She took me to see it. Mayfair, full of rich Russians and Arabs and bastards like Freddie Bestigui. I said to her, sweetie, you can’t live here; marble everywhere, marble isn’t chic in our climate… it’s like living in your own tomb…
The Cuckoo’s Calling, Robert Galbraith
Kentigern Gardens is the street in Mayfair where supermodel Lula Landry had her flat and fell to her death three months before Robin arrives at Strike’s offices to begin work. Sedate and stuffy, the street is not the natural home of a a young woman at the centre of a hip, creative crowd with a celebrated sense of style drawn from the streets. Strike thinks it would better suit corporate giants splitting their time between town and their country estates or wealthy spinsters, slowly decaying amidst their art collections. He’s amused to discover the the cobbled alley to the rear of the house and its neighbours is called ‘Serf’s Way’.
Strike and Robin visit the street death together, and Robin is delighted to find he listens to her ideas about the case and shares his own.
Mayfair is the most expensive part of London, one of the most expensive cities in the world and the most expensive square on the board on the British version of Monopoly. Bordered by Hyde Park and Green Park, it is the home of the most prestigious hotels in London including The Dorchester and the Ritz. Recently it has also become the home of a number of wealth management companies. Grosvenor Square, in the centre of Mayfair, was were John Adams chose to establish the American Embassy. The May Fair for which the area was named was very popular throughout the 17th century, but was banned in the mid-18th century as its reputation for rowdy entertainment, including prize fighting and women’s footraces, began to annoy the aristocrats who had taken up residence in the area.
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