If that seems reasonable to you, I’d be honored to handle the arrangements on your behalf. All you need do is sign the bottom of this letter and send it back to me, and I’ll get started right away.
Respectfully yours,
Esmond, Lilord of Tarreton
P.S. I still haven’t got that bracelet back from Eryx yet. But I’m working on it.
A smile broke over Isaveth’s face. She pressed the letter to her heart, and ran to tell her family.
Acknowledgments
I could not have written this book without the help of many friends and colleagues, who deserve all the thanks I can give them: Chandra Rooney and Sarah Rees-Brennan, who made Encouraging Noises when I told them my concept for the book; Josh Adams, my savvy and supportive agent; Reka Simonsen, my wonderful North American editor, who loved Isaveth and Quiz from the start; Peter Anderson and Deva Fagan, who shared my journey through the wilderness of the first draft; Brittany Harrison, whose insightful critique showed me how to take Isaveth’s story to the next level; Stephanie Burgis and Simon Bohner, who read my revisions chapter by chapter and reassured me I was on the right track; Liz Barr, Emily Bytheway, and Deva Fagan (again) who read and commented thoughtfully on the second draft; Sarah Prineas and Ishta Mercurio-Wentworth, who helped me solve some last-minute editing problems; E. K. Johnston and Erin Bow, for tea and sympathy; and my family, for giving me all the time, space, and support I needed until the book was finished. I am deeply grateful to you all.
R. J. Anderson is the author of several acclaimed books, including the teen thriller Ultraviolet, which was shortlisted for the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy, and the UK-bestselling Knife series for middle-grade readers. Her love for the Golden Age detective novels of Dorothy L. Sayers and Margery Allingham, along with a lifelong delight in fantasy and adventure stories, inspired her to write A Pocket Full of Murder. Rebecca lives with her husband and three children in Stratford, Canada. Visit her at rj-anderson.com.
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Text copyright © 2015 by R. J. Anderson
Jacket illustration copyright © 2015 by Tom Lintern
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Anderson, R. J. (Rebecca J.)
A pocket full of murder / R. J. Anderson. — First edition.
pages cm
Summary: In Tarreton, where the rich have all the magic they wish and the poor can barely afford a spell to heat their homes, twelve-year-old Isaveth’s father is accused of murdering an influential citizen and Isaveth, aided by eccentric street-boy Quiz, tries to solve the magical murder mystery before her father is executed.
ISBN 978-1-4814-3771-4 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4814-3773-8 (eBook)
[1. Murder—Fiction. 2. Social classes—Fiction. 3. Magic—Fiction. 4. Fantasy. 5. Mystery and detective stories.] I. Title.
PZ7.A54885Poc 2015
[Fic]—dc23 2014040718
R. J. Anderson, A Pocket Full of Murder
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