Acknowledgements

I owe heartfelt thanks to many good friends for their help and support. Let me begin with Shari Goodhartz, my marvelous and insightful editor; Publisher Kevin J. Anderson and his staff at WordFire Press, for giving my book such a welcoming home; Peter Wacks, who had enough faith in an earlier draft to move this project forward; Tanya Lemani George and Donna Anderson, who inspired and were the visual models for Tasha and Deirdre respectively, as well as provided valuable feedback on the story's development.

In addition, I am humbly grateful to my brother Steve (who is so missed), Lena Pousette, Debra DeLiso (who is the voice of the upcoming audio book version), Barbara Alexander, Tom Bagen, Deepika Daggubati, the late Betsy Davis, Shann Dornheckler, Dan Doyle, Cynthia Harrison, Victoria Kirsanova (who modeled for the action illustrations), Tom Konkle, Mindi Miller (who brilliantly assumes Tasha's persona at conventions), Richard Mueller, Kathy Nolan, Nicole Nowak, Hilarie Ormsby, Brittney Powell, David Raiklen (who composed the wonderful Lady Sherlock theme music), Amanda Raymond, Leslee Scallon, Steven L. Sears, Donald Smiley, Terry Seabrooke, Shaene Siders, Sharon Spiro, Diana Zimmerman, Leslie S. Klinger (whose Sherlock Holmes course at UCLA Extension was illuminating), and Bernie Soon.

If my faulty memory has left anyone out—my apologies. Corrections will be made in future editions.