Sometimes it's good to get away from the keyboard for some inspiration and that's exactly what I did this week. Wandering around the locations I use for settings in my Esme Quentin mysteries, on the North Devon coast, is always a treat and out of season you get the place to yourself, too!
In The Indelible Stain, Esme comes to find the genealogist, Morris Beveridge, in the unique village of Clovelly. She wants to ask him about some research he's done on a family which is key to her investigation. She wanders down the cobbled streets, searching for him.
Esme eventually spies him from The Look Out (picture on the left is taken from the very spot), where he's talking to a group of tourists down on the harbour, about the history of Clovelly village.
The Look Out is half way down Clovelly's main street where you can sit on a bench and gaze down at The Red Lion pub and the quay, below.
The quay and harbour were recently used as a film setting for The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. (You'll catch a shot of Clovelly in the film's trailer which you can view by clicking the link.)
In The Malice of Angels (and in the book I'm currently writing), Esme is living in a cottage inspired by the one in this photograph. It's another well used film location, appearing in a BBC production of Sense and Sensibility and, more recently, The Night Manager.
You can read more about the area as a film location on Hartland Abbey's website, which includes news of the filming of Enid Blyton's Malory Towers, to be screened on CBBC shortly, as well as the Netflix adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, also due out sometime this coming spring.
While I was out and about, I took the opportunity to visit a place which will appear in the new book. So I shall leave you with a little taster, by way of a couple of photographs of the location. I wonder if those of you familiar with the area will recognise it?
If you'd like to be amongst the first to know when the new book comes out, including sneaky peeks, cover reveal and special offers, and you're not already on the mailing list, please do join us by clicking on the image below.
You get a FREE ebook, too - Legacy of Guilt, which is a prequel to the Esme Quentin series.
