These acknowledgements are literally the last thing I have to write, and as soon as I finish I am allowed to go on holiday.
I could probably have gone on holiday at other points during the writing, but, honestly, publishers have a way of looking at you that says, ‘Do you really need to be going to CenterParcs this close to your deadline?’
I write this with, as so often, Liesl Von Cat stretched out on my desk. Her paw idly flicks out at me every now and again when my typing gets too loud for her delicate ears.
Whether Liesl is sleeping on my keyboard, blocking my screen or miaowing loudly for food, even though she has literally just been fed, I know that she is constantly trying to help.
Indeed, I am indebted to so many people who have helped, cajoled, supported or, in her case, miaowed at me during the process of writing The Bullet That Missed.
First of all, readers. Nothing happens in this business without readers, and that’s you. Unless you are just reading these acknowledgements in a shop while you’re waiting for someone to buy wrapping paper. In which case, maybe buy a book? It doesn’t have to be this one. Buy a Mark Billingham or a Shari Lapena.
But if you have read the book, then I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I have had a blast spending more time with the gang, and I hope you have too. My only job is to try to entertain you, and I really, really want you to have a good time. Even if that ‘good time’ involves crying in public, or missing your stop on the bus.
Thank you also to all the incredible booksellers around the world. I think I have met almost all of you by now, and you are heroes. You are heroes for your love of books, for your skill at recommending the right books to the right people, and for your ability to say, ‘Do you need a bag?’ three hundred times a day while still smiling. I promise I’ll have another book for you to sell this time next year.
I am blessed with the most wonderful team of publishers too. Eternal thanks to my editor Harriet Bourton, at Viking, for her patience, wit and skill, and for being such an absolute pleasure to work with. The ‘sky pool’ mentioned in the book is not only real, but is actually right next to the PRH offices in Battersea.
There are guards at the door of the American Embassy up ahead, and there’s a group of young women going through the revolving doors of a publisher’s building on her left.
In my mind’s eye, that group is my wonderful Viking team of Harriet, Ella Horne, Olivia Mead, Ellie Hudson, Rosie Safaty and Lydia Fried, immortalized in print. Thank you for the incredible work you do: you’re the best team in the business. See how close you got to Joyce and Elizabeth without realizing!
Thank you to the amazing Sam Fanaken, sales guru, for knowing how much I love to see a graph. And thank you to her brilliant team, Rachel Myers, Kyla Dean, Alison Pearce, Eleanor Rhodes Davies, Linda Viberg, Madeleine Bennett and Meredith Benson, and also to Samantha Waide and Grace Dellar.
I am indebted once again to the copy-editing and production genius of Natalie Wall and Annie Underwood. Natalie is the first person ever to succinctly explain to me when I should be using ‘which’ and when I should be using ‘that’. It is a piece of knowledge that I will always remember.
And thank you too for the sterling copy-editing work of Donna Poppy, who not only has an encyclopaedic knowledge of Liverpool footballers, but also knows which Southern trains still have a trolley service. She also wins a prize for being the first person in the acknowledgements to be named after two separate characters from the Thursday Murder Club books.
The iconic front cover remains the work of the incredible Richard Bravery and Joel Holland. Often imitated, never bettered.
And thank you to Tom Weldon for the support, the wisdom and the Golden Penguins.
A career as an author is pretty much impossible without an amazing agent, and my agent Juliet Mushens is the best in the business. Endlessly supportive and imaginative, and a great gossip. Here’s to many more Golden Penguins. Juliet is ably supported by Liza DeBlock, Kiya Evans and Rachel Neely. Every time a new book comes out, they have all moved one further rung up the ladder. Eventually we are going to need a bigger ladder. Also, Liza, I finally have that Bulgarian tax form for you.
I have so many lovely publishers around the world, and have been lucky enough to start meeting them in person this year. Thank you to them all, and I hope it didn’t go unnoticed that I managed to continue my record of somehow mentioning Estonia in every book.
Special thanks, though, to my American publishers, who are such an integral part of these books. To the incomparable Pamela Dorman, and Jeramie Orton, what an operation it was this time! Further thanks, from my side of the Atlantic to yours, to Brian Tart, Kate Stark, Marie Michels, Lindsay Prevette, Kristina Fazzalaro, Mary Stone and Alex Cruz-Jimenez. Thank you also to the wonderful Jenny Bent. Here’s to a year of fewer Zoom calls, and to meeting lots of American readers and booksellers.
Thank you to Pauline Simmons for the name and to Debbie Darnell for the personality. Thank you to Angela Rafferty and to Jonathan Polnay for answering DNA queries with such speed and skill. You effectively convicted Andrew Everton, and, for that, we are all grateful. And special thanks to Katy Loftus. You’ll always be part of the gang.
My family remains the heartbeat of my books. Thank you, as always, to my mum, Brenda, for the many things I will never be able to fully repay. To Mat and Anissa, to Jan Wright, and to my grandparents Fred and Jessie for their strength and their kindness.
Thank you to my children, Ruby and Sonny, who are now becoming increasingly monetizable, and who bring me joy and pride every day. I am so lucky to be your dad, even though one of you literally never lets me win at Mario Kart.
And, finally, all my love and thanks to Ingrid. That there was a time before I met you seems absurd. You fill my life with happiness and laughter, and to share the rest of my life with you is the greatest privilege I can imagine.
It should also be noted that Ingrid came up with the title The Bullet That Missed, and brought the wonderful Liesl Von Cat into my life.
And, speaking of Liesl Von Cat, I must go. I have shut the window in my study, and she is making it very clear that this is unacceptable.
Until next time …