Liberton, a suburb to the south of Edinburgh’s Old Town, is the main location for my new novel, ‘All We Cannot Leave Behind’, a historical thriller set in the years before and after the First World War – three children are missing, abducted from the poorhouse in the city. When a body is found near the town of Liberton, Dr Thomas Stevenson, still suffering from the trauma of the First World War, finds himself drawn into the police investigation. But suspicion falls on the woman with the mysterious past who lives with Thomas. Could she be guilty of the brutal murder?

Liberton was also where my father grew up and generations of the Kelly family lived before him. 20 years ago, I visited Liberton Kirk in the centre of the town and found the Kelly family plot, tucked away in a corner. On the headstone are inscribed the names of my Great-Great Grandfather, Great-Great Grandmother, and Great-Grandfather. That was the inspiration to set a novel in the area. The school teacher Thomas became Doctor Thomas Stevenson in the finished book. At the moment (March 2024) the Kirk is half-covered in scaffolding and closed while repairs take place.

Like the Old Town in Edinburgh, many of the buildings of Liberton date from centuries ago. A number of them provided locations and inspiration for the story in ‘All We Cannot Leave Behind’. The church sits on Kirkgate, and in this row of houses I decided Dr Thomas Stevenson would have his house and practice. To the west of Liberton lies the Braid Hills, and walking towards them you come to Liberton Tower. This distinctive square tower, originally a dwelling for a wealthy family, has remained largely unchanged since it was built in the late 1400s, and can be rented as holiday accommodation today. It offers stunning views over Edinburgh to the north.

Walking back towards Liberton from the tower, you can find Alnwickhill House. Now private housing, it was once the House For Fallen Women, and is another key location in the book. Another building which is now used for private housing is the former Dr Guthrie’s Industrial School for Boys situated just off Lasswade Street. This was a school set up for disadvantaged boys, and featured three wings and a central courtyard which still stand today. The care home next to the building still bears the name ‘Guthrie’.

Back in the centre of the village, The Liberton Inn still stands on the corner of Kirkgate and Kirk Brae. It stilloperated as an inn right up until 2020, when the Covid pandemic saw it close and has now been converted to housing, although it still maintains the distinctive white exterior. Next to it, also now a private house, is the distinctive turreted roof of St Hilda’s School for Girls, which still bears the name.

Finally, leaving Liberton and heading west, another key location in the book is the Craiglockhart Hospital building. Now part of Napier University, it was converted from a hydrotherapic during World War 1 into a hospital to treat shell-shock among army officers (what we would now recognise as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD). The war poets Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon were among those treated here.

‘All We Cannot Leave Behind’ is available now from all good online booksellers and all good bookstores. Find out more about HERE.