I’m seldom more than half a chapter into a book before seeking help from a wonderful group of friends who are ever-ready with answers to the most obscure questions, and What They Knew was no exception. Special thanks go to Liz and David Anderson, Angela and Gavin Nurse, Alan Rankin, Richard Renwick, Professor Frank Carey, Dr Julie Curran, Heleen Kist and my very good friend Isabel S. And to my three amigos, Ally, Euan and Alicia, and my wonderful partner Peter, my love and thanks for always being there.
I’m so grateful to my outstanding editors, Louise Cullen and Siân Heap. I don’t know how you do it, ladies, but please keep doing it! I’m so lucky to have Deborah Blake’s eagle eye as a copy editor and Abbie Headon as proofreader – thank you both for your astonishing attention to detail. And to Stephen Mulcahey for a quite exceptional cover design, a huge thank you. To the whole team at Canelo, my special thanks for believing in me and for working so hard to bring this book to print.
My agent Hannah Weatherill is, as ever, the most wonderful support and I feel very lucky to be in such excellent hands – thanks so much for everything, Hannah.
To Police Scotland and the good people of north-east Fife, my thanks for allowing me once more to bring crime to your streets. I hope you’ll agree that DI Mackay’s clear-up rate more than makes up for it.
Finally, to the booksellers and readers who have taken Clare to their hearts, a very special thank-you for making the hard graft of writing so very worthwhile.