living arrangements there, and the story of the crashed Lagonda at Hastings cliffs are all completely fictional, as is the story of Rosa’s disappearance in the Sussex Express of 2 December 1925. The other stories and adverts I mention as being in that same newspaper are, however, accurate as to that day’s edition.

9. (Chapter Six and Seven) The snowy, sleety funeral of the much-loved Queen Alexandra did take place in London on 27 November 1925. It was echoed all around the country, such as in St Mary’s Church, Rye, so people could feel they were participating in marking the much-loved Queen’s death.

10. (Chapter Six) Melville & Sons on Rye High Street (solicitors) is fictional. The Probate Registry which Mr Putebank refers to as being in Rye would have been accurate at this date, but was abolished and moved to Battle in 1931.

11. (Chapter Nine) There is indeed a heat-sealed Priest’s Hole in the fireplace of the Giant’s Bar, however, the staff apartments upstairs (including room 32) and the connecting tunnels to this particular Priest’s Hole are a fancy of my own. As indeed are the maps illustrating these.

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