Inspiration for The Dream Home

Location is so important – and not just when you’re moving house. It can also play a big part in setting the scene for a thriller, which is why I knew from the start where The Dream Home would be set.

I first ventured into The Park more than twenty-five years ago as a young reporter for the Nottingham Evening Post. I can’t remember the story I was working on that day but I vividly remember the place – an enclave of grand Victorian houses and wide, tree-lined streets nestling beneath Nottingham castle. Right in the heart of the city – but quite unlike any of the surrounding neighbourhoods.

Lit by gas lamps at night, the whole of The Park is a conservation area intended to preserve hundreds of houses built in a mixture of gothic, classical and almost Elizabethan styles by some of the foremost Victorian architects of the time. It has a geometric layout, with a series of crescents joined by parallel drives spreading out from the centre, which gives it a very distinctive feel.

Researching the 19th-century origins of The Park was so interesting and the more I learned about it, the more I knew it would make the perfect setting for a story that starts with a family moving house. Especially as their new home would be old and beautiful and full of secrets…

If you’re an audiobook listener, the brilliant narrator Richard Armitage has done an incredible job of bringing the house, the neighbourhood and the story of The Dream Home to life for the audio version. And if you’d like a taster, you can listen to a taster on my social media channels @TMLoganAuthor or on Soundcloud.

I was so pleased to see The Dream Home enjoy a second week in the Sunday Times hardback bestsellers chart, and I hope to sign lots more copies at my forthcoming events in Worcester, Reading, London, Lincolnshire and Sandwell. I will also be adding other visits to my events list soon!