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The real London behind the books

Map of the real London places in Kadie Vellis thrillers: Highgate Cemetery, Islington, Hackney, Chapel Market, Thornhill Square and the Packington Estate

Updated 10 November 2026 · 3 minute read · By Kadie Vellis

My books are set in real places. You can walk the streets the Gunns run, stand in Thornhill Square, and look through the gates of the cemetery behind the Driscolls’ home. Here’s a little tour.

Map of the real London places in Kadie Vellis thrillers: Highgate Cemetery, Islington, Hackney, Chapel Market, Thornhill Square and the Packington Estate

Islington and Hackney

This is Gunn territory. In Who Killed Lenny Gunn? the family has run its corner of Islington and Hackney for decades, and every pub and backstreet has a story the police never heard.

Who Killed Lenny Gunn? by Kadie Vellis, book cover

Chapel Market

Long before the big house and the reputation, Queenie was a sharp-tongued girl from Chapel Market with nothing to lose. If you’ve read I Am Queenie Gunn, you’ll never walk past those stalls the same way again.

I Am Queenie Gunn by Kadie Vellis, book cover

The Packington estate and Thornhill Square

Two boys, two very different Islingtons. In Dead by 06:00, Danny grew up on the Packington estate and Theo grew up in a big house on Thornhill Square. They’re only a short walk apart, and a whole world apart.

Dead by 06:00 by Kadie Vellis, book cover

Highgate

In Little Apples Grow, the Driscolls live in a crumbling house that backs onto the cemetery. Ivy, angels, old stone and a lot of things buried. It was the only place that family could ever have lived.

Little Apples Grow by Kadie Vellis, book cover

Is there a London street you think deserves a thriller? Tell me, and it might end up in a book.