Daddy's Girl

Thanks to an array of other law enforcement professionals in Chester County. Thanks to Lieutenant Brian Naylor of the Pe

Thanks, as always, to my old friends Gle

SPOILER ALERT: I owe an important thanks here, but you shouldn't read on if you haven't finished the book yet. What follows is a complete and total spoiler and will reveal a PLOT TWIST, so please don't read it now or it will ruin the surprise. In fact, cover the rest of the page with your hand because it would kill me if this was ruined for you. But I have to thank this person in print and want to explain why. So go finish the book and then come back. Please.

Thanks to historian Mary Dugan who educated me on the Underground Railroad in Chester County, Pe

The term "Underground Railroad" was supposedly coined by a slavecatcher, who, failing to find his prey, said, "There must be an underground railroad somewhere." The term is misleading because there was no actual railroad under the ground, with rails, train cars, and such. Instead, the Underground Railroad was a series of people willing to hide the fleeing slaves in their homes. Those who hid the slaves were called "station masters" and their homes were "stations" or "stops." The stations tended to be no more than eight to fifteen miles apart, the length of travel on foot in one terrifying night. There are no reliable estimates of how many slaves escaped to freedom, because records were not kept for fear of being used as evidence. Estimates have ranged from 30,000 to 100,000, and according to William Switala's Underground Railroad in Pe

Chester County, Pe

Historian Mary Dugan took me to some of the county's "stations" and showed me hiding places in outbuildings and private homes, for which I am very grateful. In fact, the names of the Quaker "station masters" in the novel are completely authentic, and so are the slaves' names and initials, taken from actual names I found in my research. I ca

For those of you who want to read more about the Underground Railroad, there are several books which informed this novel, and many of them contain original source material, which make for fascinating reading. Do take a look at: William Still, The Underground Railroad (1872) and R. C. Smedley, History of The Underground Railroad in Chester and the Neighboring Counties of Pe

End of the spoiler, back to pure love.

Thanks to those of you who selected Daddy's Girl for your book club. I appreciate you letting me join, and I have posted discussion questions on a special webpage for book clubs at my website, www.scottoline.com. I think you'll find the questions fun and thought-provoking, and I hope that the historical backdrop to the novel will inform a lively and emotional debate. Raise a glass of wine for me, and enter the Third A

Thanks to the following people, who gave generously to an array of worthy causes at silent auctions to have their name appear in the novel: Adele McIlhargey (benefiting Gwi

And this is in loving memory of David Brian Mundy, bought by my friend Debby Mundy, his wonderful sister, and also in memory of Professor Edward Sparer, a terrific professor at the law school, remembered by all of us and especially by my classmate Alan Sandals, to support the Equal Justice Foundation. And finally, in loving memory of Edward Duffy and Marilyn Krug, remembered by Janet Moore and Steve Werner in support of Family Services of Chester County.