by Julie Kramer
Babe,
You have no business snooping in my sock drawer unless I am dead. So if you are reading this, it’s not a good sign for us. But us is the best part of me. Always know there is nothing you can do that I won’t forgive, and in the course of a marriage, snooping is only a misdemeanor. I will penalize you with long, deep kisses.
Love, Hugh
Darling,
I hope you never read these letters. But if you do, I hope there are dozens to bring you comfort and symbolize our years and years of life together.
By now you probably won’t even remember that night we fought about when to drive to Chicago. Already I’m sorry. But none of our fights are deal breakers. This one barely a blip on the radar. A speeding ticket vs. a DUI. Remember our biggest fight so far? Where to hang the deer head? I guess I lost that one, too. I leave you never regretting a minute of our marriage. The best part of fighting is making up. Good-bye, Riley.
Love, Hugh
“Thank you, darling,” I whispered.
I put his letters back in the envelope, along with my wedding band, sealed it with a kiss, and stuck it in one of the moving boxes.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The list of people who made Stalking Susan a better book is a long one.
My dear friend and first reader, Michele Cook, was supportive and encouraging.
My fellow author and last reader, Steve Thayer, was critical and discouraging.
Both approaches improved my manuscript.
My readers in between, Kevyn Burger, Caroline Lowe, Alan Cox, and Trish Van Pilsum, kept my story sound, my characters honest, and me sane.
I’m grateful to all the people in television news I’ve worked with or covered these many years, along with my friends and very large extended family spread far and wide. You all inspired me. But keep in mind, this is a work of fiction, and the characters on these pages are not you.
Thanks to Vernon Geberth, the smartest cop I know and master of Practical Homicide Investigation.
Garrett Young for his skill behind the camera.
My debut colleagues at International Thriller Writers for their fellowship, as well as the veteran authors there, for their generosity.
I owe enormous gratitude to my agent, Elaine Koster, for taking me on as a client, giving me confidence as a writer, and finding my novel a home with Doubleday. Her associate Stephanie Lehman, an excellent author herself with a genuine fondness for television, worked with me on revisions to improve my plot.
When an editor the caliber of Stacy Creamer wanted my book, I felt like I had won the literary lottery. Special appreciation for Stacy’s patience with a novice and the enthusiasm she expressed toward me, my protagonist, and my novel; assistant editor Laura Swerdloff for her remarkable attention to details; production editor Sean Mills; Jean Traina for cover design; Maggie Carr for copyediting; Rachel Lapal for publicity; Adrienne Sparks for marketing; and the rest of the Doubleday team. As a television news producer I realize much of the work in launching a book involves behind-the-scenes people whose names don’t appear on the cover. The least I can do is mention them in the credits.
Hugs to my sons, Alex and Andrew, for allowing me time on the computer and not laughing when I said I was writing a book.
And deep, personal thanks to my husband, Joe, for his love and understanding. He is indeed my soul mate.
PUBLISHED BY DOUBLEDAY
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2008 by Julie Kramer
All Rights Reserved
Published in the United States by Doubleday, an imprint of The Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.doubleday.com
DOUBLEDAY is a registered trademark and the DD colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kramer, Julie.
Stalking Susan / Julie Kramer. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
1. Women television journalists—Fiction. 2. Serial murderers—Minnesota—Minneapolis—Fiction. 3. Minneapolis (Minn.)—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3611.R355S73 2008
813'.6—dc22
2007034712
eISBN: 978-0-385-52681-4
v3.0