Thank you to my brilliant editor, Emily Kitchin, who has had huge input on this book, making it so much better, and who never says anything is too weird or taboo (well, not so far!) Also, to my excellent copy-editor, Anne O’Brien, and the whole HQ team, including Lisa Milton, Janet Aspey (the right Janet), Lucy Richardson, Lily Capewell, Joe Thomas, Melanie Hayes, and all the others who work tirelessly to support our books.

Again, Jo and Ducky Mallard were indispensable on the CSI side of things and are always (perhaps worryingly) happy to speculate on how to commit a perfect murder. Seriously, you do not want to get on the wrong side of these guys. And thank you to the other wonderful police people who’ve helped me, including but not limited to Paul Callum, John Tanner, Phil Blood, and Claudia Musson, who helped with detail but also understood that I have to leave out the boring bits! Any inaccuracies are totally mine.

The Doomsbury writing group have kept me sane(ish) and helped me laugh about the ups and downs of publishing, so huge thanks to Sophie Draper, Fran Dorricott, Jo Jakeman, and Louise Trevatt. Louise may not have written her book (yet) but her work saving dogs from the meat trade in South Korea is truly inspirational. It’s sometimes depressing not being able to save them all, but if more people were like her, the world would be a much better place.

All my friends have been brilliantly supportive, including Ali and the lovely Paws (RIP), who inspired Hamlet, and all the rest of the Alderwasley crowd (thank you, Jane, for offering to get me an inside view of an abattoir, and sorry I couldn’t quite face it!) Also Chris Scott, Sally Randall, Ruth Grady, Emma Goodchild, Sarah Breeden, Susan Fraser, Estelle Read, Corrine Baker, Keren Hill, Helen Chapman, Gemma Allen, and Alex Davis and the people I met on his courses, including Glenda, Peter, Ray and Carl.

Thank you to Sir Richard FitzHerbert of Tissington Hall for being the first person (and I hope not the last) to send me a message saying, ‘You must see my cesspit’. It was indeed a fantastic place for disposing of things. Also, the patent attorney community have continued to be hugely enthusiastic, especially with suggestions for future victims (trade mark attorneys and solicitors seem popular). Thanks also to the wonderful clicker-trainer community, whose creative approaches to problem-solving inspired one of the more unusual parts of this book! And huge thanks to the wonderful Compassion in World Farming for fact checking my author’s note.