The Road to Hell (5)

Author/Guide: Sheila Quigley

Why a Booktrail?

2000s: A woman’s body is found showing human bike marks in a field near Houghton le Spring. The Road to Hell starts here.

ISBN: 978-1907183089
Genre: Crime

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What you need to know before your trail

A woman’s body is found mutilated in a field outside of Houghton-le-Spring

DI Lorraine is horrified to find that there are bite marks on the body and the victim has been violated. What’s even more of a shock is that Lorraine soon realises that she knew the woman and that it seems to be a carbon copy of a crime committed years ago. DI Lorraine remembers the night of that crime well for it changed her life and that of her friends forever.

Locations

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Travel Guide

Welcome to the Seahills housing estate and a story set in both the past and the present. If you’ve not been here before, then this is a good starting point as all the usual characters are there but the back and forth of the plot means that you get to know them all well.

The Seahills community is full of gritty Northern characters, working class and proud of it. Salt of the Earth you might say, apart from one or two bad apples in the basket. The Seahills estate is understandably fictional but since the author has lived in Sunderland for over 30 years, you can tell it’s based upon experience, time and understanding.

With this community having been a mining community years previously, it’s nice to see the Miners Hall in the town being a cornerstone of the area and of the plot. In the first chapter, the large gallerieswashington is mentioned helping to forment the location of Houghton le Spring on the Newcastle bus route.

The dialogue is also peppered with Northern phrases such as the local term of endearment – ‘pet’ and other phrases which place the time, setting and characters in firm solid ground.