What Falls Between the Cracks

Travel Guide

London

A London set police procedural where the Paddington Green locale comes to the fore. The area of Walthamstow is where the flat is found with the freezer containing the hand. It could be any part of Lond, any city, where even those who live in apartment blocks and flats don’t know their neighbours. They don’t even know who lives in one of the flats and have no idea a girl could have been missing for years. Family and friends seem to have lost touch but have never questioned it.

The police follow the case around the city – the city streets are evoked via places such as the Police station, Smithfields market and outlying suburbs but the work of the city police is captured by the busy motorways, the dark streets and the chaos a city brings.

Author trail:

Smithfield Market – I spent a lot of time in London for my day job about five years ago, and walked through Smithfield more times than I can count, although never early enough to see it in full swing. It always struck me as far too grand-looking for the outside to be a meat market! When you take the time to look around, there’s lots of little details a lot of people don’t even notice, like carved dragons either side of the entrance, guarding the way in. I was amazed when I did a little research, that it’s been used as one for over a thousand years – a piece of history still fulfilling the same function today, even as London has grown and sprawled around it.
Ruislip Lido – As much as I needed the hustle and bustle of London as a setting for my story, I needed somewhere a little more secluded for certain parts. That’s not always east to find in a big city, but only 20 miles or so away from the city centre, you’ve got Ruislip Lido. It comes complete with an artificial beach, a mini railway and a woodland centre. I never actually made it here in person, and relied on Google, but looks a fab place to visit.

The Water’s Edge Pub – the pub is nestled just at the edge of the woods, near Ruislip Lido, and the Nature Reserve. I can’t say too much about why any of my characters go there without giving away spoilers. Suffice to say, after some unpleasant people get up to even less pleasant things, even they might need admin to take the edge off, so this is where they end up. Don’t be put off though, the real clientele are harmless.

Edgware Road – My main character, Jake Porter, and his partner, Nick Styles, are based out of Paddington Green station, just off Edgware road. It starts by Marble Arch, a stones throw away from Hyde Park and run for nearly 10 miles, past other iconic venues like Lord Cricket Ground, and a few streets away from Abbey Road Studios.