Strangers is set in Bristol and, while a lot of the locations are actual places, some have been invented to suit the plot. The Meads is a fictional shopping centre. It was named by Johanet Sloan who won a competition on my Facebook author page. Thank you to the readers who offered their surnames for some of the characters in this book, and to my Twitter followers who let me use their handles. The conversations they have in this book are fictional and don’t reflect their personalities or views.
Strangers wouldn’t be the book it is without input from my amazing editor Helen Huthwaite. She pushes me to make my books the best they can be, responds to my emails with lightning speed and never, ever drops the ball. She’s also a genuinely lovely person. A huge thank you to Phoebe Morgan for stepping into Helen’s shoes as she goes on maternity leave. My book couldn’t be in safer hands and I couldn’t ask for a nicer person to work with.
Grateful thanks as always to my superstar agent Madeleine Milburn who has been with me every step of the way over the last eleven years of my career and continues to be the best agent on the planet. And a big thank you to Hayley Steed and Liane-Louise Smith for working their magic with TV options and foreign rights.
If you’ve read about this book in a magazine or heard me talk about it at an event or on the radio that’s down to the high priestess of publicity, Sabah Khan. Thank you for your PR voodoo (I still can’t believe you got me on The Sara Cox Show!). A huge thank you to marketing maestros Hannah O’Brien and Ellie Pilcher for their innovation, creativity and hard work. Big smooches to Anna Derkacz for making me laugh over boozy lunches (and being a sales superstar) and to everyone at Avon and HarperCollins who work so hard on my books. Thanks also to John Rickards for doing a superb job on the copyedits. For anyone looking for a freelance editor/copyeditor John is your man!
I would have struggled to research this book without the following people who answered my endless questions: Tony Kent and Neil White for legal expertise, Stuart Gibbon for police procedural help, and Scott James who talked me through his experience of working as a security guard.
My family and friends are the people who keep me going when doubt sets in, deadlines loom and my stress levels rise. Big love to my parents Jenny and Reg Taylor who have supported me every step of the way (and foist my books onto everyone they know), my sister Bec Taylor who is my biggest cheerleader and my brother Dave Taylor who shares each and every one of my social media posts. Lots of love to Lou Foley, Sami, Frazer and Oliver Eaton, Sophie, Rose and Mia Taylor, Ana Hall, James Loach, Angela Hall, and Steve and Guinevere Hall. And ALL my love to Chris and Seth – my little family and my everything.
Thank you and kitty kisses to Rowan Coleman, Julie Cohen, Kate Harrison, Tamsyn Murray and Miranda Dickinson for holding my hand every step of the way. Drunken fist bumps to my criminally good friends for entertaining me and making me laugh. Massive hugs to the friends who support and put up with me, you know who you are.
Finally, a huge thank you to the publishers, booksellers, retailers, reviewers, book bloggers, librarians and readers who acquire, stock, recommend, lend, borrow and buy my books. I am hugely grateful.
And thank YOU for choosing to read my book. I hope you enjoyed it.
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