Lula Bristow (later taking her adoptive mother’s maiden name, Landry) was born to Marlene Higson, who was too poor and messed up to look after her and gave her up for adoption. Sir Alec and Lady Yvette Bristow adopt Lula when she’s four years old. Lula had a troubled upbringing, despite being cared for and loved dearly by Yvette. Many who knew her said she was spoilt and she didn’t like it if she didn’t get her own way. Lula started modeling at the age of sixteen and quickly rose to fame. Later she rented a flat in Kentigern Gardens, where she fell to her to death in the early hours of the morning of 8th January 2010 from her own third-story balcony.

Lula had suffered from mental illnesses such as clinical depression and bipolar disorder. She had attended a clinic where she met Rochelle Onifade, a disadvantaged girl also suffering with depression.

Her boyfriend, Evan Duffield, who had a history of drug addiction and was bad-tempered, had gotten back with Lula shortly before her death. Lula and Evan had an argument in the nightclub Uzi before she left to go back to her Mayfair flat for the final time.

Lula was close friends with the fashion designer Guy Some; they saw each other as brother and sister. Guy gave Lula the nickname ‘Cuckoo.’

Toward the end of her life, Lula had become increasingly interested in her biological family background, particularly the black side of her family, and she was on the hunt to find her father. This interest in her black heritage was probably one of the main reasons she became friends with Rochelle.

In the TV series, Strike, Lula Landry is played by actress Elarica Johnson, who also played a small part in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.