First, there’s Hope. About thirteen years ago, I was riveted by a series of newspaper articles about a missing woman who was eventually found but who had lost any recollection of the previous weeks to a rare type of amnesia called dissociative fugue. Dubious of the explanation (sorry, I’m a crime fiction writer) and with a longtime interest in the human memory, I learned about other cases in which people suffered a complete inability to remember their own identities. Though the amnesia is typically short-lived, in some cases, the memories never return, and yet the person must go on. What is it like to move forward without a sense of the past?, I wondered. And what if someone finally got comfortable in their new identity only to disappear once again? I kept playing with that concept over the years, but wasn’t ready to commit until I could fully nail down the character—who she was today, who she had been before, and who she would eventually become once she knew the truth about her past.

Then there’s the second answer: Ellie Hatcher. Find Me might have been your first encounter with the NYPD detective, but some of you already knew her well from five of my previous novels. I have known from the moment I began writing Dead Connection, the first book in the Hatcher series, what Ellie would eventually learn about her own past. I did not, however, know when she would learn it—or how.

And somehow—because brains are magic—these two ideas eventually came together into a single story. If I’ve done my job well, this novel reads like a stand-alone and yet provides a satisfying resolution to an important part of Ellie Hatcher’s journey for those loyal readers who have been following it.

So as I transition to the part of this note where I thank everyone who made this book possible, I’ll start by thanking you—the reader. Whether you’re part of the original “kitchen cabinet” and have been waiting for years to see Ellie on the page again, or you took a shot on an author who was totally new to you, or anywhere in between, I am so grateful to you for making it possible for me to earn a living as a storyteller. It really is a dream come true.

It’s also a dream that wouldn’t be possible without the support and skill of others. My editor, Jennifer Barth, and I have been working together long enough to have raised a high school graduate by now. No one pushes me harder, and the books are always better for it. I’m extraordinarily lucky to have such a talented champion on my side. Plus she’s awesome.