Mist by Mary Fitzgerald

A railway walk would be the perfect companion to this book as it’s set firmly in the Welsh Mountains in the present day but in a Wales that is still very much rural and untouched as it was when the railway was built. The story takes place in a rural cottage in the mountains and the mist in the story creates the most ethereal of settings

“In the lower fields the sheep huddled miserably agains the stone walls, half grown lambs pressed against their mothers silently enduring the familiar climatic conditions”

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TOG Walk

In the 1860s the race to control a route to the Welsh coast began. This saw the English Great Western Railway build a line through Wales as far as Dolgellau, the walk’s start point ...

In the 1860s the race to control a route to the Welsh coast began. This saw the English Great Western Railway build a line through Wales as far as Dolgellau, the walk’s start point …

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Hiddensee imagines the backstory of the Nutcracker, revealing how this entrancing creature came to be carved and how he guided an ailing girl named Klara through a dreamy paradise on a Christmas Eve. At the heart of Hoffmann’s mysterious tale hovers Godfather Drosselmeier– the ominous, canny, one-eyed toy maker made immortal by Petipa and Tchaikovsky’s fairy tale ballet– who presents the once and future Nutcracker to Klara, his goddaughter.
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Mari Hannah brings the landscape and coastline of Northumberland to life with all of her books but Monument to Murder is particularly apt for a walk passing the mighty ruins of Dunstanburgh Castle. Monument to Murder takes place with this castle in the background.Most of the story unfolds on Bamburgh Beach with Dunstanburgh just down the coast. The sands here are the scene for a criminal find... The windswept North East coastline is evoked in style and Jo, a character from the book even has a cottage in Low Newton where the walk ends up.
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What better book to take to Sycamore Gap than this one! The iconic Sycamore Gap – an iconic part of Hadrian’s Wall. Now notorious for a murder… The tree on the cover is the iconic tree featured in many photos, films and even Robin Hood. In the novel, it’s a barren and remote land, an unforgiving landscape where paganism is rife and old customs still hold sway. DCI Ryan and Anna investigate the scene and the subsequent mysteries whilst their relationship develops – and it’s this interaction and different ways of working that really puts a unique spin on a unique case in a unique setting!
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If, no, when you visit Snowdonia, you have to pay a visit to Portmeiron as it’s a very unique location for a wander and a novel! In the novel, the writer, Josephine Tey, joins her friends in the holiday village of Portmeirion to celebrate her fortieth birthday. Alfred Hitchcock and his wife, Alma Reville, are there to sign a deal to film Josephine’s novel.However, tragedy strikes and a mystery ensues... There’s some strong literary heritage here too - Portmeirion is a tourist village designed and built by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis between 1925 and 1975. Apparently inspired by Portofino on the Italian Riviera. The village now is owned by a charitable trust.
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In the summer of 1944 Gertraud Weisker 20 years old when her cousin Eva Braun invited her to come and keep her company at Berchtesgaden. This is the story of her fascination with the easy, glamorous lifestyle of her cousin and the gradual realisation of the dark history unfolding around it
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Bill Bryson brings his unique brand of humour to Europe as he shoulders his backpack, keeps a tight hold on his wallet, and journeys from Hammerfest, the northernmost town on the continent, to Istanbul on the cusp of Asia. Fluent in, oh, at least one language, he retraces his travels as a student twenty years before. You’ve never travelled across Europe as Bill Bryson has – or at least you  haven’t seen it quite as he does! Brace yourself..
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If it’s gritty Glasgow you wish to delve into, Craig Robertson is your perfect guide. He used to be a journalist and so wrote about many stories in and around the city so knows the place like no one else. His novel In Place of Death goes on a rather circular trail of the city but through Craig and his characters’ eyes’....
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The books of Frances Brody are an excellent way of discovering parts of the Dales you might not have seen otherwise. Death in the Dales is set around Settle and Langcliffe which are only a short distance from this walk. You can certainly get a good view from Malham of the setting on the book’s cover and the delights of this part of the world Private Investigator Kate Shackleton investigates: “On the approach to Settle, I noticed the whiteness of the roads,due to the limestone formation. Sharply defined hills, boulders and rocks stood out against green foliage.
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This island has a rare and exciting history to discover and the books of Chris Ewan will certainly give you a unique view of the island and its history. There’s a lot of folklore and stories about this place - do you know about the Hop-tu-Naa, the Manx Halloween? It’s a Celtic festival which takes place on 31st October like Halloween although this festival dates back much earlier. The name pronounced Hop two nay – translates as This is the Night…..
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As well as a stunningly pretty National Trust property, this site offers an insight into the region’s past too. Wendy Moore’s Wedlock tells of the true story of the the Bowes family – a notable family in the North East and Mary Eleanor Bowes in particular. Her story is so beyond belief that it almost defies it. In 1760, at the age of only 11 years, Mary ‘s rich businessman father died, leaving her his sole heiress with an estimated net worth of millions and millions. When her first husband died she was expected to marry again – enter Andrew Robinson Stoney – a charming and psychopathic man.
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