Independent booksellers have been invaluable in helping me introduce Josie to their customers—thank you all. I want to acknowledge my special friends at these in de pen dent bookshops: Partners & Crime, Front Street Books, The Poisoned Pen, The Well Red Coyote, Clues Unlimited, Mostly Books, Mysteries to Die For, Book’em Mysteries, Mystery Bookstore, Legends, Book Carnival, Mysterious Galaxy, San Francisco Mystery Bookstore, “M” is for Mystery, Murder by the Book stores in Houston, Denver, and Portland, Schuler Books, The Regulator, McIntyre’s, Quail Ridge Books, Book Cove, Remember the Alibi Mystery Bookstore, Centuries & Sleuths Bookstore, Fox Tale Books, Kate’s Mystery Books, Mystery Lovers Bookshop, The Mystery Company, The Mysterious Bookshop, Partners in Crime, Booked for Murder, Aunt Agatha’s, Foul Play, Windows a Bookshop, Murder by the Beach, Books & Books, Moore Books, The Bookstore in the Grove, Uncle Edgar’s Mystery Bookstore, Seattle Mystery Bookstore, Park Road Books, and Once Upon a Crime.
Manhattan’s Black Orchid Bookstore is still sorely missed; I remain grateful to Bonnie Claeson and Joe Guglielmelli for helping launch Josie.
Many chain bookstores have been incredibly supportive as well—thank you to those many booksellers who’ve gone out of their way to become familiar with Josie. Special thanks go to my friend Dianne Defonce at the Border’s in Fairfield, Connecticut.
Thanks also to Nili L. Olay and Gene C. Gill of the Jane Austen Society of North America, Linda Landigran of Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Barbara Floyd of The Country Register, Aldon James of the National Arts Club, Wilda W. Willliams of Library Journal. Many thanks also to Molly Weston and Jen Forbus.
Special thanks to my librarian friends David S. Ferriero, Doris Ann Norris, Sally Fellows, Mary Russell, Denise Van Zanten, Mary Callahan Boone, Cynde Bloom Lahey, Cyndi Rademacher, Eleanor Ratterman, Jane Murphy, Jennifer Vido, Judith Abner, Karen Kiley, Lesa Holstine, Monique Flasch, Susie Schachte, Virginia Sanchez, Maxine Bleiweis, Cindy Clark, Linda Avellar, Heidi Fowler, Georgia Owens, Eva Perry, Mary J. Etter, Paul Schroeder, Tracy J. Wright, Kristi Calhoun Belesca, Paulette Sullivan, Frances Mendelsohn, Deborah Hirsch, and Heather Caines.
Thank you to my literary agent emerita, Denise Marcil, and my fab new literary agent, Cristina Concepcion of Don Congdon Associates, Inc. Special thanks go to Michael Congdon and Katie Kotchman as well.
My editor, St. Martin’s Minotaur executive editor Hope Dellon, continues to provide wise and discerning feedback about the manuscript, helping Rocky Point become the kind of community readers want to visit over and over again. Special thanks also go to Laura Bourgeois, assistant editor, for her insightful comments. I’m indebted to them, and to the entire St. Martin’s Minotaur team. Thank you also to those I work with most often, Andy Martin, Hector DeJean, and Talia Ross, as well as those behind the scenes, including my production editor, Julie Gutin; copy editor, India Cooper; and cover designer, David Baldeosingh Rotstein.
Table of Contents
Cover
Title
Copyright
Dedication
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
CHAPTER FORTY
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS