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John Wooten of Oak Ridge, Te
Elmarie Stodart of Cape Town, who coined the “right to arm bears” phrase, which lent itself well to the novel.
Bill Mudron and Dylan Meconis of Portland, Oregon, for their excellent frontispiece and work on my postcards and merchandising. Further examples of their artwork can be found at www.thequirkybird.com (Dylan), www.excelsiorstudios.net/ (Bill).
Mari Roberts, who once again puts up with a partner who is in residential absentia for five months of the year.
Carolyn Mays and Molly Stern, two editors cut from the finest cloth, who never push me that hard, even when the manuscript is the teeniest-weeniest bit late.
Gretchen Koss and Emma Longhurst, the best publicity gurus in the known galaxy, whom I am lucky to have.
The unsung multitudes at Hodder and Penguin Group (USA), who have been so utterly supportive of my efforts.
Tif Loehnis, Eric Simonoff and all the hardworking associates at Janklow and Nesbit, without whom I would as likely as not still be making Snicketty-Dicketty breakfast cereal commercials, and hating it.
To the master himself, Jonathan Swift, for the initial inspiration for this novel:
He had been eight years upon a project for extracting sunbeams out of cucumbers, which were to be put in vials hermetically sealed, and let out to warm the air in raw inclement summers.
The Nursery Crime Division, the Reading Police Department and the Oxford & Berkshire constabulary in this book are entirely fictitious, and any similarities to authentic police procedures, protocol or forensic techniques are entirely coincidental, and quite unintentional.