Readers of the Poppy Denby books will know that our heroine gets by with a lot of help from her friends. So I would like to dedicate this third adventure in the series to friends old and new. To my “old” friends at Lion, Kregel, and the Association of Christian Writers: thanks for your unwavering support for Poppy and her author. And to my new friends at the Crime Writers’ Association: thank you for honouring Poppy by short-listing The Jazz Files for the CWA Endeavour Historical Dagger award and introducing our flapulous sleuth to a whole new audience.
Writing a Poppy Denby book requires months of research. I am always surprised at how generous people are in supporting me, freely, with their expertise. An enormous debt of gratitude goes to Professor Vincent Cannato, Associate Professor in history at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, for his insight into immigration to the USA in the 1920s. I would also like to thank Professor Richard Hand of the University of East Anglia for his knowledge of American radio drama. Thanks too to Keith Jewitt for introducing me to the flapulous feminist icon Annette Kellerman. In addition, the publicity departments at The New York Times and the Lyric Theatre, New York, have been very responsive to my queries.
A special word of thanks goes to a group of friends I’ve known since we all studied at Rhodes University, South Africa. Twenty-five years on, and scattered around the world, I am delighted to be able to keep in touch with you all through social media. Thanks to Louis Brandt, now a solicitor in England, who advised me about early twentieth-century divorce law; and Michael Carklin, now the principal lecturer in drama at the University of South Wales, who introduced me to Professor Hand. Also to Michelle Shaw, a freelance journalist who now lives in Canada, for sending me the wonderful book on the Roaring ’20s in America. I hope Poppy and her friends will still be in touch a quarter of a century down the line.
Immense thanks to the team at Lion – particularly Jessica Tinker and Julie Frederick – who although going through turbulent times have managed to keep a steady ship. Also to members of the team who have sadly moved on: Remy, Jess, Rhoda, Andrew H.W., Andrew W., and Tony; your support for Poppy has not been forgotten. And finally, to my wonderful family for their unwavering love and patience: I promise I’ll get the dinner started as soon as I’ve finished the next chapter…