AUTHOR’S NOTE

If you look closely at a map of England’s southwest coast, you may find a small strip of land wedged between the counties of Devon and Dorset. Or then again you may not, for this is the county of Monkslip, home to Nether Monkslip, Monkslip-super-Mare, and other villages mentioned in the stories concerning “former” MI5 agent the Rev. Max Tudor and his partner in crime solving, DCI Cotton. You can enter this county only by believing it exists, or perhaps by walking through the back of a Narnian wardrobe.

Even given that the county of Monkslip might one day be real, every place mentioned in this novel, with the possible exception of London, is imaginary, as are all the characters.