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is my first and almost certainly last whodunit. After battling with the complexities of murder, I rate the genius of Agatha Christie and P.D. James even higher than that of Einstein. I would have given up altogether had it not been for the kindness and co-operation of Gloucester and Stroud Police. No matter what hour I rang, no matter how fatuous the query, they entered into the spirit and never failed to provide an answer. Their only disagreement was whether the male member remains erect after the moment of death, Stroud maintaining it did, Gloucester it didn’t. Other police officers beguiled me with thrilling tales of murder and later waded through the manuscript for errors. They know who they are and the extent of my gratitude.
Gloucester Fire and Ambulance Services were just as helpful, particularly their assistant divisional officer, Graham Jewell. Gloucester Reference Library kindly checked names for me. The British Polio Fellowship, the British Film Industry and Weatherbys were also always ready with answers.
A writer does not automatically expect kindness from her own profession, but few could have been more welcoming and generous with their time than David Fingleton, Mel Cooper, Charles Osborne, Michael Coveney, Malcolm Hayes, Norman Lebrecht, Keith Clarke and Richard Fawkes of
Classical Music
, and James Jolly and Christopher Pollard of
Gramophone
.
I must also thank the authors of five books which were invaluable in helping me to understand my subject:
The Colin Clark Diaries: The Prince, the Showgirl and Me; Ring Resounding
, the marvellous account by the late John Culshaw of the first recording in stereo of Wagner’s
Ring; The Jigsaw Man
, a study of criminal psychology by Paul Britton; John Baxter’s wonderful biography of Steven Spielberg; and the late Sir Rudolph Bing’s
Five Thousand Nights at the Opera
.
My friends as usual came up with endless ideas. They include Teddy Chad, Vanessa Calthorpe, Flavia Cooper, Val Hennessey, Huw Humphreys, Annabel Dinsdale, Richard Stilgoe, Graham Ogilvie, Harriet Capaldi, Godfrey Smith and his grandson, Max Cordell-Smith, Louise Naylor, Michael Cordy, Simon Craker, Marjorie and Peter Hendy, Jill Reay, Lizzy Moyle, Rowena Luard, Sarah King, Claire Williams, James and Georgie Carter, Maurice Leonard, Maria Prendergast, Philip Jones, Rob and Sharon Morgan. Alistair Horne and General Sir Peter Davies were brilliant on French soldiering; Peter Davies, the art writer, on French painters; Micky Suffolk on helicopters. Andrew Parker Bowles, Charlie Mann, Charlie Brooks on racing, Astrid St Aubyn and Zahra Hanbury on ghosts, my doctors Graham Hall and Pat Pearson and their staff at Frithwood surgery on medical matters and our vet, dear John Hunter, on animals.
Animals play a hugely important part in
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, particularly the heroine’s dog, James, who is based on a shaggy red rescued lurcher of the same name, the adored pet of Alan Little of Gardners. No-one else in the book, however, is based on anyone, unless they are so famous — as David Mellor and Nigel Dempster are — that they appear as themselves.
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I must emphasize is a work of fiction, and any resemblance to any living person or organization is purely coincidental.
I wish I had space to thank everyone who helped me. Those named were usually experts in their own field, but I took their advice only as far as it suited my plot, which in no way reflects on their expertise.
I am extremely grateful to Transworld for publishing
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and to Broo Doherty for working so hard to edit it; to Neil Gower for drawing such a beautiful map; and to my agent Desmond Elliott and his assistant Douglas Kean for all their support and kindness. I’d also like to thank Jo Xuereb-Brennan, who provided marvellous advice when cuts in the original manuscript were asked for.
The real heroines of
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, however, are my five friends, Pippa Birch, Annette Xuereb-Brennan, Anna Gibbs-Kennett, Mandy Williams and Caterina Krucker, who typed the huge manuscript in all its endless drafts and rewrites. I cannot thank them enough for their enthusiasm, industry and advice on everything from polo backhands to pregnancy kits.
I must especially thank my dear PA, Pippa Birch, for looking after me so beautifully, and my cleaner, Ann Mills, to whom
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is dedicated, who has restored our house to order for the last fifteen years and is simply one of the nicest people I know.
The lion’s share of my gratitude as usual goes to my husband Leo, my children Felix and Emily, and my dogs, Hero and Bessie, who have put up with murder, literally, for the last three years, and have been constantly comforting and inspiring.