Acknowledgements

I would like to thank everyone at Penguin Random House for publishing Alice Teale is Missing. A huge thank you in particular goes to my brilliant editor, Joel Richardson, for all of his insightful ideas and unwavering support during the writing of this book. We got there in the end, Joel!

Thanks also to Maxine Hitchcock, Beth Cockeram, Olivia Thomas, Sarah Day and Beatrix McIntyre at Michael Joseph for your help at every stage of the writing process. It’s been a pleasure to work with you all.

My fantastic literary agent, Phil Patterson at Marjacq, has been a constant help to me and is always a great champion of my writing. Thanks for everything, Phil. Thanks also to Sandra Sawicka at Marjacq for dealing with the foreign rights to my books.

Every author needs help, encouragement and support, and I have been lucky enough to receive a lot along the way. I’d like to thank the following people for providing it: Adam Pope, Andy Davis, Nikki Selden, Gareth Chennells, Andrew Local, Stuart Britton, David Shapiro, Peter Day, Tony Frobisher, Eva Dolan, Katie Charlton, Gemma Sealey, Emad Akhtar, Keshini Naidoo and Ion Mills.

My lovely wife, Alison, deserves a special thank you for putting up with an author in her house. Her belief and encouragement keep me going when the end of a book seems a long way off.

My wonderful daughter, Erin, brightens all of my days and that’s why the writing always stops when she comes home. Thanks for inspiring me, Erin. Love you always.