A huge thank you to everyone at Avon and HarperCollins who work so very hard on my books. The term ‘superstar editor’ is bandied around a lot in publishing but it really does apply to Phoebe Morgan who is so incredibly hardworking, dedicated and efficient it makes me tired just thinking about how much she does and all the different authors and job roles she juggles. I couldn’t have asked for a better editor while my regular editor, Helen Huthwaite, was on maternity leave. Welcome back Helen and thank you for all your enthusiasm and excitement as you took Her Last Holiday to publication.

Thank you also to Sabah Khan my publicist, whose energy levels and enthusiasm are unmatched, and to the incredibly hardworking and innovative marketing team: Hannah O’Brien and Ellie Pilcher. My books wouldn’t be available in the shops and supermarkets without the drive and dedication of Caroline Bovey. Huge thanks to Claire Ward for my stunning cover, to Rebecca Fortuin and Claire Corbett for producing and narrating such wonderful audio books, to the digital team for all their hard work, to Bethany Wickington, and to the teams in HC Ireland and HC ANZ for spreading the word about my books.

Very excitingly this book, and my next, will be published in the United States and Canada by the team at HC360 and I’d particularly like to thank Jean-Marie Kelly, Emily Gerbner, Alice Gomer and Peter Borcsok for everything they have done to introduce transatlantic readers to my books.

Big love to my world class agent Madeleine Milburn who is a spinner of dreams and the most savvy agent in the business. Huge thanks for your wisdom, your excellent advice and your insights. Thank you to the rest of the team at the agency for everything you do. I really appreciate you spreading the word internationally about my books.

Thank you to the international publishers who continue to buy, translate and sell my books and the readers who love them. I’m so thrilled that people all over the world are reading my stories.

Huge thanks to authors Tony Kent and Neil Lancaster. Tony is a barrister as well as an author of excellent crime novels and I really appreciate the fact he took time out of his very busy day to answer my questions about gross negligence manslaughter and sentencing. Ditto Neil Lancaster, a retired detective who is also an excellent crime author (it comes in very useful knowing crime authors!), massive thanks for your input on the last few chapters of this book where the police, finally, get involved. I really appreciate it.