Peter James: Love You Dead

The idea for this book came from a chance meeting with Detective Constable Andy Gibbs, whilst I was spending a day at the Professional Standards Office of the Metropolitan Police back in 2014. He revealed that the two tins of Quality Street on his desk contained not chocolates, but food for his poison dart frogs. And it gave me food for thought. Researching this book has been a fun, fascinating and sometimes downright scary experience — particularly the day I found myself holding a live Arabian flat rock scorpion in the palm of my hand! But I lived to tell the tale and I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. As ever there is a myriad of people to thank starting with many officers, former officers and support staff of Sussex Police, Surrey Police, the Metropolitan Police, City of London Police, Munich Police and the NYPD.

Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne; Chief Constable Giles York, QPM; Deputy Chief Constable Olivia Pinkney, QPM; Chief Superintendent Nev Kemp; Detective Superintendent Nick Sloan; Chief Inspector Jason Tingley; Detective Inspector Mick Richards; Inspector Roy Apps; Sgt Russell Phillips; Sgt Phil Taylor; Sgt Andy Newman; Sgt Chris (Thomo) Thompson; DS Peter Billin; Accredited Financial Investigator Kelly Nicholls; PC Sam Bruce; PC Gavin Crute; PC Damian Hunter.

Michelle Websdale; Suzanne Heard; Katie Perkins; Jill Pedersen and Tony Case.

Maria O’Brien; Chris Gee; Lucy Steele; James Stather, Crime Scene Services.

Commissioner Adrian Leppard of the City of London Police; Commander Christopher Greany, Economics Crime Unit, City of London Police; Superintendent Paula Light, Metropolitan Police; Detective Inspector Richard Haycock, Surrey Police; Juliet Smith JP, High Sheriff of East Sussex; PC Martin Light, Metropolitan Police; Detective Investigator Pat Lanigan, NYPD.

Former Chief Superintendent Graham Bartlett; Former Detective Chief Inspector Trevor Bowles; Former Inspector Andy Kille; Ray Packham, formerly of the High Tech Crime Unit.

Thank you to those who gave me invaluable medical, scientific or technical help: Iain and Georgie Maclean; Dr Haydn Kelly; Mike Gilson, editor of the Argus ; Anette Lippert; Sigrid Daus and Klinikum Munich — Krankenhaus Schwabing; Dave Wooton from DEFRA — the Department of Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs; Steven Charman and Danny Yeoman of Pets Corner; Peter Schilperoord (one of the few living survivors of a saw-scale viper bite); Dr Gerhard V. Verdoorn, Griffon Poison Information Centre; Shaun Harris; Phil Homan; Sharon Bolton; Dave Breden and Alison Macqueen; Ross and Ginevra Duncton; Christophe Chmiel; Dr Peter Dean, Coroner for Essex; Richard Mastembroek; Dr Dunecan & Nicky Massey; Paul Williams; Arnie Wilson; Kate Sissons and Brian Dick; Mike Sansom; Jill Hunt, Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance Trust; herpetologist Mark O’Shea.

Although writing is a solitary task, there are numerous people in the background working on the editing, sales and marketing, without whom there would, quite simply, be no book. My agent, Carole Blake, and her team. My publishing director, Wayne Brookes. Geoff Duffield, Anna Bond, Sara Lloyd, Sarah Arratoon, Fraser Crichton, Neil Lang and all at Pan Macmillan. Elena Stokes, Tanya Farrell and all the rest at Team James USA. My editor Susan Opie. My brilliant publicists, Tony Mulliken, Sophie Ransom and Becky Short.

And last of these but also first, my close friend and Roy Grace alter-ego, former Detective Chief Superintendent David Gaylor, the career role model for Roy Grace.

I’m fortunate to have a brilliant support team who help me to hone the manuscript long before it reaches my agent and publishers, and to help with the management of Team James UK: my amazing and brilliant PA, Linda Buckley; my terrific book-keeper, Sarah Middle; Anna Hancock; Helen Shenston; Martin and Jane Diplock; Sue Ansell; Ken Owen.

My biggest thank you of all is to my wife, Lara. She has added so much to this book in so many ways, from character insights, to wise editorial suggestions, and brilliantly creative ideas of her own. She’s accompanied me on numerous research trips, including a few of the more scary ones, and she’s been a tireless help in the endless promotion of my work both in the UK and abroad.

Oscar, our rescue Labrador, Bull-Mastiff and Parsons Jack Russell cross, is convinced he’s the model for Humphrey (and I’m not going to disillusion him!), and our Labradoodle, Spook, rather wishes I would spend less time writing and more out walking with her in the fields.

Finally a sad farewell to my good mate: RIP Tony Omotoso of the Sussex Police Road Policing Unit, who has appeared in several of my books as himself. Gone far too young, but will never be forgotten because he made so many people smile!

Above all, thank you, my readers! Your emails, Tweets, Facebook, Instagram and blog posts give me such constant encouragement. Keep them coming, I love to hear from you!

Peter James

Sussex, England

scary@pavilion.co.uk

www.peterjames.com

www.facebook.com/peterjames.roygrace

www.twitter.com/peterjamesuk

www.instagram.com/peterjamesuk

These can vary between forces