T.G. Campbell (she/her) is an award-winning crime fiction author and creator of the Bow Street Society novels and short stories. T.G. Campbell has previously written for Listverse and Fresh Lifestyle Magazine and read English Studies at Winchester University. She’s also had prior experience of both sides of the criminal justice system through her previous employment with not-for-profit organisations assisting witnesses through the process of giving evidence and assisting current and ex-offenders into long term training and employment.
She currently works part time for local government alongside running her business as a self-employed independent crime fiction author. She resides in Milton Keynes where she was born and raised.
AUTHOR LINKS:
Website: bowstreetsociety.com
Gaslight Gazette Newsletter: bowstreetsociety.com/gaslight-gazette
Bow Street Appreciation Society Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/bowstreetappreciationsociety
IG: @bowstreetsociety
Threads: @bowstreetsociety
Bluesky: @bowstreetsociety.bsky.social
YouTube: @bowstreetsociety
Book Links with Sample Enabled:
The Case of the Curious Client – Read a Sample via Amazon UK
The Case of the Lonesome Lushington – Read a Sample via Amazon UK
The Case of the Spectral Shot – Read a Sample via Amazon UK
The Case of the Toxic Tonic – Read a Sample via Amazon UK
The Case of the Maxwell Murder – Read a Sample via Amazon UK
The Case of the Pugilist’s Ploy – Read a Sample via Amazon UK
The Case of the Fatal Flaw – Read a Sample via Amazon UK
Series Pitch for Book Clubs/Readers:
The Bow Street Society is a group of ordinary people who use the skills and knowledge from their ordinary jobs to solve extraordinary cases in Victorian London.
We’re here to chat about your series, The Bow Street Society. Introduce us to the Society, who they are, and what inspired the series. Can people start the series with any book, or is it important to read from the first book?
The Bow Street Society is a group of amateur detectives, operating in late-Victorian London, who draw upon the expertise they’ve acquired during the course of their day-to-day occupations to solve the extraordinary cases the Society has been commissioned to investigate.
Members are assigned to cases by the Society’s feisty clerk, Miss Rebecca Trent, based upon which expertise she decides are required to uncover the truth. Consequently, not every Society member is assigned to every case.
The only occupation prohibited from joining the Bow Street Society is law enforcement, as the Society was created as a means through which the public may access justice when traditional law enforcement has failed them due to corruption, brutality, and prejudice, etc.
Members of the Bow Street Society are from a variety of social classes and ethnic backgrounds. The membership also includes men and women, young and old adults, disabled individuals, and representatives of the LGBTQA+ community, specifically bisexual, gay, lesbian, and asexual individuals.
I’m a huge fan of crime fiction, but I’d noticed most crime fiction featured either an active / retired police officer, private investigator, or active / retired military person as their main character / detective. I wanted to turn this convention on its head by creating a series that followed a group of detectives.
However, I didn’t want the group to remain static, but for it to shift and change with each new case. After much pondering, I decided on creating the group with ordinary people to a) better reflect wider society, and b) allow the reader to place themselves amongst the group.
The Bow Street Society is justice by all and for all because, aside from active police officers, everyone is encouraged to join. Although the combination of investigating Bow Street Society members changes with each new case, the series is very much character driven.
There are several character subplots, in addition to a series-wide plot arc, which develop with each new book, so I strongly recommend readers start with the first book (The Case of the Curious Client).
How did you come up with the different characters for the series? When you write each book, do different members of the Society get to shine in each, or is it always an ensemble cast given equal weight/multi-POVs?
Each Bow Street Society member was created with their occupation as the starting point. From this, I built up their character profile to include information such as their date of birth, place of birth, social class, manner of speaking, marital status, sexual orientation, etc.
Research into the occupation, specifically its duties, associated technology, qualifications, professional bodies, and locations, was then conducted, alongside research into noted historical figures within that occupation who would’ve been my character’s peers.
Often, I’m surprised by what my research turns up. An example of this was my creation of Bow Street Society member Dr Lynette Locke. Originally, she was going to be a nurse. However, my discovery of a real-life nineteenth century institution that not only educated female doctors but granted them the qualifications needed to practise medicine, allowed me to give her the revised occupation of a medical doctor without stepping outside of the historical reality of the period.
As with real-life, there are members within the Bow Street Society who have a more commanding presence than others. The clerk of the Society, Miss Rebecca Trent, is responsible for recruiting members, facilitating meetings, interviewing potential clients, and dealing with regular hostility from the police, etc. Therefore, she’s prevalent throughout the series.
Other members, such as illusionist and gentleman thief Mr Percival Locke, adore the sound of their own voice, so he’ll often have the longest speeches.
In contrast, artist Miss Georgina Dexter is the youngest member at eighteen, and is softly spoken and quite shy when she first joins.
Given the fact all cases are investigated using the expertise of the Society’s members, everyone is assigned is given numerous opportunities to shine in their chosen field.
For example, veteran cabman Mr Samuel Snyder is the person they go to if they want to know where a particular street is, or which omnibus or tram they should take to get from A to B. Likewise, architect Mr Bertram Heath is always called in for locked room mysteries.
The Society will also hold meetings at various points during an investigation to allow its members to compare notes, share theories, and provide professional knowledge vital to uncovering the truth.
You also handle some heavier themes in the series, like drug and alcohol addiction, and some characters have their battles with these as the series progresses. Can you introduce us to these characters and how you crafted them?
Mr Percival Locke is the world-renowned illusionist, The Great Locke, and proud owner of the Paddington Palladium theatre. He is also a master gentleman thief who enjoys attending the dinner parties of wealthy individuals and then returning two weeks later to steal their valuables. Considerably wealthy in his own right, Mr Locke doesn’t steal for the money. Instead, he steals, and performs, because he is addicted to the adrenaline rush he experiences from both. A notorious, but charming, womaniser, he was first introduced to heroin by a former lover. The drug gave him the high he craved when he couldn’t perform or steal. However, it also helped him to blot out the memory of a highly traumatic event that happened in his teenage years.
His wife, Dr Lynette Locke, has been both a positive and negative influence on him with regards to his addiction.
Dr Percy Weeks (never ‘Percival,’ don’t ever call him that) is a Canadian surgeon who specialises in postmortem examination. Born in Toronto, he joined the Canadian Militia when he was younger to assist the British. However, he swiftly realised he was a coward and hid in the medical tent to avoid combat. There, he met his mentor who taught him about surgery. After working for various surgeons in America and Canada, Percy then travelled to London where he resumed his education under his mentor. Initially a secret member of the Bow Street Society, on account of his close working relationship with the Metropolitan Police, he’s become one of the series’ most enduring characters. A functioning alcoholic since he was young, he uses alcohol to blot out his insecurities about his birth and who his parents were.
Whilst Mr Locke is a purely fictional character, Dr Weeks was loosely inspired by the character Captain Jackson from the TV series Ripper Street. Both characters were crafted using the same method outlined above. They were given a debilitating addiction as I wanted to a) portray seemingly together characters who were hiding major flaws, b) explore addiction and rehabilitation through the lens of the nineteenth century.
In both Mr Locke’s and Dr Weeks’ addiction journeys, the research has formed a major part in how their addiction has developed over the course of the series.
One of the lighter arcs is a will they/won’t they romance between Miss Dexter (an artist) & Mr Maxwell (a journalist) – introduce us to these two characters and tell us a bit about them! How did they get involved in the society and what do they bring to the table? What is their dynamic with one another?
Mr Joseph Maxwell and Miss Georgina Dexter are young, naïve, and unworldly but for different reasons. Their romance wasn’t part of the original plan for The Case of the Curious Client, or the series. Instead, it developed from a single moment in the book in which Mr Maxwell touched Miss Dexter’s hand and she blushed. This led to Mr Maxwell asking Miss Dexter’s father for Miss Dexter’s hand in marriage (without courting Miss Dexter or asking her first), and, later, Mr Maxwell ending the engagement to marry someone else (it’s complicated).
Mr Maxwell brings comic relief to the books (although readers have said he’s a marmite character). [For non-British readers, marmite is a beloved yeast extract spread which has the tagline, you either love it, or you hate it. Marmite is used as a shorthand for calling this character polarising.] He’s also good at asking questions, researching the newspaper archives, and acting first and asking questions later.
In contrast, Miss Dexter is a talented artist who sketches suspects based upon witnesses’ descriptions. She’s also developed an interest in photography and the emerging technology of moving pictures.
Both Mr Maxwell and Miss Dexter joined the Bow Street Society by answering an advertisement in the Gaslight Gazette newspaper (which also happens to be the name of my newsletter!).
In terms of their dynamic, Mr Maxwell is a love-sick puppy who, due to reasons I don’t want to spoil, gets himself into a terrible situation. Miss Dexter, on the other hand, has to fight against Mr Maxwell’s naivety and mistakes to forge her own path and be the more sensible one out of the two. Will they finally marry? Only time will tell.
What research have you done for the series? It covers a lot of ground, from the rise of large shops/department stores, to 19thC theatre, to bareknuckle boxing matches. How do you weave your research into plots?
Before starting the series, I researched general concepts, such as maps, telephones, vehicles, the history & hierarchy of the Metropolitan Police etc. Research specific to characters was done around their occupation. With each new book, I first create the detailed plot plan of the mystery, series plot arc, and character subplots. I then conduct research into whether or not a particular method of murder was possible / detectable in 1896 / 1897.
As each Bow Street Society member must be an expert in their field, I often have to conduct additional research during the course of writing a book. For example, Mr Gregory Elliott is a Criminal Defence Lawyer. Therefore, he is highly knowledgeable in almost all facets of British law and its legal system. If, during a meeting of the Society’s members, he must explain how a particular piece of legislation applies to the case, I must first research the legislation in order to put the answer into his mouth.
Museum curators, archivists, and project managers have been invaluable when researching particular areas and / or seeking answers to particular questions. I’ve had assistance from the Magic Circle, the Old Operating Theatre & Herb Garret, The Museum of the Mind (Bedlam), The Peabody Trust, the Royal Institute of British Architects, and more.
Finally, I try to utilise as many sources which were contemporary in 1896 / 1897 as possible. For example, the “Billy Edwards’ Art of Boxing and Manual of Training Illustrated” by bareknuckle-turned-gloved boxer William Edwards was originally published in 1888 and covered the rules, training regimes, and moves associated with both gloved (Queensberry Rule) and bareknuckle boxing. This book proved invaluable when crafting the mystery in The Case of the Pugilist’s Ploy (Bow Street Society Mystery 6).
Tell us about the next book in the series – what’s it about, and when will it be out?
The next book will be the eighth in the series and will be released in 2026. It will follow the Bow Street Society as they are commissioned to investigate the possibility a wealthy widow is being poisoned by someone in her household. She suspects it may be her daughter-in-law, but the Society soon uncover others who have their own reasons for wanting the widow dead.
Set in February 1897, the book will also cover the further developments associated with the series main plot arc, that of the conspiracy surrounding the identity of the Bow Street Society’s true founder.
With only two further books planned in the series after this, book 8 contains explosive revelations and shocking developments which will send ripples throughout the Society and the rest of the series.
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