I would like to thank all the controversial newspaper columnists and bloggers whose work I enjoy reading, and who jointly inspired the character of Damon Blundy in this novel; there are too many of them to name. (And, to be honest, some are people that one is not allowed to admire if one doesn’t want to get moaned at on Twitter.) Speaking of which . . . this book was heavily inspired by Twitter, the online home of much kindness, much cruelty, and endless pockets of hitherto unimaginable absurdity. Twitter reminds me, daily, that even my most deranged characters are unrealistically well-balanced compared with many actual people.

Thanks to my lovely readers who take the time to tweet, email, and write to me about the books—I really hope you enjoy this one! And thank you to all my international publishers, who have enabled Simon Waterhouse and Charlie Zailer’s strange partnership to travel far and wide (not to mention Liv and Gibbs’s equally strange relationship).

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

SOPHIE HANNAH is the New York Times bestselling author of nine psychological thrillers and The Monogram Murders, the first novel to be authorized by the estate of Agatha Christie. Her books have received numerous awards, including a UK National Book Award, and are published in twenty-seven countries. She lives in Cambridge, England.

@SophieHannahCB1

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ALSO BY SOPHIE HANNAH

Little Face

The Wrong Mother

The Truth-Teller’s Lie

The Dead Lie Down

The Cradle in the Grave

The Other Woman’s House

The Orphan Choir

Kind of Cruel

The Monogram Murders

The Carrier

CREDITS

COVER DESIGN BY ADAM JOHNSON

COVER PHOTOGRAPH © BY SHIMON AND TAMMAR /GALLERYSTOCK

About the Publisher

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United States

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