The Impossible Fortune - 76

How lovely to have Joyce, Elizabeth, Ibrahim and Ron back together again, and in (slightly) happier times. I hope you enjoyed getting reaaccquainted. I can’t tell you how many different ways I have just attempted to spell the word ‘reacquainted’. The relief when the spellcheck finally waved it through was palpable. If you ever want to spend a long time writing a short paragraph, just put the words ‘acknowledgements’ and ‘reacquainted’ in it. That will be your morning gone.

I have many people to thank. My wonderful agent Juliet Mushens and her team, Alba Arnau Prado, Catriona Fida and Emma Dawson. My amazing editor Harriet Bourton, and the whole gang at Viking in the UK: Rose Poole, Rosie Safaty, Rosey Battle (I insist that all the many Rosies on the team spell their names differently to help with admin), the incomparable Olivia Mead, Kayla Fuller, Yazmeen Akhtar and new kid on the block, Joe Cooper.

Thanks to the sales teams: Autumn Evans, Lucy Keeler, Caitlin Knight, Emily Cornell, Chris Wyatt, Grace Dellar, Jessica Sacco, Carrie Anderson, Jessica Adams, Nadia Patel and Charlotte Owens. And special thanks, as always, to Samantha Fanaken.

Thank you so much to the amazing audio team: Meredith Benson, Helena Sheffield and Carmen Byers.

I am indebted once more to the forensic brilliance of Donna Poppy, Natalie Wall, Annie Underwood and Leah Boulton, and the continued creative mastery of Richard Bravery and Alisha Kruse.

In the US my undying thanks go to Pamela Dorman, Jeramie Orton and the team at Pamela Dorman Books. I think I have met all of them now, and I can confirm they are lovely. Thank you to Brian Tart, Natalie Grant, Andrea Schulz, Patrick Nolan, Kristina Fazzalaro and the only Fulham fan on the team, Kate Stark. Further thanks to Tricia Conley, Tess Espinoza, Diandra Abernethy (great name for a character), Mike Brown, Jason Ramirez, Claire Vaccaro, Mary Stone, Anna Brill, Rebecca Marsh, Magdalena Deniz, Andy Dudley and Rachel Obenschain.

I’ve been very lucky to spend time with so many of my foreign publishers this year, and I can’t wait to see many more of you this year!

Heartfelt thanks to the booksellers and librarians of the world. You continue to make the world a better place by choosing love and empathy and imagination and understanding.

Particular thanks for The Impossible Fortune go to my brilliant brother-in-law Matt Bessey, for guiding me through the world of ‘cold storage’. Matt is a cyber-security expert if you ever need one, but also a stone-cold dude who just three days ago managed to rig up a television signal so we could all watch the Eurovision Song Contest halfway up an Italian mountain. That’s the type of family you’re glad you married into.

Thank you to Dan Hatfield for donating to Action for Children to have a character named after him in the book. Sorry I cut your arm off, Dan. Thank you too to Luna and family for useful advice, and good luck in whatever you do next.

To you, the reader, I can’t express my thanks enough. It’s my greatest pleasure to enjoy these worlds with you – long may we all continue. I’ve just started the new We Solve Murders adventure, and then there will be more Thursday Murder Club after that. It’s a lot of murder, I know, but it’s a lot of love and laughs too.

As ever, I could do none of this without my family and friends. Thank you for everything. I will just single out my mum, Brenda, the beating heart of these books, my children, Ruby and Sonny, and the love of my life, now and forever, my wife, Ingrid.

I know Ingrid won’t want her name to be the last in these acknowledgements, however, because, alongside our long-time awesome cat Liesl, we now have a new cat, Lottie, who, by sheer force of personality, demands star billing. Lottie is very much the chaotic Ron to Liesl’s calm and thoughtful Ibrahim.

Here’s to chaos and love, and to life and books. Until next time!