Arsenic For Tea: A Murder Most Unladylike Mystery (A Wells and Wong Mystery) (26 page)

And just like that, I wasn’t homesick any more.

All of the people in this book are absolutely fictional – but some real places and names have managed to creep in. Thank you all (you know who you are) for letting me make you part of Daisy and Hazel’s world. Special thanks, though, go to:

Boadie and her family. Fallingford House would not exist without them – and it would not look the way it does without Boadie’s truly unique map drawing skills. Not many people would have included the family stuffed birds, but she did.

Amy and Emily, who introduced me to the real Millie and Toast Dog, two most exceptional animals. I have tried to remember them with the fondness they deserve.

And Saskia, aspiring Jessica Fletcher – I hope she will not see any connection between her real self and her fictional alter ego apart from the name.

As well as all of the wonderful friends and family members who were mentioned in the last book (I still love you all in exactly equal amounts) several people made a special contribution to the creation of
Arsenic for Tea
:

The Goodes, as kind as their name, who gave me a place to stay and a space to write in the difficult first months when nothing made sense and every character was in five rooms at once.

My brilliant first readers: my mother, Kathie Booth Stevens, my crit partner, Melinda Salisbury and my agent, Gemma Cooper. You were all perfectly right, and the book is much better because of your extremely clever suggestions.

My editor Nat Doherty, who has been fantastic at coralling my plot and encouraging
Arsenic for Tea
to be the best and most food-filled book it can be. My publicist Harriet Venn, for her enthusiasm in promoting the series, and Mainga Bhima and the whole Random team – any book is a collaborative effort, and I could not have done it without a single one of you.

Nina Tara, for bringing my books to life with her glorious maps and illustrations, and Laura Bird and the Art team for creating such wonderful covers for them.

Matthew, for love, support and yet more helpful suggestions about bears, and the Smalleys for single-handedly promoting the book in every bookstore they visit. Thanks especially to Carolyn, for putting treacle tart on the Fallingford menu.

Everyone who has, in so many wonderful ways, spread the word about
Murder Most Unladylike
– especially the Blackwell’s Oxford team, who have put all of their considerable energy and enthusiasm behind the book. You have all bowled me over, and I am inexpressably grateful.

My parents, for their unending pride and love – you made me what I am, and I am very lucky to be related to you.

And finally, my agent Gemma Cooper. You are a true fairy godmother. Here’s to many more!

Robin Stevens, Devon, August 2014

Robin Stevens was born in California and grew up in an Oxford college, across the road from the house where Alice in Wonderland lived. She has been making up stories all her life.

When she was twelve, her father handed her a copy of
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
and she realised that she wanted to be either Hercule Poirot or Agatha Christie when she grew up. When it occurred to her that she was never going to be able to grow her own spectacular walrus moustache, she decided that Agatha Christie was the more achievable option.

She spent her teenage years at Cheltenham Ladies’ College, reading a lot of murder mysteries and hoping that she’d get the chance to do some detecting herself (she didn’t). She then went to university, where she studied crime fiction, and now she works at a children’s publisher, which is pretty much the best day job she can imagine.

Robin now lives in Cambridge with her boyfriend and her pet bearded dragon, Watson.

Also by Robin Stevens:

ARSENIC FOR TEA: A WELLS & WONG MYSTERY
AN RHCP DIGITAL EBOOK 978 1 448 19316 5

Published in Great Britain by RHCP Digital,
an imprint of Random House Children’s Publishers UK
A Penguin Random House Company

This ebook edition published 2015

Text copyright © Robin Stevens, 2015
Cover, map and illustrations © Nina Tara, 2015

First Published in Great Britain by Corgi, 2015

The right of Robin Stevens to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.