This list began when I spotted a post on Twitter asking for novels about London. Being regionally born and bred, I’m all for promoting regional fiction, so I asked for suggestions of novels set in British & Irish cities and places other than London. 48 hours later I had a mass of suggestions, which created this list, and it will be updated regularly.
If you’d like to suggest additions, send author + title + location to me using the contact form at the end.
12 January 2023
Aberdeen
- Stuart MacBride, Cold Granite, and others
- Duncan Maclean, Blackden and others
- Claire MacLeary, Cross Purpose and others
Aberdeenshire / Kincardineshire
- Lewis Grassic Gibbon, A Scots Quair
- Nan Shepherd, The Quarry Wood and others
Aberlady
- Katie Munnik, The Heart Beats In Secret
Aberystwyth
- Malcolm Price, Aberystwyth Mon Amour
Bath
- Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion
- Louise Douglas, Missing You
- Claire Kendal, The Book Of You
- Peter Lovesay, the Detective Peter Diamond series (about 20 so far)
- Jenni Mills, Crow Stone
- Edward Rutherford, The Forest
Belfast
- Gerald Brennan, Disorder
- Paul McVeigh, The Good Son
Bingley
- Anna Mansell, I wanted to Tell You
Birmingham
- Walter Allen, All in a Lifetime
- Kavita Bhandt (ed.), The Book of Birmingham
- Jonathan Coe, The Rotters’ Club, and others
- Ian M Grant & Heide Goody, Clovenhoof
- Henry Green, Living
- David Lodge, Changing Places
- http://www.pigeonparkpress.com/birmingham-readers-map/
the Black Country
- Meera Syal, Anita and Me
Bradford
- A A Dhand, Streets of Darkness
- Richard Rayner, The Elephant
Brighton
- Bobbie Darbyshire, The Posthumous Adventures of Harry Whitaker
- Graham Greene, Brighton Rock
- Patrick Hamilton, The West Pier
- Lucy V Hay, The Other Twin
- Alice Jolly, Between the Regions of Kindness
- Alison MacLeod, Unexploded
- Erinna Mettler, Starlings
- An Quin, Berg
Bristol
- Angela Carter, Love
- Louise Douglas, In Her Shadow
- Helen Dunmore, Birdcage Walk, Burning Bright
- Nathan Filer, The Shock of the Fall
- Emma Geen, The Many Selves of Katherine North
- Tessa Hadley, Everything Will Be Alright, Accidents In The Home, Clever Girl
- Diana Wynne Jones, Deep Secret
- Sanjida Kay, Bone by Bone, My Mother’s Secret
- Emily Koch, If I Die Before I wake
- Robert Lewis, The Last Llanelli Train
- Gilly Macmillan, Odd Child Out
- Mike Manson, Where’s My money
- Jari Moate, Dragonfly
- Gareth L Powell, Hive Monkey
- Jane Shemilt, Daughter
- C L Taylor, The Missing
Caithness
- Neil Gunn, The Silver Darlings
Calderdale
- Ben Myers, The Gallows Pole
Cambridge
- Sarah Armstrong, The Wolves of Leninsky Prospekt
- Rose Macaulay, They Were Defeated
- Jill Paton Walsh, A Piece of Justice
Canvey Island
- Nicola Barker, Behindlings
Cardiff
- Mary Ann Constantine, Starshot
- Hazel Manuel, Undressing Stone
- J S Strange, Murder on the Rocks
Cheshire
- Alan Garner, The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, and others
Cornwall
- Amanda Jennings, In Her Wake
- Winston Graham, the Poldark novels
- Hugh Walpole, Fortitude
County Durham
- Howard Linksey, Behind Dead Eyes
Coventry
- Jonathan Coe, A Touch of Love
- Helen Humphries, Coventry
- Alice Jolly, Between the Regions of Kindness
- Philip Larkin, Jill
- Sarah Moss, The Tidal Zone
Cumbria
- M W Craven, The Puppet Show
- Sarah Hall, The Carhullan Army, and others
- Rachel Lynch, Dark Game and others
- John Murray, John Dory
- Arthur Ransome, Swallows and Amazons, and others
Derbyshire
- Sarah Bennett, Spring Skies over Bluebell Castle
- Fran Dorricott, After the Eclipse
- D H Lawrence, Lady Chatterley’s Lover
- Roz Watkins, The Devil’s Dice
Devon
- Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles
- Hannah Ellis, The Cottage at Hope Cove
- Henry Williamson, Tarka the Otter, and others
Dingwall
- Moira Forsyth, Tell Me Where You Are
Dorchester
- Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge
Dorset
- John Cowper Powys, Wolf Solent, and others
- Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd, and others
Dudley
- Patrick Thompson, Seeing the Wires
Durham
- Ben Myers, Pig Iron
East Anglia
- Graham Swift, Waterland
Edinburgh
- Kate Atkinson, The Jackson Brodie seres
- Ali Bacon, In the Blink of an Eye
- Ian Banks, The Bridge
- Dorothy Dunnett, The Game of Kings and others
- Natalie Fergie, The Sewing-Machine
- James Hogg, The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner
- Sandra Ireland, Beneath the Skin
- Doug Johnstone, Breakers
- Lesley Kelley, The Health of Strangers series
- Alexander McCall Smith, 44 Scotland Street
- Ian Rankin, the Inspector Rebus novels
- Heather Richardson, Doubting Thomas
- Walter Scott, The Heart of Midlothian and others
- Muriel Spark, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
- Robert Louis Stevenson, Catriona and others
- Irvine Welsh, Trainspotting
Essex
- Margery Allingham, Sweet Danger and others
- Sabine Baring-Gould, Mehalah
- Gary Kilworth, The Bronte Girls
- Arthur Ransome, Secret Water
- Sylvia Townsend Warner, The True Heart
The Fens
- Susie Holliday, The Lingering
- Dorothy L Sayers, The Nine Tailors
- Graham Swift, Waterland
Ipswich
- Arthur Ransome, Secret Water
Glamorgan
- Vanessa Savage, The Woman in the Dark
Glasgow
- Peter Arnott, Moon Country
- Ian Banks, The Crow Road
- Christopher Brookmyre, The Sacred Art of Stealing and others
- Karen Campbell, This is Where I Am
- Chris Dolan, Lies of the Land and others
- Helen Fitzgerald, Worst Case Scenario
- Alasdair Gray, Lanark
- Archie Hind, The Dear Green Place
- Gail Honeyman, Eleanor Oliphant is Absolutely Fine
- James Kelman, How Late it was, How Late
- William McIlvanney, Laidlaw
- David Ross, Heady Heights
- Alexander Trocchi, Young Adam
Gwynedd
- Hugh Lupton, The Assembly of the Severed Head
Harwich
- Randolph Stow, The Suburbs of Hell
Hastings
- Paul Burston, The Closer I Get
Highlands
- Lizzie Gates, The Wolf of Dalriada, and others
Huddersfield
- Dan Micklethwaite, The Less than Perfect Legend of Donna Creosote
Hull
- Louise Beech, Call Me Star Girl
- David Mark, Dark Winter
- Nick Quantrill, Broken Dreams
Kilmarnock
- William McIlvanney, Docherty
Kincardineshire – see Aberdeenshire
Lake District
- Ben Myers, Beastings
- Arthur Ransome, Swallows and Amazons and others
Lancaster
- Jo Baker, Longbourne
- Andrew Michael Hurley, The Loney and others
- Zoe Sharp, Killer Instinct
Leeds
- Mario Crespo, LS6
- Jonny Glynn, The Seven Days of Peter Crumb
- Viola da Grado, 70% Acrylic 30% Wool
- David Peace’s Red Riding quartet
Leicester
- Graham Joyce, The Dark Sister
- Anna Larner, Love’s Portrait and others
- Ambrose Musiwiya & Emma Lee (eds), Welcome to Leicester
- Sue Townsend, Adrian Mole Diaries
Lewis & Harris
- Peter May, The Backhouse Trilogy
Linlithgow
- William McIntyre, Robbie Munro thrillers
Liverpool
- Beryl Bainbridge, An Awfully Big Adventure and others
- John Cornelius, Liverpool 8
- Maria Crossan & Eleanor Rees (eds), The Book of Liverpool
- Maureen Lee, Liverpool series
- Kevin Sampson, The Killing Pool
Lyme Regis
- Jane Austen, Persuasion
- John Fowles, The French Lieutenant’s Woman
Maidenhead
- Patrick Hamilton, The Slaves of Solitude
Manchester
- Ray Banks, Beast of Burden
- Neil Campbell, Sky Hooks and Zero Hours
- Ann Charnock, A Calculated Life
- Victoria Cooke, The secret of Falling in Love
- Hannah Ellis, Beyond the Lens
- Rosie Garland, The Night Brother
- Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South, Mary Barton
- Matthew Hill, Graft
- Joseph Knox, Sirens
- Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, Manchester Happened
- Jeff Noon, Vurt
- Okechukwu Nzelu, Private Joys of Nnenna Maloney
- Bill Rogers, The Cleansing
- Cath Staincliffe, The Girl in the Green Dress, Witness
Marches: see Scottish Borders, or Welsh Marches
Middlesborough
- Richard Milward, Apples, and others
Midlothian
- Rebecca McKinney, Radius
Morecambe
- Jenn Ashworth, Fell
- Sarah Hall, The Electric Michaelangelo
Newcastle on Tyne
- Sid Chaplin, The Day of the Sardine and others
- Fiona Cooper, A Skyhook in the Midnight Sun
- Roxie Cooper, The Law of Attraction
- Mari Hannah, The Murder Wall
- Daniel James, The Unauthorised Biography of Ezra Maas
- Howard Linskey, The Drop
Norfolk Broads
- Arthur Ransome, Coot Club and others
Northumberland / Northumbria
- Sarah Moss, Ghost Wall
- L J Ross, D C I Ryan series
Nottingham
- B S Johnson, The Unfortunates
- Anna Mansell, The Lost Wife
- Mhairi McFarlane, Who’s That Girl
- Nicola Monaghan, The Killing Jar
- Alan Sillitoe, Saturday Night Sunday Morning
Nottinghamshire
- D H Lawrence, Sons and Lovers
Orkney
- George Mackay Brown, Greenvoe and others
Oxford
- Gillian Avery, The Warden’s Niece
- Max Beerbohm, Zuleika Dobson
- Hannah Ellis, Summer at the Old Boathouse
- Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford
- Michael Innes (J I M Stewart), a whole series of Oxford novels
- Philip Larkin, Jill
- Philip Pullman, His Dark Materials series
- J I M Stewart, A Staircase in Surrey series
- Evelyn Waugh, Brideshead Revisited
Oxfordshire
- John Buchan, The Blanket of the Dark, Midwinter
Pendle / Pendle Hill
- Harrison Ainsworth, The Lancashire Witches
- Sharon Bolton, The Craftsman
- Stacey Halls, The Familiars
- Robert Neill, Mist over Pendle, Witch Bane
- Jeanette Winterson, The Daylight Gate
Peterborough
- Eva Dolan, Long Way Home
Portsmouth
- Graham Hurley, Cut to Black
Port Talbot
- Owen Sheers, The Gospel of Us
Rockall
- T H White, The Master
Rye/Romney Marsh
- A S Byatt, The Children’s Book
- Monica Edwards, The Summer of the Great Secret, and others
- Sheila Kaye-Smith, Joanna Godden
Salford
- Walter Greenwood, Love on the Dole
Salisbury
- Barney Norris, Five Rivers Met On A Wooded Plain
- Edward Rutherford, Sarum & The Forest
Scottish Borders
- John Buchan, Sir Quixote of the Moors, and others
Scunthorpe
- Ted Lewis, Get Carter
Sheffield
- Berlie Doherty, Granny was a Buffer Girl
- Steven Hall, The Raw Shark Texts
- Philip Hensher, Northern Clemency, The Friendly Ones
- Tony Hooper, The Glass Lie
- Anna Mansell, How to Mend a Broken Heart
- Helen Mort, Black Car Burning
- Sunjeev Sahota, The Year of the Runaways
- Leonora Thornber, Portrait in Steel
- Roz Watkins, DI Meg Dalton series
- Michael Wood, DCI Matilda Darke series
Shetland
- Malachy Talach, The Valley at the Centre of the World
- Ann Cleeves, the Jimmy Perez novels set in Shetland
Shrewsbury
- ‘Ellis Peters’ (Edith Pargeter) The Brother Cadfael novels
Shropshire
- Mary Webb, Precious Bane and others
South Shields
- Alexis Hall, Pansies
Stoke on Trent
- Arnold Bennett, Anna of the Five Towns and others
- Mary Kelly, A Spoilt Kill
- Una L Silberrad, Desire
St Andrews
- Shirley McKay, Hugh Cullan mysteries
- Andrew Nevill, Banquet for the Damned
- Willa Muir, Imagined Corners
Stroud
- Alice Jolly, Mary Ann Sate, Imbecile
Suffolk
- Penelope Fitzgerald, The Bookshop
- Randolph Stow, The Girl as Green as Elderflowers
Sussex
- Stella Gibbons, Cold Comfort Farm and others
Swindon
- Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
- Alice Jolly, A Saint In Swindon
Warwickshire
- George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss, and others
Welsh Marches
- Catherine Fisher, The Candle Man
Wigan
- A J Wright, Act of Murder
Wiltshire
- Richard Jeffries, Bevis, and others
- Penelope Lively, Treasures of Time
- Jenni Mills, The Buried Circle
- Salley Vickers, The Librarian
Winchester
- Anthony Trollope, The Warden, and others
York
- Kate Atkinson, Behind the Scenes at the Museum
- Rachel Burton, The Pieces of You and Me
Yorkshire
- Anne Bronte, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
- Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, and others
- Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights
- J L Carr, A Month in the Country
- Nicola Griffith, Hild
- James Herriot, All Creatures Great and Small etc
- Barry Hines, Kes
- Winifred Holtby, Anderby Wold, South Riding
- Bonnie Meekums, A Kind of Family
- Fiona Mozley, Elmet
- Ben Myers, The Gallows Pole
- E Nesbit, The Railway Children
Please send your additions as author + title + location
Kate Macdonald 