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The series currently comprises nine books, all in various stages of completion:
Most of the characters in the novels are based on place names in the Perth and Kinross region of Scotland, many of them close to the tiny village of Findo Gask.
Drummond Castle is situated just south of Crieff.
The castle was built there in 1491 by Sir John Drummond. His daughter was the lover of James IV; it is rumoured that they even married and had a daughter. In order to form an alliance with England, Scotland's nobles wanted James IV to marry Margaret Tudor, the sister of the English king Henry VII. Margaret Drummond was in the way of this plan and along with her two sisters was murdered with poisoned fruit.
The Castle is most famous for its magnificent Italianate parterre gardens, one of the finest formal gardens in Europe. Originally laid out in 1630 by John Drummond, 2nd Earl of Perth and Italianised and embellished with a number of fine statues in 1830.