I would like to thank several people for helping me with this book. My wife, Rebecca; the writers’ group Sophie Hannah, James Nash and Rachel Connor; three of my readers who commented on the early chapters, Amber Bytheway, Jack Prangley and Alice Bamber.
I also need to thank Ghyllgrove Junior School in Basildon. Their Football Writers – led by their amazing teacher, Mrs Diane Baker – read the whole thing together and gave me some great ideas, as well as helping me decide to drop something major that didn’t work. That is why the book is dedicated to them.
Thank you also to David and Rebecca at Luxton Harris – for everything they do.
And thank you to Kester Aspden, award-winning author, who gave me lots of ideas for this book, as well as pointing me in the direction of some great criminology books that Danny might enjoy, in particular Breaking and Entering: Burglars on Burglary by Paul Cromwell and James Olson.