Riot Act

Acknowledgements

First of all, there are people to thank who patiently provided technical information, particularly Ian Cottam and Lee Watkin for their self-defence expertise; Glynn Jones for his in-depth practical knowledge of body armour and ballistics; all the staff at the DFW Gun Club & Training Center in Dallas, Texas for letting me brush up my handgun skills; John Robinson at Safety Services Agency in Northern Ireland; Dr Andrew Parkes MB BS for invaluable inside information on gunshot wounds; Jonathan Lodge and Tim Winfield for the low-down on shotguns; former Magistrate Sue Pickles; and Peter Gilmore, for introducing me to the right people. I take full credit for any errors.

Once again, many people were kind enough to offer their opinions during the early stages, including everyone at the Lune Valley Writers’ Group. My grateful thanks for particularly critical reading go to Peter Doleman, Claire Duplock, Sarah Harrison, Clive Hopwood, Glynn Jones, Iris Rogers, Tim Winfield, and my copy editor, Sarah Abel.

Thank you, also, to Timothy Hallinan for generously allowing me to include an excerpt from LITTLE ELVISES as a bonus feature at the end of this novel; to ZACE-eBookConversion for immaculate conversion of the printed book to e-format; and to Jane Hudson for the stunning cover design.

But the biggest thank you of all belongs to my husband, Andy, who has suffered with me through every twist and turn.