To my furbies — my canine muses and beloved companions, Tallow, Dante and Bounty — I am so blessed you chose me as one of your humans.

To my beautiful very adult children, Adam and Caragh — both amazing creators in their own unique ways. They make me laugh, cry, remind me that real life can be both challenging and as crazily astonishing as the fictional ones I write. I love you both very much.

Finally, I have to thank my beloved husband, my partner in all that is wondrous and wondrously wicked. Together we’ve weathered some tumultuous, very frightening, sorrowful and damn tough times. But, like everything, we did it together. Able to bring me back to shore when I drift away, he’s there to shine a light in the darkness and laugh with and even sometimes at me. As I wrote this book, he also listened to and held me as I wept for the women of Pittenweem and what they endured — the men too. Then he cheered me on when I determined to alter, where appropriate, the outcome. Stephen is always there, my anchor, my rock. I may not be his fishwife (though I don’t think he’d mind), but I hope I’ll always be his wicked writing woman.