And thank you too for the sterling copy-editing work of Donna Poppy, who not only has an encyclopaedic knowledge of Liverpool footballers, but also knows which Southern trains still have a trolley service. She also wins a prize for being the first person in the acknowledgements to be named after two separate characters from the Thursday Murder Club books.
The iconic front cover remains the work of the incredible Richard Bravery and Joel Holland. Often imitated, never bettered.
And thank you to Tom Weldon for the support, the wisdom and the Golden Penguins.
A career as an author is pretty much impossible without an amazing agent, and my agent Juliet Mushens is the best in the business. Endlessly supportive and imaginative, and a great gossip. Here’s to many more Golden Penguins. Juliet is ably supported by Liza DeBlock, Kiya Evans and Rachel Neely. Every time a new book comes out, they have all moved one further rung up the ladder. Eventually we are going to need a bigger ladder. Also, Liza, I finally have that Bulgarian tax form for you.
I have so many lovely publishers around the world, and have been lucky enough to start meeting them in person this year. Thank you to them all, and I hope it didn’t go unnoticed that I managed to continue my record of somehow mentioning Estonia in every book.
Special thanks, though, to my American publishers, who are such an integral part of these books. To the incomparable Pamela Dorman, and Jeramie Orton, what an operation it was this time! Further thanks, from my side of the Atlantic to yours, to Brian Tart, Kate Stark, Marie Michels, Lindsay Prevette, Kristina Fazzalaro, Mary Stone and Alex Cruz-Jimenez. Thank you also to the wonderful Jenny Bent. Here’s to a year of fewer Zoom calls, and to meeting lots of American readers and booksellers.
Thank you to Pauline Simmons for the name and to Debbie Darnell for the personality. Thank you to Angela Rafferty and to Jonathan Polnay for answering DNA queries with such speed and skill. You effectively convicted Andrew Everton, and, for that, we are all grateful. And special thanks to Katy Loftus. You’ll always be part of the gang.
My family remains the heartbeat of my books. Thank you, as always, to my mum, Brenda, for the many things I will never be able to fully repay. To Mat and Anissa, to Jan Wright, and to my grandparents Fred and Jessie for their strength and their kindness.
Thank you to my children, Ruby and Sonny, who are now becoming increasingly monetizable, and who bring me joy and pride every day. I am so lucky to be your dad, even though one of you literally never lets me win at Mario Kart.
And, finally, all my love and thanks to Ingrid. That there was a time before I met you seems absurd. You fill my life with happiness and laughter, and to share the rest of my life with you is the greatest privilege I can imagine.
It should also be noted that Ingrid came up with the title The Bullet That Missed, and brought the wonderful Liesl Von Cat into my life.
And, speaking of Liesl Von Cat, I must go. I have shut the window in my study, and she is making it very clear that this is unacceptable.
Until next time …
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PENGUIN BOOKS
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Penguin Books is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com.
First published by Viking in 2022
Copyright © Richard Osman, 2022
The moral right of the author has been asserted
Cover lettering by Joel Holland
ISBN: 978-0-241-99239-5
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.