Acknowledgements

Murder at the Old Vic Theatre was first published as The Kill Fee in 2016, as the second adventure in the Poppy Denby Investigates series. Back then I was still pinching myself that readers had fallen in love with Poppy and were eagerly awaiting the next book. Poppy has many faithful fans and, with the re-publishing of the series by Embla Books, I hope she will gain many more.

I thought of one of those fans, Clare Howard Weiner, as I was going through the edits for this updated version. Clare had pointed out to me an anachronism in my use of the word pelican crossing. Apparently, it was only introduced in 1969. Whoops! Now, I’ve finally had a chance to correct that. Sadly though, Clare is not here to see it as she passed away earlier this year. I’ll miss Clare as she always looked forward to the next Poppy Denby story and became an enthusiastic supporter of Miss Clara Vale too. It’s readers like Clare who make my writing worthwhile.

Thanks too to my fellow Lionesses (Claire, Elizabeth and Paul) who were such an encouragement to me back in 2016 and who have now, I’m delighted to see, gone on to publishing success of their own. Your support has been invaluable. More strength to your quills.

My thanks to the team at Embla, particularly Martina Arzu and Emma Wilson, who have breathed new life into Murder at the Old Vic Theatre. I so appreciate your fresh approach.

My agent Sara Keane continues to be a faithful cheerleader for Poppy and my family, Rod and Megan, are steadfast to the last. I couldn’t do any of this without you. Thank you.