Devil's Bridge (30 page)

This is a book I have wanted to write for a very long time. I’ve been interested in looking at Alexandra Cooper through the eyes of Mike Chapman, professionally and personally. The change in the nature of their relationship seemed to provide the perfect moment to do it.

One inspiration for the setting is
The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge
, a much-loved children’s book by Hildegarde H. Swift and Lynd Ward. For information about my favorite lady,
The Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World,
I relied on Elizabeth Mitchell’s excellent book
Liberty’s Torch
.

My investigative skills were enhanced by conversations with one of the smartest men I know: Lieutenant Jimmy West, head of the NYPD’s Cold Case Squad. He is a great friend and a brilliant detective.

As always, my real-life heroes are the women and men who work in the NYPD; former colleagues who now distinguish the judicial bench, such as Ann Donnelly; and prosecutors under the leadership of District Attorney Cyrus Vance. They include Melissa Mourges, Martha Bashford, Karen Friedman-Agnifilo, Audrey Moore, Kerry O’Connell, Elizabeth Lederer, Larry Newman, and John Temple. I miss that office every single day.

My Dutton family is a happy, steady professional home for me. Ben Sevier greeted my idea for Coop and Chapman with great enthusiasm. My thanks always to Christine Ball, Jamie Knapp, Stephanie Kelly, Jessica Renheim, Carrie Swetonic, and Andrea Santoro. Best to Brian Tart on his new duties. Gratitude, also, to my Little, Brown UK team as well.

Laura Rossi Totten is my social media guru. She has amazing talent and style and manages to communicate with the world in ways that baffle me.

Esther Newberg—a devoted friend of thirty years—carries that fierce loyalty for which she is revered from friendship to the printed page. She and Zoe Sandler and the ICM Partners are really all one needs to cover your back.

The men of the motor vessel
Twilight
have added great joy to my new life. Captain Michael Cutter promised safe passage through the roughest seas and gave me priceless driving lessons on the Intrepid; Stephens Moss has provided me with the most elegant floating office any writer could imagine—and the perfect cocktail at day’s end; and Tom Rogers keeps me way too well fed. Taylor Gandy holds the sharks at a distance—always with a smile—and dances almost as well as Stephens, while Rory Naughton takes some fish bites for the team.

As always, my family and friends are my greatest joy. Cheers to Lisa and Alex! And to David Braunstein, who has shown more courage in one year than anyone I know.

Welcome to the world, Baby Eve.

Justin Feldman, Bobbie and Bones Fairstein, and Karen Cooper still sit on my shoulders and lift my spirits, always.

Michael Goldberg made the smoothest transition from best friend to best man. And I trust that he will sway with me, always.

LINDA FAIRSTEIN
is America’s foremost legal expert on crimes of sexual assault and domestic violence. She led the Sex Crimes Unit of the district attorney’s office in Manhattan for twenty-six years. Her sixteen previous Alexandra Cooper novels have been critically acclaimed international bestsellers, translated into more than a dozen languages. She lives in Manhattan and on Martha’s Vineyard.

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