As always, huge thanks to my agent, Laura Longrigg at MBA Literary Agents, and to Keshini Naidoo, my editor at Hera, for all their hard work on this book.
Big thanks to all my supportive writer pals: Rachel Burton, Victoria Cooke, Rachel Dove, Sophie Claire, Jacqui Cooper, Kiley Dunbar, Helena Fairfax, Kate Field, Melinda Hammond, Marie Laval, Katey Lovell, Helen Pollard, Debbie Rayner, Rachael Stewart, Victoria Walters, Angela Wren, and many others! Thanks, too, to the Romantic Novelists’ Association for being such a wonderful and supportive organisation and its members. I’m also grateful for the support of the RNA’s Rainbow chapter, which provides support for RNA members who identify as LGBTQIA+ and/or write novels featuring LGBTQIA+ characters.
Special thanks go to Victoria Dowd, not only a talented crime writer but also a former barrister, for her advice on the passages in this book relating to routes to entering this profession.
As ever, thanks to my family, friends and colleagues – my partner and long-term beta reader Mark Anslow; friends Robert Fletcher, Amy Smith and Nigel and Lynette Emsley, and Firths, Brahams and Anslows everywhere.
And finally, thanks to Keshini, Lindsey, Dan and the gang at Hera for everything they do!