Les Sept Secrets (Les Enquêtes d'Emily Slate t. 7)

The atmosphere of the town really adds to the suspense—was it based on a real place or imagined from the author's experiences?

While the buildup was tense, I wondered if the slower sections were intentional to build character or plot complexity.

Switching viewpoints kept me guessing, but I'm curious whether this was planned from the start or evolved during writing.