She’d told me about her husband when we were walking through the forest, trying to find a way out. She’d told me about him again when I finally found help for her, ten kilometres along the road from where I’d left her. In the back of the car I’d flagged down, as the driver desperately asked me questions in broken English, she’d clung on to her life by telling me about a photograph album Ira had made for her. I think that was part of the reason I’d connected so easily with her: the way she’d talked about Ira, the way she’d felt about him, had clear echoes in my own life.

She was strong, and independent, and successful.

She’d constructed a life in the aftermath of his death.

But when you missed someone, when you hung on to them, there was a small part of you that was always trying to find your way home.

Author’s Note

For the purposes of the story, I’ve very carefully altered some of the working practices of police forces in both the UK and US. I’ve also made some minor changes to the history of the LA Sheriff’s Department in relation to its female detectives as well as the organization’s real-life pursuit of the Night Stalker. Anything I’ve swapped out or adapted, I hope I’ve done with enough subtlety and care for it not to be noticed.

For anyone interested in the Night Stalker case, I highly recommend Philip Carlo’s book The Night Stalker: The Life and Crimes of Richard Ramirez, which was incredibly useful in helping me paint a picture of what LA was like in the mid eighties. As well as visiting the city during my research, I also used Ghettoside by Jill Leovy and The Killing Season by Miles Corwin – great pieces of journalism that showcase the work of real-life LA detectives – to help answer any questions I forgot to ask while I was out there.

Acknowledgements

As with all my books, No One Home has been made possible by the brilliance of my publishing team at Michael Joseph (and Penguin as a whole), chief among them Maxine Hitchcock, who worked so hard with me on editing the novel. Her calm guidance, endless ideas and laser-focused attention to detail have immeasurably improved the story and this book simply wouldn’t have been possible without her. I would also like to say a huge thank you to Tilda McDonald, Laura Nicol, Jennifer Porter, Christina Ellicott, Bea McIntyre, Liz Smith, Clare Parker, Louise Blakemore, James Keyte, Beth O’Rafferty, Jon Kennedy and David Ettridge for all their hard work, creativity, dedication and patience. Finally, a massive thank you, as always, to my copy-editor, Caroline Pretty, who does a peerless job of ironing out my terrible errors and fixing my equally terrible timelines.