My Husband's Wife(135)

Someone out there wants revenge for what really happened on that sunny morning in May.

And only another life will do.


COMING MAY 2017

Available to pre-order now





Acknowledgements


I am indebted to my agent, Kate Hordern, for loving my book and for her sensible advice. A great captain.

I bless the day I met Katy Loftus, my wonderful Penguin editor, who immediately understood my characters as well as I did. Her input and skill have been invaluable.

Words cannot express how welcome the Penguin family have, as a whole, made me feel. Their faith, encouragement, professionalism and support have been amazing. I get a wonderful thrill down my spine every time I walk into their offices. There are too many people to mention individually, but I would like to flag up Annie Hollands, Poppy North, Rose Poole and Stephenie Naulls, as well as the absolutely amazing rights team, who supported me from the very start. Photographer Justine Stoddart did a great job in working with my fringe in the pouring rain! Caroline Pretty, my copy-editor, was also very helpful with timelines.

Meanwhile, special mention must go to the legendary Betty Schwartz, who helped me on to the first writing rung and has since become a family friend, along with her warm, funny husband, Ronnie.

Great effort has been made to ensure the correct description of legal practices. Many thanks to Richard Gibbs, retired judge and fellow player on court (the tennis variety!). Also to solicitor Ian Kelcey of Kelcey and Hall Solicitors, with whom the Law Society kindly put me in touch. Nevertheless, this is not a legal textbook! Instead, the law is a backdrop for drama.

I am indebted to Peter Bennett, former governor of a prison where I was writer-in-residence for three years. It should be pointed out that HMP Breakville is not intended to be modelled on the prison where I worked. However, it did teach me to see another side. Life in prison is strangely addictive for an outsider and always surprising.

The National Autistic Society provided invaluable help in researching my book. If you would like more information, please visit www.autism.org.uk.

I didn’t realize how hard it was to kill a character until talking to Dr Elizabeth Soilleux, consultant pathologist/ honorary senior clinical lecturer at the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust/ University of Oxford, UK. Thank you, Elizabeth, for all our late-night calls and various ‘Is it possible?’ scenarios!

As an author, I know how hard it is to fit everything into a day. So I am very grateful to the writers who gave their time to read My Husband’s Wife.

Many writers feel that no one thinks quite as they do. But it’s been a delight, over the years, to find other like minds. I particularly want to mention my friends Kate Furnivall, Rosanna Ley, Bev Davies and everyone in the Freelance Media Group, as well as a new discovery – the fabulous Prime Writers. Thank you for welcoming me into your membership.

Finally, I’d like to acknowledge that age-old institution of marriage. Love it or loathe it, that wedding ring leads to some extraordinary situations …