by cass green
And she has a cottage to rent out, once it’s all sorted.
She and Lou have talked about taking a trip to Sweden together in the autumn. Lou had been all awkward at first, saying it wasn’t her place to come, not in the circumstances. But Neve had pointed out that she was always whingeing about never getting a break and didn’t she want to spend time with her own sister?
Lou had got all emotional then. So had Neve.
She takes a deep breath of the dirty air now. Beautiful London, with its noise and filth and life.
But she is going back to the cottage. Things are going to be different this time. There’s no bogeyman.
She pushes her sunglasses down over her eyes and stands up, feeling a stiffness in her injured shoulder. She’s been warned it might cause her problems for a while so she rolls it back and forwards carefully, just as the physio showed her.
Then, taking one last glance at the glittering Thames, she starts to walk down the South Bank and towards Waterloo station.
The End
Acknowledgements
Writing a book is such a collaborative effort and I have many people I’d like to thank for helping me with this one. First of all, there were several people who gave me their time to talk about practical plot questions.
Tim Ash from the RNLI was very generous with his advice on the procedures involved when someone falls, or jumps, into the Thames. If you’d like to learn more about the work of this life-saving organisation or to make a donation, this is their website: https://rnli.org/.
Rosy Thornton provided expertise with the thorny issue of wills and the Donatio Mortis Causa gift that ends up in Neve’s possession. Paul Dengel and the Mac Repair Shop in Oakwood gave me some very useful advice about computer matters. Phil O’Conner gave me invaluable plumbing advice.
I’m so grateful to you all and any errors made are entirely mine.
My husband Pete Lownds has not only provided a constant stream of advice about the criminal justice system but was an early cheerleader for the book. He provides a huge amount of love and emotional support during the roller coaster ride that is publishing. I wanted, this time, to properly say how much it is appreciated.
My sister Helenanne Hansen is always one of the very first people to read my work and I’m so grateful for her input. I will never forget the train journey when she was near the end of reading the manuscript. She more or less told me to shut up because she wanted to read, and then disappeared into it for the remainder of the journey. She actually gasped at one point, which is up there with my favourite moments of being a writer, ever!
Thanks go to Emma Darwin, who let me run away with her for a weekend to a beautiful cottage in the country, where we wrote like demons, talked writing and drank a fair amount of wine.
Emma Haughton has been a huge support along the way yet again and also Samantha Tonge, who keeps trying to help me get better at Twitter. (I’m getting there, Sam!)
My three online writers groups – the one with the comfy chair, the one with the sea creatures and the one with the police tape – pretty much keep me sane and make me laugh all the time. Special mentions go out to Luisa Plaja, Geri Ryan, Susannah Rickards, Ruth Warburton, Essie Fox, Sarah Stovell and Julie-Ann Griffiths, who helped me wrangle the plot of In a Cottage in a Wood right at the start.
Thank you to my fantastic agent Mark Stanton (Stan) for having a sharp editorial eye and believing in me from the start. Sarah Hodgson and Finn Cotton at HarperCollins have been wonderful to work with on both The Woman Next Door and this book and I’d like to thank them sincerely for everything they’ve done for me. Thanks also to Rhian Mckay for spotting those slippery little errors that had slipped through the net at the copy editing stage.
Joe and Harry, my fantastic lads. What can I say about you, other than how grateful I am to have you in my life? Watching you both turn into young men is an amazing privilege.
Finally, a huge thank you to all the people who bought The Woman Next Door and took time to post their reviews and recommend the book to friends.
Readers, you’re the absolute best!
Caroline Green, London. May 2017
@CassGreenWriter
www.cassgreen.co.uk
Loved In a Cottage in a Wood? Enjoy another psychological thriller from Cass Green …
Two women. Two dark secrets. The almost perfect murder.
Click here to order a copy of The Woman Next Door.
About the Author
Cass Green is the pseudonym of Caroline Green, an award-winning author of fiction for young people. Her first novel, Dark Ride won the RONA Young Adult Book of the Year and the Waverton Good Read Award. Cracks was recommended on Radio 4’s Open Book programme and Hold Your Breath won the Oldham Book Award. She is the Writer in Residence at East Barnet School and teaches Writing for Children at City University. Her debut adult novel, The Woman Next Door was a No.1 ebook bestseller. In a Cottage in a Wood is her second adult novel.
@CassGreenWriter
Also by Cass Green
The Woman Next Door
About the Publisher
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United Kingdom
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