Before It’s Too Late

Travel Guide

The plot takes you from Stratford, Northampton, Leamington and Birmingham but the sites in Stratford show you a side to the city that’s worth a look.

Stratford

Originally from Beijing, Min Li has come to England to study Not with her parents approval however as they value their culture and traditions more it would seem. Having a daughter move to the other side of the world to study is not what they had planned for her, but Min Li is determined to go and overcoming the initial culture shock and beliefs of her parents, she settles in nicely.

Stratford is  a nice place to be –

“The sweet scent of  grass mingled with wild honeysuckle wafted in to the car. The smells were always stronger in the dark hours, especially that gap between 2 and 5 am when the roads were quiet and the people of Stratford rested in their slumber.”

But contrast this to the hell Min Li now finds herself in, a dark pit, alone and afraid. Her voice is one of isolation and fear as she tries to survive in the best way she can, trying to make her hell that little bit comfortable if she can, while she holds on in the hope that someone will come for her.

Quite a setting to be immersed in, and the first person narrative draws you in tight. It’s a claustrophobic and frightening world to be in.

“I concentrated hard, desperately listening for something familiar, the sound of life.

I heard nothing.

Just my own breaths and the wind, whistling through branches above… The thought made me shiver.

I am buried alive.”

At the same time, Detective Inspector Will Jackman who was investigating the disappearance and murder of 22 year old Ellen Readman is placed on this latest and high profile case. With the connections to China and the international implications of all that it entails,  Superintendent Alison Janus believes this new case  will have serious implications on more than one level.

Meanwhile, a frightened Chinese girl is hidden somewhere in Stratford, waiting for a way out.