ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We are grateful to so many people who helped us in the course of this book. Some brought information, others inspiration, while many shared the kind of support and friendship you need to write a book.

Thanks to mystery readers and book collectors everywhere and to the booksellers and dealers who help them feed their habit. But special thanks are due to Jeff and Donna Coopman of The Usual Suspects, Don Longmuir (and family) of Scene of the Crime, Maggie Mason of Mary Mason Bookseller and Dee Suchall for insight and “intel.”

Wendy Bartlett and her colleagues at the Cuyahoga County Public Library showed us the potential of a proper attic in the right mansion at the South Euclid Branch and inspired Jordan’s garret.

We appreciate our lovely, supportive agent, Kim Lionetti at BookEnds, and at Berkley Prime Crime, our always urbane editor, Tom Colgan, the very helpful and capable Amanda Ng and our brave, mysterious copyeditor.

Thanks to our pal Erika Chase and our friends in the Ladies’ Killing Circle, Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen, Killer Characters, and Crime Writers of Canada who have been so supportive in a tough year. With Linda Wiken, we share a love of collecting books that has been known to end up in the purchase of a bookstore.

Much gratitude is due to Kory Webber, Pat Connolly and Doug Martin for endless support and to Giulio Maffini for his amazing Lazarus routine.

We would also like to pat each other on the back because we are still alive, smiling and plotting away, ready to launch our first collaborative effort and knee-deep in the second, The Sayers Swindle. We have to admit, any errors are entirely ours.

Last but not least, where would we be without the great Agatha Christie? She taught generations of readers and writers to look at everything and everyone differently and gave the world her enduring legacy.