In
more recent times, I’ve continued the habit with C.J. Sansom’s Shardlake series. Dark Fire is my favourite, and as I read I followed every step of
the plot in the very nice map of Tudor London. I went from Cheapside to the
Tower, imagining the foul smells and the overhanging upper stories alla
Shambles of York.
When
I decided to set my own series in Victorian Edinburgh, one of the first things
I looked for was a map of the period. My books are set (so far) between 1888
and 1889, but the nearest I could find was 1870. The 18-year gap would prove
largely irrelevant – this I shall explain:-
The
Scottish half of my detective duo, Adolphus Nine-Nails McGray, has a young
sister who is sadly secluded in Edinburgh’s Royal Lunatic Asylum. Back then the
place was one of the most advanced institutions for the treatment of mental
illnesses, and the building, which has
not changed much since then, sits in the now leafy, café- and tearoom-ridden
Morningside. Very fittingly, it is now the faculty of Psychiatry.
During
my first research trip I went to see it. I was too shy to tell the tourist
information lady I was looking for “the building that used to be a lunatics
asylum in 1889” – she might have thought I needed the place myself – so I
simply asked which bus I needed to take to Morningside. Off I went, and only
too late I realised I had not brought a map of the city with me. The only
reference I had at hand was a print-out of my 1870s map. Again, I was too shy
to ask the driver or other passenger. What could I have said? “Excuse me, sir,
do you know the stop to the building that used to be a lunatics asylum in
1889?” Applying my, by then, very well-practised British stoicism, I kept
still, and simply looked at my +140-year-old map.
By
now (I’m working on the 4th book of the series) I know Edinburgh better than I
do my own neighbourhood. I dream of the day I can own a basement flat in Moray
Place, where McGray has his rather neglected townhouse; whenever I’m in town I
have a glass or two at the Ensign Ewart, McGray’s favourite pub; and then, if
sober enough, I like to stroll down the Royal Mile to the City Chambers, which used
to be the CID headquarters.
I
am so glad that my new book, A Mask of
Shadows, also includes a beautiful map of old Edinburgh (drawn from my
+140-year-old map). I hope that now someone else will follow the steps of my
detectives, from their homes to the spookiest crime scenes – just like I
followed Frodo Baggins, whilst wondering why I craved for some cheese.
A Mask of Shadows by Oscar de Muriel
A Mask of Shadows by Oscar de Muriel
1889.
The Scottish Play is coming home. But
before the darling couple of London theatre, Henry Irving & Ellen Terry,
take their acclaimed Macbeth to the Edinburgh stage terror treads the boards. A grisly message found smeared across the
cobbles in blood, foretelling someone's demise.
As the bloody prophecies continue to appear Edinburgh's own beloved pair
- Detective 'Nine-Nails' McGray & Inspector Ian Frey - enter the scene.
Frey scoffs at this blatant publicity stunt, while McGray is convinced of
supernatural affairs. As they scrutinise
the key players, they discover that Terry, Irving, and his peculiar,
preoccupied assistant (one Bram Stoker) all have reasons to kill, or be
killed... But one thing is clear. By
occult curse or human hand, death will take bow the night the curtain rises.
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