A thank you to:
Ruth Löbner, for driving the indecisiveness out of Beatrice and cracking a few really hard nuts with her. I initially used a good few superlatives here when writing about Ruth, before deleting them because she would probably be embarrassed. But that doesn’t make them any less true;
Lieutenant Colonel Andreas Huber, who offered me important and fascinating insights into the work of the Salzburg criminal investigation department, an indispensable help during the writing process. But the ‘poetic licence’ which I employed for the novel and any possible mistakes that slipped past me are solely on my head;
My editor Katharina Naumann, who I overburdened not only with my Austrianisms, but also with number puzzles – the former are probably here to stay, but the latter won’t be. That’s a promise;
My agency, AVA International, who took my announcement at our first meeting (‘I’d like to live from writing, and I’d like to start doing so quickly’) more than literally;
Leon and Michael, who roamed all over Salzburg with me searching for good hiding places for body parts.
About the Author and the Translator
Ursula P. Archer was born in 1968, and worked as an editor at a publishing house. After the success of her first young adult novel, she now dedicates much of her time to writing fiction. She lives with her family in Vienna. Five is her first thriller for adults.
Jamie Lee Searle’s recent and forthcoming translations include Andreas Maier’s Das Zimmer and co-translations, with Shaun Whiteside, of Frank Schätzing’s Limit and Floridh Ilies’ 1913, which was Radio 4 Book of the week. She co-founded the Emerging Translators Network in late 2010, and has been a member of the UK Translators Association Committee since late 2013.
Copyright
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
Version 1.0
Epub ISBN 9781448162116
Published by Vintage 2014
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Copyright © Ursula P. Archer 2012
English translation copyright © Jamie Lee Searle 2014
Ursula P. Archer has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work
First published with the title Fünf in 2012 by Wunderlich, Rowolt Verlag GmbH, Reinbek
First published in Great Britain in 2014 by
Vintage
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ISBN 9780099583868