Wednesday, July 2, 2014

A Visit to Trafalgar

As most readers of the Constable Molly Smith series know, the town of Trafaglar, B.C. is closely based on Nelson, B.C.  I love Nelson. It's a small, quirky, friendly town, smack dab in the centre of the BC wilderness. It's located in a valley, alongside a river, surrounded by mountains on all sides.  There is a certain Brigadoon quality to Nelson.  It is literally on the way to no where.  You have to be wanting to go there, to go there.


Outside Big Eddies

Street scene, with Fleures Des Menthe Restaurant patio on the right
A perfect setting, I thought, for a series of crime novels. And thus, Trafalgar was born.  Others seem to agree with me, as there are now several mystery novels set in some fictional version of Nelson.

I visited Nelson recently, and decided it would be fun to take pictures of the real places that feature in my fictional town.  I posted some last week, and here are a few more.

The French Bakery introduced in IN THE SHADOW OF THE GLACIER, and featured in all the other books when Molly Smith moves into the apartment above. 

Bar of the Hudson House Hotel.  Where Smith meets her childhood friend Nicky in AMONG THE DEPARTED 

The " Big Black Bridge "

Big Eddie's Coffee Emporium, site of many meetings.

The police station (of course)

A street scene. Picture taken from inside "George's Restaurant" (hard to see, but what makes this "Nelson" is the kids band playing across the street)

Yup, Castlegar really is known as Cancel-gar, as Smith tells Winters taking him to meet a flight in WINTER OF SECRETS

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