Maybe that is true, but it doesn’t make a lot of difference now. Nettie is gone. Diana and Tom are gone. It’s me, Ollie and the kids, and we’re doing surprisingly okay.
‘Okay,’ I say to Abdul. ‘Why don’t you tell us a little about yourself?’
The agency has been a huge success in terms of the candidates we’ve been able to place, particularly with organisations that formerly would never have looked at anyone without Australian experience. And yet we may never again own a house. We live in a rental not far from our office, near the industrial part of town. The kids’ school is rough, diverse and wonderful, with people from all walks of life. Every day after school the kids are here at the office doing their homework or playing with Ghezala’s kids. Often I think about how Diana would have loved every bit of it (and how Tom would have been happily befuddled). I think that is what fuels Ollie’s drive for the whole thing. Everyone, no matter how old they are, wants their mother’s approval. And everyone, no matter who they are, wants their mother-in-law’s.
I glance up at Diana’s final letter. Once the investigation into Diana’s death was over, the police had handed it over to us. Now it is framed on the wall of my office, one of my most cherished possessions.
I could have written more, but in the end, there’s really only two pieces of wisdom worth leaving behind. I worked hard for everything I ever cared about. And nothing I ever cared about cost a single cent.
Mum
Such lessons are hard-learned. But now we’ve learned them.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Here we are again, another set of acknowledgements—my fifth to date. Fifth! I can’t quite believe it.
I’d like to start by pointing out that while I have had fleeting murderous thoughts about many people in my life (you know who you are!), I have never once fantasised about murdering my mother-in-law. I suspect this is the reason I was able to write this book without blowing the entire Hepworth family apart. So thank you, Anne, for being astoundingly good-humoured throughout this whole process. I’m not sure all mothers-in-law would have been as gracious upon hearing the title of her daughter-in-law’s upcoming book.
To my amazing crew of police who assisted with my procedural queries—Megan MacInnes, Andria Richardson and Kerryn Merrett—thank you for answering my emails, reading the manuscript, and even helping me brainstorm murder techniques (and reminding me that if my mother-in-law was to suddenly die of unknown causes, it would all be on the record). I am forever in your debt.
And where would I be without my incredible editor, Jennifer Enderlin? Thank you for trusting my instincts and helping me regain control of my manuscript when I stop trusting them. Thank you also to the team at St. Martin’s, many of whom I had the pleasure of meeting in New York last year. I look forward to many more meetings.
I’d also like to extend my thanks to my publishers around the world. Special thanks to Cate Paterson and Alex Lloyd at Pan Macmillan Australia for your keen editorial eye, overall genius . . . and for taking me out for lunch occasionally. I love lunch.
To my publicists – the irreplaceable Katie Bassel and the incredible Lucy Inglis – if I could bottle the two of you, I would. If anyone knows a way to do this, please let me know.
To my gorgeous Rob Weisbach. How did I get so lucky? You are the best in the business and a true gentleman to boot. I’m so grateful for all that you do. (Also thank you for starting to use emojis – you know how I love them.)
To my writing squad a.k.a. books: it’s The Bellotta Girls (it has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?), thank you for sharing the joys and indignities of being a published author with me. As far as I know I’m still the only one who has had a book shoplifted during a signing, and I’ll wear that badge with pride. Special thanks to Jane Cockram and Lisa Ireland for reading this book in draft form and giving me feedback. Also special thanks to Meredith Jaeger, my critique partner and friend.
To my family and friends who live in terror of being cast as a villain in one of my books: it’s a valid fear. Be nice to me.
And finally, to my readers – thank you for allowing me to share these characters with you. I hope they touch you, move you or entertain you in some way. If they do, my job here is done.
About Sally Hepworth
Sally Hepworth has lived around the world, spending extended periods in Singapore, the UK and Canada, where she worked in event management and human resources. She is the author of The Secrets of Midwives, The Things We Keep, The Mother’s Promise and The Family Next Door.
Sally lives in Melbourne, with her husband and three children.
Also by Sally Hepworth
The Secrets of Midwives
The Things We Keep
The Mother’s Promise
The Family Next Door
First published 2019 in Macmillan by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd
1 Market Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2000
Copyright © Sally Hepworth 2019
The moral right of the author to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted.
All rights reserved. This publication (or any part of it) may not be reproduced or transmitted, copied, stored, distributed or otherwise made available by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon or similar organisations), in any form (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical) or by any means (photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise) without prior written permission from the publisher.
This ebook may not include illustrations and/or photographs that may have been in the print edition.
The author and the publisher have made every effort to contact copyright holders for material used in this book. Any person or organisation that may have been overlooked should contact the publisher.
Cataloguing-in-Publication entry is available
from the National Library of Australia
http://catalogue.nla.gov.au
EPUB format: 9781760784805
Typeset by Midland Typesetters, Australia
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If someone is in immediate danger, call Triple Zero (000).
This is a work of fiction. Characters, institutions and organisations mentioned in this novel are either the product of the author’s imagination or, if real, used fictitiously without any intent to describe actual conduct.
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