were identified as suffering from mental health problems, predominantly depressive in type, compared with 6.3 per cent of the non-abused population. Similar increases in mental ill-health were found in women who had been physically or sexually assaulted in adult life. Another study found that almost half of the psychiatric in-patients studied, including both men and women, had histories of physical or sexual abuse or both.
(Statistics from Mind.org.uk)
From the
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Somebody once wrote that no Man is an Island, which is true unless of course it is the Isle of Man. And in a similar vein a book doesn’t just come out of the mind and efforts of one person alone. Many people have bought me drinks and given me copious advice at the bar whilst it was being written, and for the benefit of you, dear reader, I by and large ignored it. Some people, however, were useful: Mark and Maisie gave me the Annexe; John and Helen gave us the use of their lovely seaside home in a difficult time as the novel neared completion; Paul ‘Chabal’ Durrant gave excellent advice on Northern dialect; and Ron Cornell was adept at spotting continuity errors. Laura, Ellie and Woodsy, the best barkeep in North Norfolk, let me use their names and Robert and Lucy were both as good an egg as any you could find in a country farmhouse.
2009 started wonderfully and ended terribly, but Lynn, my dad and my family made all the difference.
In the main, the guiding lights for the safe passage of this novel came from the celestial beacons at Random House – namely Caroline Gascoigne and the Lone Star legend Tess Callaway!
The reader will note, as ever, that some places are real in the book and some are not.
Jack Delaney is going to try and walk the line, but London indeed is very real – and has a score or two yet to settle with him!
ALSO AVAILABLE IN ARROW
Mark Pearson
Jackie Malone has been murdered. Her body lies in a pool of blood in the north London flat where she worked as a prostitute. Deep knife wounds have been gouged into her corpse and her hands and feet are tied with coat hanger wire.
For Detective Inspector Jack Delaney this is no ordinary case. He was a friend of Jackie’s and she left desperate messages on his answer phone just hours before she was killed. Despite no immediate leads and no obvious suspects, the fear in her voice tells him that this was not a random act of violence.
Just as Delaney begins his investigation, a young girl is reported missing, feared abducted, and he is immediately tasked with finding her. Delaney knows he must act quickly if there is any chance of finding her alive, but he is also determined to track down Jackie’s killer before the trail goes cold. However, his tough and uncompromising attitude has made him some powerful enemies on the force, and Delaney soon finds that this case may provide the perfect opportunity for them to dispose of him, once and for all …
ALSO AVAILABLE IN ARROW
Mark Pearson
The first victim is a young woman found on Hampstead Heath. Her throat has been slashed and her body mutilated. This horrifying discovery marks the beginning of Detective Inspector Jack Delaney’s toughest ever case.
When the expertly dissected body of a second young woman is discovered in a north London flat with a brightly coloured scarf tied around her neck, it suddenly becomes clear that a psychopath is on the loose. There is no apparent connection between the two victims and there are no clear motives – but the crime scenes tell a terrifying story.
Delaney, together with forensic pathologist Kate Walker, needs to act quickly and piece together the evidence in order to uncover the deadly pattern behind the murders. However, violent events from Delaney’s past are threatening to catch up with him, and he must stay one step ahead of his enemies if he is to stop the killer from striking again.
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Ruth Rendell
‘Adam and Eve and Pinch Me went down to the river to bathe, Adam and Eve were drowned. Who was saved?’
This old nursery rhyme is a favourite of Jerry Leach, a handsome ne’er-do-well, who sponges off women.
Five women, unknown to each other, are his willing victims. One he even married and abandoned, while promising to marry another. But, with the cruel irony he would be the first to recognise in that nursery rhyme, Jerry becomes the victim of one of his female prey.
‘She is to be treasured.’
Anita Brookner, Spectator
‘Rendell is not only irresistible because of the brilliance of her descriptions of contemporary life and the sad truth of her characters. She is a great storyteller who knows how to make sure that the reader has to turn the pages out of a desperate need to find out what is going to happen next.’
John Mortimer,
‘Unequalled ability to build and sustain suspense’ Peter Guttridge,
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Ruth Rendell
The chance discovery by Eugene Wren of an envelope filled with banknotes would link the lives of a number of very different people – each with their own obsessions, problems, dreams and despairs. It would also set in motion a chain of events that lead to arson and murder.
‘It is Rendell’s superb sense of place that counts. She makes you smell the excitement and the desperation. Portobello is as brilliant as anything she has ever written’
