What We're Writing--Debs on Getting the Detail

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I am just home from a three-week stay in London, and I think it was one of the most productive research trips I've ever made. I had enough of Kincaid/James #20 plotted out that I had a very specific agenda, but for all the benefits of Google, it's not virtual reality. Sometimes you just have to get boots (sandals, in this case) on the ground. Halfway through my trip, I'd made it to Eel Pie Island, which I wrote about here. And I did make it back to Twickenham on another day to visit the Eel Pie Island Museum, where I had a lovely, and very personal (thank you, Kate!) tour of the museum's exhibits.

Then it was back to Little Venice and the Regent's Canal for my most challenging bit of research. I knew (spoiler alert!) that I had a body in the canal, and I knew exactly where it was discovered. But even though I'd done the waterbus tour twice, and studied and studied maps and Google Street View, I could NOT figure out how my first responders, police officers, and scene of crime team were going to get to that particular stretch of towpath.

Here's a snippet where Oliver, my fictional waterbus guide, makes a very unpleasant discovery.

The Maybelle’s prow eased into the watery gray light. At least the rain had stopped, thought Oliver, but he grimaced at the unsightly gray concrete of the retaining wall on the right-hand bank and the still, dark green water beneath it. For some reason, rubbish tipped into the canal tended to collect just there. He’d seen shopping trolleys and bicycles as well as fast food wrappers and the ubiquitous water-logged plastic bags.

Now, he caught a glimpse of something brown, swaying gently just below the surface, and he hoped to God it wasn’t a dead animal—the customers would be asking for their fares back. But before he could distract them with the next bit of patter, the single woman pointed. “Look. What is that? It’s moving.”

“Otter or vole, I expect,” said Oliver quickly, “but we’d be lucky to see one in day—”

He broke off as the brown patch bobbed and turned in an eddy from the boat’s wash, revealing something greyish white, like the underbelly of a fish—but with the distinctive features of a human face.

One of the women screamed.

And here is that deserted stretch of the canal at the east end of the Maida Hill Tunnel.

    Very atmospheric, isn't it? And on the right, concealed by the bush, is one of the towpath access points. It seems simple enough in retrospect, but finding that took me HOURS of walking--some of it in circles, I later discovered.

But there are always bonuses to this kind of research. Here's one, the moored narrowboat community along one section of the canal.

Including this most charming bathtub! I wondered if they were putting it in or taking it out, or if it was merely decoration...

I also stumbled upon Lord's Cricket Ground in St. John's Wood.

    It was only later that I realized Paul McCartney's house in St. John's Wood is just on the other side of the cricket ground. I'd have done the touristy Beatles-fan walk-by if I'd known! Abbey Road Studios are only a short walk away as well--close enough that Paul supposedly turned up in his pajamas and slippers on occasion.

This is a part of London I didn't know at all, and I've loved exploring its nooks and crannies. It will be so much fun to see which bits make it into the book. Maybe one of my characters will wave at Sir Paul as he comes out of his gate!

REDS and readers, what "accidental" but memorable discoveries have you made while traveling?