by Sarah Flint
‘It’s important you take your memories with you, Casper, but gradually as you move forward they’ll fall away.’ He took Charlie by the hand and pulled her to her feet, slinging his free arm around her shoulder, before bending down towards the dog again. ‘You’ll still need to come and revisit your past regularly and I promise to bring you back every day at first, then weekly, then monthly, until you’re ready to move on. We’ll do this together, old boy.’
Ben started to walk, Charlie and Casper keeping in step with him. As they passed through the graveyard and out under the heavy stone arch he gave Charlie’s shoulder a squeeze. ‘And one day, sooner rather than later, I guarantee, we’ll both be ready.’
Charlie lifted her hand and placed it on top of his, feeling the slight quiver of his fingers against her palm. She squeezed his hand gently in return. That was all she needed to know.
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Acknowledgements
Sometimes in times of adversity comes a seed. The seed for this particular book came to me whilst walking through the fields next to the Kennet and Avon canal in the summer of 2016. It was around the date I decided to retire from the Metropolitan Police Service and was a particularly emotional period for lots of reasons, no less because I had dedicated 35 years of my life to the job I loved and the last few months had taken a toll.
It is a decision that I have not regretted. Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith, to turn something bad, into something good, and adapting to new challenges can be both frightening and exhilarating. I have to say that becoming a retired police officer and a full-time author has been inspiring and I now look forward to the years ahead. My heartfelt thanks go to the small group of friends from work that were with me at that time and have remained close. Although we do not see each other so often, you know who you are, and you will always remain important to me. I promise to keep in contact and be there for you too.
I also have to say that I’m sure I was not an easy person to live with or even be around at that time, so special thanks go to my partner Trish and my daughters, Suzie, Jen and Jackie for their continued support and calming influences. You have been my constants in a tumultuous year. Hopefully now domestic tranquillity has been restored.
Extra special thanks also to my great agent Judith Murdoch and inspirational editor and publisher Caroline Ridding and the exceptionally close, enthusiastic team at Aria and Head of Zeus.
Judith, with Nick Walters and Rebecca Winfield have launched my first DC Charlie Stafford novel ‘Mummy’s Favourite’ in Europe, with copies sold to Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic and they continue to spread the word. It’s unbelievable to me that other countries would be interested in my writing and I would like to express my sincere thanks to Judith and her team for their faith in me and continued hard work on my behalf.
Caroline Ridding, my superb editor and publisher has endless enthusiasm and sound judgement as well as a loyal, caring and friendly attitude. She, and her team at Aria are a joy to work with and many thanks go to co-workers Sarah Ritherdon, Melanie Price, Nikky Ward, Jade Craddock and Sue Lamprell for all their work on my behalf, as well as Nia Beynon and Yasemin Turan who have moved on to pastures new. Good luck in your new jobs. Thank you so much Caroline for your continued support – I will try to deliver what you ask for.
Also my appreciation goes to the small group of trusted readers who looked through ‘Liar Liar’ at its inception and whose feedback helped to mould it towards its final version – your comments and criticisms were greatly appreciated.
Finally, huge thanks to everyone who has bought and read my previous books, ‘Mummy’s Favourite’ and ‘The Trophy Taker’ and who email, message or leave reviews. I always read your comments with interest and I hope you enjoy following the exploits of Charlie and Hunter, as much as I enjoy writing them. With your endorsement I hope to take them through the next phase of their lives, both professionally and personally and I hope you will share their journey with me.
Thank you so much.
Sarah xx
About Sarah Flint
With a Metropolitan Police career spanning 35 years Sarah Flint has spent her adulthood surrounded by victims, criminals and police officers. She continues to work and lives in London with her partner and has three older daughters.
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A Letter from the Author
Hi Everybody,
You’ve got to the end! Thank you so much for reading my novel and I hope you enjoyed the journey.
As the writer, once my last words are written, edited, re-written, re-edited, proof-read and edited a little more; all I can do is sit back and hope that you have loved reading it, as much as I have enjoyed writing it. If you have a few minutes, please could you post a review of your thoughts on social media – I would really love to read them.
have dealt with crime and criminals all my life and have a fascination for what makes both the law-breakers and the law-makers tick. Sometimes the lines become blurred and justice is a hard thing to achieve; sometimes it is unachievable and victim’s lives are blighted by that failing. We can never properly understand but it never stops us wondering.
If you would like to chat further or find out more, feel free to message me on my Facebook page or on Twitter. Just follow the links below.
With love and thanks
Sarah
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Addictive Fiction
First published in the United Kingdom in 2017 by Aria, an imprint of Head of Zeus Ltd
Copyright © Sarah Flint, 2017
The moral right of Sarah Flint to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
9 7 5 3 1 2 4 6 8
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN (E) 9781786690715
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Table of Contents
Welcome Page
About Liar Liar
Contents
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Acknowledgements
About Sarah Flint
A Letter from the Author
About the DC Charlotte Stafford Series
Become an Aria Addict
Copyright