ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
So many people to thank for this one. Let’s start with my editor at Minotaur, Kelley Ragland, who asked about new series ideas as I began winding down Rockton. This was my dream project but, yes, it’s a bit of an oddball, and I hesitated to suggest it, so I came up with a second idea and presented both and, to my incredible relief, she picked this one and shepherded it through the editorial process with her usual enthusiasm and skill.
Thanks to my agent, Lucienne Diver, who encouraged me to pursue—and sell!—this dream project and offered excellent early editorial suggestions.
Thanks to the copyeditor, Terry McGarry, for going above and beyond with her wonderfully keen eye for detail … and for helping me straighten out a timeline that ahem got a wee bit muddled during my revisions.
And now for the research portion of the acknowledgments. If you’re looking for more details on my research, check the author’s note. This is just my thank-you section, with the usual caveat that any mistakes in the history or geography are my fault alone.
Thanks to my critique partner, Melissa Marr, for lending me both her editorial eye and Victorian-studies background, both helpful in pointing out overlooked opportunities. Mallory’s open-crotch underwear commentary is entirely her fault.
Thanks to Karen Viars. I won a few hours of her research time in a charity auction and used it to have her track down resources on two subjects proving elusive. She found exactly what I wanted and more.
Thanks to Elizabeth Williamson, Allison MacGregor, Heather Campbell-Crayton, and Layla Mathieson, who stepped in when COVID-19 upended my plans for on-site research in Edinburgh. They read the manuscript and flagged a few things I got wrong about their city, along with some always-appreciated typo catches.