A Visit to London
Fall 2026
Why London? Because in spring of 2020, I’d planned a visit to see all the things I’d written about. We all know how that went.
I hunted gaslamps at night. Remembered to look up to catch hints of a Victorian past. Visited the oldest map store (I most certainly did bring some back). And finally managed to walk the shore of the Thames when the tide was low. Did I find anything? Only water-tumbled coal, but enough to heat at least one room overnight.
What ‘book things’ did I visit? Check out the photos below! Though they won’t tell the whole story of my week in the city. You’ll hear more about those locations when my next London-based book comes out.
I had to hide behind Jeff to stop squinting.
Bangers and Mash (bubble and squeak with mushy peas and gravy)
St Mary-Le-Strand
As part of this trip was to be a quest for tea, Fortnum & Mason was on my list. Was I excited that the store can trace its origins to 1707 and that any one of my characters might have shopped there? You bet.
William Fortnum – a footman in Queen Anne’s household – opened a small grocery shop in St James’s Market with his landlord, Hugh Mason, Fortnum used his royal connections to supply the household with provisions, and the business steadily built a reputation for fine foods and luxury goods.
By the Victorian era, Fortnum & Mason with its turquoise-and-gold branding had become one of London’s most fashionable food emporiums, known for hampers, teas, preserves and biscuits.
The original shop at 181 Piccadilly is still there today. While my goal was tea (and I was so focused I forgot to take photos in that section) we wandered about, taking in the view.
There was a biscuitorium – a model of the store built entirely from cookies! And as Halloween approaches, there were treats in the form of skulls, pumpkins, brains and ghosts. And even a perfectly crafted chocolate toad.
Tempting as everything was, I left with only a jar of potted blue Stilton cheese (it was too cute!), two tea tins, and tea for the readers who offered up their advice.
Highgate Cemetery
Walk through the Egyptian Avenue – a city of the dead flanked by two obelisks – takes you to the Circle of Lebanon. There you’ll find Egyptian vaults arranged in a circle, the center of which once held a magnificent Cedar of Lebanon. The tree stood for nearly two centuries before succumbing to age in 2019. A new one has been planted, but its branches won’t cast shadows for decades.
Ye Olde Mitre, Hatton Garden
This historic pub dates back to 1547. Originally built for the servants of the Bishop of Ely’s palace, it once technically belonged to Cambridgeshire rather than London, creating an urban legend that criminals could evade arrest by seeking sanctuary here, beyond the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Police.
The pub served as inspiration for The Three-Eyed Bat in A Reflection of Shadows & Icy Betrayals.
We arrived at 11am – and so decided to split a beer. I’m not even sure the pub was open, but they let us in and showed us around.
Opened in 1819, Burlington Arcade is one of Britain’s earliest covered shopping arcades, stretching 196 yards between Piccadilly and Old Burlington Street in the heart of Mayfair.
Why was Anne particularly interested in the grating beneath the shop windows?
The Pump House, Italian Gardens
Did I walk to the back of the Pump House? I most certainly did. Behind the front-facing section where Cait and Jack exchanged their vows in Venomous Secrets, you can see the engine (likely a new one) that pumps water and provides pressure to run the fountains. You can even see hints of where the River Westbourne once flowed to fill The Long Water and the Serpentine.
The Strand and Holywell Street
In Venomous Secrets we first encounter Cait on Holywell Street – in an old section of London that no longer exists. When the story takes place (post 1860s), the street was the territory of booksellers (Bookseller’s Row) notorious for selling pornography.
Blackburn Pavilion
The original Reptile House, the world’s first purpose-built reptile house at any zoo, opened in 1849 and now houses birds. For readers of Venomous Secrets, this location carries particular significance.
On Rose Street in Covent Garden, the historic pub the Lamb and Flag served as inspiration for The Hissing Cockatrice in Venomous Secrets. Built in 1623 with much of its original timber frame still intact, the pub earned the nickname “Bucket of Blood” for its links to prize fighting. In 1679, the poet John Dryden was attacked in the narrow alley beside it. Inside are timber beams, dim passages, and centuries of stories. The shadowed alleyway to Lazenby Court remains.
Take a walk down that alley with me on a Saturday night where a certain predator once claimed a victim ->
I’ve always wanted to visit an old operating theater! St. Thomas’ Church (the former site of St. Thomas’ Hospital) has one preserved at the top of a tower (spiral stairs!) along with an impressive apothecary collection. The old women’s operating theater built in 1822 (and used until 1862) was forgotten about (I know), then uncovered in 1957.
We then visited nearby Borough Market for lunch and took a tour of The Gordon Museum of Pathology. It’s a museum open only to those in the medical/bioscience professions – no photos allowed. If you’re interested, make arrangements before you go and be sure to arrive with your ID. If you’re okay with things floating in jars, it’s three floors times four towers of “WOW” and “I need at least a semester”. Did I fan girl over the very first clinical Xray machine and spend most of my time in the developmental biology section? You bet.
A walk down Goodwin’s Court, a location dating back to 1690. First in daylight. Then again by lamplight (about 40 seconds in).
