The Locked Room (Ruth Galloway #14)(91)

I thought long and hard about setting a book in lockdown but, having written a book a year about Ruth for the last thirteen years, it seemed wrong to miss out 2020. The events of that terrible year are taken from various sources but mostly from my own diary.

Tombland, Norwich Cathedral and Augustine Steward’s House all exist although the characters that people them in this book are imaginary. The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn is also real and, although Abbas is invented, I’m sure that all its staff showed similar courage and compassion during the Covid-19 crisis. The story of Dawn Stainton is completely fictional as is Westway Surgery.

Congratulations to Eileen Gribbon for winning the CLIC-Sargent auction to have a character in this book named after her. All proceeds go to the charity, which supports teenagers with cancer, so huge thanks to Eileen and to anyone who took part. Eileen, I hope you like ‘your’ character, especially the dancing. Thanks to Jan Adams, a previous winner, who appears again. Thanks also to Mary Williams for her insights into university life in lockdown and to Francesca Lewington for her memories of home-schooling. My heart goes out to all those involved in education during this time. Thanks to Aoife Martin for her help and advice.

Thanks, as ever, to my wonderful publishers Quercus Books and especially to my matchless editor, Jane Wood. It’s not easy to produce books in lockdown but I have felt supported all the way. Huge thanks to everyone at Quercus, especially Florence Hare, David Murphy, Hannah Robinson and Hannah Winter. Thanks to Jon Butler for always believing in me and in this series. Thanks also to my fantastic agent, Rebecca Carter, and to all at Janklow and Nesbit in the UK and the US. Thanks to all the publishers around the world who publish these books with such care. Thanks to Ghost Design for the amazing cover and to Liz Hatherell for her meticulous copy-editing.

The Locked Room is dedicated to the friends who helped me through lockdown, first with Zoom chats then with garden croquet, distanced walks and chips under the arches. This one is for you: Frauke Dingelstad, Julie Williams, Lesley Thomson, Melanie Lockett, Nancy Weibel, Robert and Stephany Griffith-Jones, Veronique Walker and William Shaw. Also remembering Sam Brittain and the Zoe Way.

Love and thanks always to my husband, Andrew, and our children, Alex and Juliet. And to Gus, of course.