I must record my gratitude to those friends, clients, and colleagues who have offered help of many different kinds with this book. As a Liverpool-based solicitor writing about another Liverpool-based solicitor, I am keen to make the point that Harry Devlin’s life is not mine; and a good thing too. Similarly, his Liverpool is in some respects a fictional construct. As before, I have taken liberties with the real city and its topography, both for the purposes of the story and in the hope of avoiding even accidental collisions between the real and imaginary worlds. So, for example, John Newton House, the Stapledon Bar, the Waterloo Alhambra, the Indian Summer Care Home, the Liverpool General Hospital, the Burning Deck, and the Salthouse Quarter are fictitious. The Liverpool Police Authority is an invention, not to be confused with the Merseyside Police Authority; however, the real City Coroner does work in the Cotton Exchange, and the gardens of St Nicholas Church and Liverpool Cathedral are fascinating oases in the city centre. Antony Gormley’s Iron Men have so far survived all attempts to evict them from the Sefton shores, and there were indeed, at the time of writing, plans to re-open the Waterloo railway tunnel. A number of other real-life landmarks are mentioned, including (to give its precisely correct name) the Britannia Adelphi Hotel. It goes without saying that all the characters and organisations taking an active part in the story-line are my inventions and not intended to have even a vague resemblance to any counterparts in real life, but as a lawyer, I cannot resist the temptation to say it anyway, and to add that any resemblance that might exist is wholly coincidental.
A good many people – too many for them all to be listed – have given of their time and expertise to answer my innumerable questions and requests for support. However, I would like to express special thanks to some of them. Andre Rebello, HM Coroner for Liverpool, generously provided me with extensive insight into the life and work of a modern coroner and made interesting suggestions which influenced my account of the inquest into the death of Nesta Borth. My discussions with Andre left me with enormous admiration for the challenging, yet exceptionally important work that coroners do. Jean Harkin, a fellow Liverpool solicitor and a part-time coroner, also contributed helpful information. Philip Tarleton, managing director of Meade, King, Robinson & Co Ltd, and Denis Maxwell gave assistance which helped me to create John Newton House. Francis Cassidy, chief executive of Crosby Plaza Cinema, Rupert Hoare, until his recent retirement the Dean of Liverpool Cathedral, and Neil Scales, chief executive of Merseytravel, all gave me the benefit of their knowledge and expertise, while Mai Lin Li of Kirklees Libraries supplied insights which helped with the portrayal of Ka-Yu’s life. Margaret Jackson and John Hollingsworth of Aintree Hospital provided background know-how for the hospital scenes. Paul Charles, a fellow crime writer and musicians’ agent, persuaded Ray Davies, the legendary composer of ‘Waterloo Sunset’, to grant permission to reproduce a portion of the lyrics. Ann Cleeves, Rosa Plant and Juliet Doyle were among those who made valuable comments on aspects of the manuscript. My agent Mandy Little, my British publisher Susie Dunlop, my American editor Barbara Peters and my American publisher Rob Rosenwald, were all as supportive as ever. So were my long-suffering family: my wife Helena, my son Jonathan and my daughter Catherine. Jonathan deserves special thanks, in particular, for his work on designing and maintaining my website, www.martinedwardsbooks.com.
MARTIN EDWARDS