What Came Before He Shot Her

Acknowledgments

Enormous thanks go to my fellow writer Courttia Newland in London, whose introduction to Ladbroke Grove, West Kilburn, North Kensington and the housing estates therein proved invaluable to my work both on this novel and on its predecessor With No One as Witness. I thank Betty Armstrong-Rossner for sharing her time with me at Holland Park School as well as for answering questions via email after my visit there. As always I am so indebted to Swati Gamble of Hodder and Stoughton that I can’t hope to repay her kindness and generosity. In the U.S., I must express my appreciation this fi nal time—alas—to my wonderful assistant Dannielle Azoulay who could not be prevailed upon to move to the Pacific Northwest with me; to my husband Thomas McCabe for ceaselessly supporting the enormous effort that goes into completing a project of this nature; to my longtime cold reader Susan Berner for her early comments on the second draft of this novel, to my editor at HarperCollins, Carolyn Marino, and my editor at Hodder and Stoughton, Sue Fletcher, for their enthusiasm for the idea of turning the prism of Helen Lynley’s murder and looking at it from a different angle; and to my literary agent Robert Gottlieb, for doing his part so well so that I can do mine.

As an American writing a novel set in London, I will have made unintended errors in these pages. The errors are mine alone and not the product of anyone who assisted me.

Seattle, Washington

December 12, 2005