I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the brilliant team that helped me transform this story from a pile of loose notes into the novel you are holding in your hands. Massive thanks to my exceptional agent, Lisa Grubka, who has been there for me at every step and who is the best sounding board, beta reader, and advocate I could ever ask for; my outstanding editor, Lauren McKenna, who can always clearly see the story even when I can’t and whose guidance and encouragement were invaluable to this book; Jackie Cantor, for her assistance; everyone at Gallery Books who helped make this book a reality (Jennifer Bergstrom, Maggie Loughran, Meagan Harris, Jessica Roth, Abby Zidle, Bianca Salvant, Anabel Jimenez, Lisa Litwack, Steve Breslin, Jaime Putorti, Caroline Pallotta, Allison Green, Mike Kwan, Jane Elias); everyone at Fletcher & Company who has supported it (Christy Fletcher, Melissa Chinchillo, Gráinne Fox, Elizabeth Resnick, and Brenna Raffe); and Michelle Weiner, Michelle Kroes, and Olivia Blaustein at CAA. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I am also deeply, deeply grateful for the family and friends who continually support and encourage me. My most heartfelt thanks to my husband, Marc Hedrich, without whose unending support none of this would be possible; my mother, Mary Barber, who has always believed in me and who, with my late father, Richard Barber, has always nurtured my creativity; my brother, David Barber, who is always game to bounce around an idea (or a tagline!) and whom I can always count on for sage advice when I start feeling stressed; my in-laws, Philip and Laurie Hedrich, and also AJ Hedrich and Kevin Hedrich, who have all been wonderfully supportive of me; and all the friends and family who encourage my writing. I love and treasure you all. A special thank-you is due to those who came out to watch the baby while I was on deadline (Mom, Phil, Laurie, and AJ), and to the little bear himself for being such an agreeable fellow.
I also have to thank the writing communities that have welcomed me online and off: the crime writers in DC (Ed Aymar, Christina Kovac, Angie Kim, Louis Bayard); the Women’s Fiction Writers Association; the 17 Scribes; and of course Kristin Rockaway, Suzanne Park, and Chelsea Resnick for always being there to celebrate or commiserate via group message. Also a big thank-you to the women who foster online reading communities, notably Kristy Barrett of A Novel Bee; Barbara Bos of Women Writers, Women’s Books; and Andrea Katz of Great Thoughts Great Readers—and to the readers themselves!
Finally, thank you to Hilary-Morgan Watt for taking the time to meet with me and tell me what it’s like to work in a museum—I hope you’re not too horrified by the liberties I took in service of the story! Inaccuracies and fabrications are 100 percent on me. Also, acknowledgments are due to the Murder Is Her Hobby: Frances Glessner Lee and The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death show at the Renwick Gallery, which partially inspired The Life and Death of Rosalind Rose, and to Nate Anderson, the writer of the Ars Technica piece cited in the author’s note that so freaked me out that I wrote a whole book about it.