History is a Mystery: but not for long - by Wendy H. Jones
I've been thinking a lot about history recently. Scottish and Naval history in particular. You may ask why an author of contemporary mysteries is worrying herself about all things historical, especially when it involves the Royal Navy. Let me explain. I do have a Naval background as I was in the Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service for six years. I will now miss most of the story out to cut to the chase, I am now writing a new series based on a real life naval surgeon in the early 19th Century. My chap just happened to be from Scotland so I feel we have a lot in common. However, this is not what my post is going to focus on - I want to talk about some of the research than can be done when considering writing books set in the past. Whilst what happens in the past is a mystery to us, it all becomes clear when we dive into the research. So, what sources can we consider? My first piece of advice is this - you can go down many rabbit holes when you start researching as ...