Dead at First Sight, page 40
As always, I’m indebted to many officers and support staff of the police services. In particular in this book, Surrey and Sussex Police, the Metropolitan Police, the City of London Police, Jersey States Police and the Brooklyn Department of the DA. A big thank you to Sussex Police & Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne; Chief Constable Giles York QPM; Julian Blazeby, Director General Justice and Home Affairs, States of Jersey Government; DCO James Wileman, Jersey States Police; Detective Chief Superintendent Jason Tingley; Chief Superintendent Lisa Bell; Detective Superintendent Mike Ashcroft; Detective Superintendent Steve Boniface; Superintendent Paula Light; Superintendent Simon Nelson; DCI Stuart Hale; DCI Andy Richardson; DCI Lee Turner; DI Pete Billin; DI Richard Haycock; DI Emma Vickers; DI Bill Warner; DI Mark Warren; Acting DI Lawrence Courtness; Inspector James Biggs; Inspector Jason Cummings; Inspector Paul Davey; Inspector Mark Evans; Inspector Dan Hiles; DS Phil Taylor; DC Vanessa Forde; DC Martin Light; Acting DC Ben Nield; PC Jen Dunn; PC Pip Edwards; PC Richard Trundle; PC Lee Williams. Katie Perkins, Jill Pedersen and Suzanne Heard from Sussex Police Corporate Communications; Emily Denyer, Financial Investigator; Maria O’Brien, James Gartrell, Chris Gee and James Stather from Forensic Services. Annabel Galsworthy, Aiden Gilbert, Joseph Langford, Graham Lewendon, Shaun Robbins and Daniel Salter from the Digital Forensics Unit. Barry Faudemer and Emma Vickers of the Jersey Financial Services Commission; Investigator Mark Grieve from the Attorney General’s Office, Jersey. Detective Investigator Patrick Lanigan of the Brooklyn DA’s office, Deputy Sheriff Dennis Bootle of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and Detective Stephen Beeman of Key West Police.
Also to the following retired officers: Chief Superintendent Graham Bartlett, Detective Chief Inspector Trevor Bowles, Inspector Keith Ellis, Inspector Andy Kille, PC Jon Bennion-Jones, PC Pete Gear and PC David Rowlands.
A very special thank you also to: Theresa Adams; Dave Allen; Steve Barrey; Tony Cooper (Southern Water); Kaye Fontaine; Jonathan Gready; James Hodge; Haydn Kelly; Marcel Kullen; Steve Lampard; Kevin Lemasney; John Lynch; Bob Norgrove (Southern Water); Ken Owen; Ray Packham; Alan Setterington; Juliet Smith JP; Hans Jurgen Stockerl; Orlando Trujillo; Mark Tuckwell; John Tupperwares (Southern Water); Tom Vautier; Michelle Websdale; Richard White and Mr Christopher R P Williams.
Although writing itself is a solitary task, the act of creating a finished novel ready for publication involves elaborate teamwork, many of the members playing vital roles at various key stages. My UK agents, Isobel Dixon, Julian Friedmann, Conrad Williams, James Pusey, Hana Murrell, Hattie Grunewald and all the team at Blake Friedmann. My US agent, Richard Pine of Inkwell. My mentor and good friend, Geoff Duffield. My fabulous editor Wayne Brookes and all at Pan Macmillan. Singling out just a few: Sarah Arratoon, Jonathan Atkins, Anna Bond, Stuart Dwyer, Lucy Hines, Daniel Jenkins, Sara Lloyd, Alex Saunders, Jade Tolley, Jeremy Trevathan, Charlotte Williams, Natalie Young. My structural editor, Susan Opie. My publicists at Riot Communications, Preena Gadher, Caitlin Allen, Emily Souders and my US publicists, Elena Stokes, Tanya Farrell and Sabrina Tenteromano at Wunderkind.
Everything starts with the book (writing the pages) and my brilliant and hard-working Team James help me to hone the manuscript into shape long before it reaches my agent and publishers. My amazing PA, Linda Buckley, who runs our lives (!) and who never lets a fact go unchecked; my book-keeper Sarah Middle, Danielle Brown who manages my social media, and my crucial first-look editorial team who give me so much guidance; Anna Hancock, Susan Ansell, Helen Shenston, Martin and Jane Diplock.
A very special thank you goes to my task-master extraordinaire, my ‘real-life’ Roy Grace, former Detective Chief Superintendent David Gaylor, who has a brilliantly creative and analytical mind, as well as being able to juggle half a dozen sets of editorial notes in his head. Without him, the editorial process would take me way longer.
My biggest thank you of all is to my beloved wife, Lara. She is my rock, my smartest and most trusted critic, my best friend and she always keeps my spirits up.
And my final thanks to our adorable menagerie, including our dogs, Oscar, Spooky and Wally; our kitten, Madam Woo; our alpacas, Al Pacino, Fortescue, Jean-Luc, Boris and Keith, and our emus, Spike, Wolfie and Dorothy. However dark a day may be, they brighten it with their goofy grins, their lopsided smiles, and their antics.
You, my readers, have a special place in my heart – without you I’d be nothing! Your emails, blog posts, tweets, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube comments are always wonderful to read. Keep them coming, I love to hear from you!
Peter James
contact@peterjames.com
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About the Author
Peter James is a UK number one bestselling author, best known for writing crime and thriller novels, and the creator of the much-loved Detective Superintendent Roy Grace. Globally, his books have been translated into thirty-seven languages.
Synonymous with plot-twisting page-turners, Peter has garnered an army of loyal fans throughout his storytelling career – which also included stints writing for TV and producing films. He has won over forty awards for his work, including the WHSmith Best Crime Author of All Time Award, Crime Writers’ Association Diamond Dagger and a BAFTA nomination for The Merchant of Venice starring Al Pacino and Jeremy Irons for which he was an Executive Producer. Many of Peter’s novels have been adapted for film, TV and stage.
By Peter James
The Detective Superintendent Roy Grace Series
DEAD SIMPLE LOOKING GOOD DEAD
NOT DEAD ENOUGH DEAD MAN’S FOOTSTEPS
DEAD TOMORROW DEAD LIKE YOU DEAD MAN’S GRIP
NOT DEAD YET DEAD MAN’S TIME WANT YOU DEAD
YOU ARE DEAD LOVE YOU DEAD
NEED YOU DEAD DEAD IF YOU DON’T
DEAD AT FIRST SIGHT
Other Novels
DEAD LETTER DROP ATOM BOMB ANGEL
BILLIONAIRE POSSESSION DREAMER
SWEET HEART TWILIGHT PROPHECY ALCHEMIST
HOST THE TRUTH DENIAL FAITH
PERFECT PEOPLE THE HOUSE ON COLD HILL
ABSOLUTE PROOF
Short Story Collection
A TWIST OF THE KNIFE
Children’s Novel
GETTING WIRED!
Novella
THE PERFECT MURDER
Non-Fiction
DEATH COMES KNOCKING:
POLICING ROY GRACE’S BRIGHTON
(with Graham Bartlett)
First published 2019 by Macmillan
This electronic edition first published 2019 by Macmillan
an imprint of Pan Macmillan
20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR
Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com
ISBN 978-1-5098-1642-2
Copyright © Really Scary Books / Peter James 2019
Jacket images © Shutterstock, Design by Neil Lang, Pan Macmillan Art Department
Roy Grace®, Grace®, DS Grace®, Detective Superintendent Grace® and DI Grace® are registered trademarks of Really Scary Books Limited.
The right of Peter James to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damage.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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Peter James, Dead at First Sight
