I wanted to have fun with BUCKINGHAM PALACE GARDENS, so I used the rule my American agent suggests – think of the most dramatic or outrageous situation you can, and then make it worse! But do it in such a way that it is perfectly believable.

Now and again I like to attempt a story with restrictions so tight it can become desperate – no time, no space, the pressure so intense something has to explode – an enclosed setting from which no-one can escape and a deadline before which the crime must be solved, or something terrible will happen. A fearful murder in Buckingham Palace, with Queen Victoria about to return, seems to fit the bill.

I wanted to have fun with the period’s glamour; gorgeous clothes, diamonds and lace, plunging necklines and skirts that sweep the floor, the most beautiful rooms in the country and etiquette so rigid it crackles!

Add to this a turmoil of emotions amongst people who have known each other in a violent and passionate past, are in love – or hate – today, and have high stakes to play for. I managed two or three love affairs of different natures, past crimes that lead to the present ones, unimaginable sums of money to be made or lost on that great vision of a railway spanning Africa from Cape Town to Cairo, through the heart of the Dark Continent.

Because of the setting, I could not manage to get Charlotte into it, but I did make a starring role for Gracie. She has her hour of glory and some considerable danger. And Pitt saves the day for justice, and makes an enemy who will never forgive him. Now I need to think of another story to follow that!

 
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