They Thought I Was Dead: Sandy’s Story

Acknowledgements

I never knew when I started the Roy Grace series just how much Sandy would passionately interest so many of my readers. She didn’t just captivate Roy Grace fans, but she has captivated me, too, and I’ve been with her through her highs and lows and many personas. She has, over the years, become an icon of the entire Roy Grace series. I’ve always felt I owe you, my readers, this book — and I owe Sandy, too, the chance to be judged fairly.

I have so many people to thank for all the time and help they have given me in my research for this novel. I would love to detail the input of each person listed below, but that would take a whole other book! Instead, my heartfelt thanks. Please know each of you is far more than just a name in an alphabetical list: Martin Allen; Sue Ansell (RIP); Graham Bartlett; Jon Bennion-Jones; Inspector James Biggs; Clare Butcher; DI Louise Clayson; CI Callum O’Connor; Emily Denyer; Jane Diplock; Martin Diplock; Dr Matt Doyle; Dr Deryn Doyle; Linzi Duckworth; Kelly Frost; Jonathan Gready; Chris Hamsey; Anna-Lisa Hancock; Kevin Lemasney; Jonathan Jones; Anette Lippert; Dr James Mair; Tom Ogg; Richard Pedley; DI Aiden Quenault; Dr Graham Ramsden; Chris Robinson; Guy Rolliston; Alan Setterington; Andy Sibcy; Anita Simmonds; Helen Shenston; Julian Short; Chief Officer Robin Smith; Hans Jurgen Stockerl; PC Richard Trundle; Dr Orlando Trujillo; Darren Twort; Ludwig Waldinger; Sven Müller, Polizeihauptkommissar.

Thank you to my wonderful publishing house, starting with a sad and fond farewell to Wayne Brookes, my friend and wonderful publisher for fourteen years, and a big, excited welcome to my new publisher, Francesca Pathak. Pan Macmillan have been publishing my books since 2003 and I owe them so many thanks. To single out a few: Jonathan Atkins, Melissa Bond, Charlotte Cross, Stuart Dwyer, Brid Enright, Claire Evans, Jamie Forrest, Lucy Hale, Daniel Jenkins, Andy Joannou, Becky Lloyd, Sara Lloyd, Poppy North, Joanna Prior, Jeremy Trevathan, Charlotte Williams, and my brilliant structural consultant Susan Opie.

Huge thanks, too, to my tireless agent, Isobel Dixon, and the fabulous team at Blake Friedmann, including Julian Friedmann, Conrad Williams, Sian Ellis-Martin, James Pusey, Nicole Etherington, Susie Bloor, Daisy Way and all the other people there!

I’m also blessed with three wonderful publicists — Caitlin Allen, Emily Souders and Niamh Houston at Riot Communications.

I have a dream team at Team James: Dani Brown, Chris Diplock, Emma Gallichan, Lyn Gaylor, Sarah Middle, Mark Tuckwell, Chris Webb. And two extra-special mentions to my front-line edit team.

First, to David Gaylor, who, as befits the real-life model for my fictional Roy Grace, used all of his detective skills in quite brilliantly rising to the enormous challenge of aligning all the events in this novel to the countless appearances and mentions of Sandy in the preceding nineteen Roy Grace novels.

The second extra-special mention is to my wife, Lara, who really got inside Sandy’s head and provided so many invaluable insights and ideas that really helped to shape both her erratic but very human character and the novel itself. Without her input, it would have been a lesser book.

And, of course, I owe thanks as ever to all our furry and feathered friends in our ever-growing menagerie, who help make me smile no matter what, and none more so than our gorgeous dogs, Spooky and Wally, and our mischievous cats, Willy and Woo.

I always love to hear from you, my readers. Message me through any of the channels below. Thank you for being such wonderful and loyal readers — and now, finally, you know the truth about Sandy... how she filled in that little dash, which all of us will one day have, between the dates of her birth and death.

Peter James