Kilmoon: A County Clare Mystery (28 page)

Acknowledgments

I
began writing
Kilmoon
in 2002. It’s been a long journey. Apologies if I’ve forgotten anyone who helped me along the way. All errors in the manuscript are my own.

Elizabeth George, thank you for your supportive comments during my first-ever writers workshop. Your words gave me hope and helped me persevere. Especially, thank you for the Elizabeth George Foundation and for
Two of the Deadliest
. What an honor.

Another Elizabeth: Elizabeth Udall, patron of the arts, for the Walden Fellowship. Peace be with you, wherever you are.

In Ireland, Detective Sergeant David Sheady and Sergeant-in-Charge Brian Howard answered my questions about the Garda Síochána. Raising a Guinness to you! Hope I kept it real through the many subsequent revisions. So much still to learn. Teresa Donnellan, thank you for hosting me and for answering my random questions about life in Ireland.

Thanks to Chris Ginocchio (medical), Dallas Finn Calvert (equestrian), and Laura S. Trice (Russian) for your specialized knowledge.

So many supportive and wonderful writers provided feedback and moral support and good advice and writing tips (in no particular order): Michael Bigham, Jeannie Burt, Evan Lewis, Kassandra Kelly, Becky Kjelstrom, Jackie Blain, Gigi Pandian, Tracy Burkholder, Wendy Gordon, Charlotte Rains Dixon, Deborah Guyol, April Henry, Bill Cameron, and Ann Littlewood.

Drink-and-thinkers, you fab mystery writers—I’d never forget you: Angela Sanders, Cindy Brown, Holly Franko (editor extraordinaire!). And special thanks to another fab writer I’d never forget: Stacy Allen for your sweet, inspirational words over the years—you’re a generous soul.

My Eugene shadow-spinning peeps (even though some of you don’t live there): Christina Lay, Pamela Jean Herber, Cynthia Coate Ray, Cheryl Owen-Wilson, and dear Elizabeth Engstrom, for so much.

Also, I’d like to thank two literary agents for valuable manuscript feedback: Elizabeth Kracht and Jill Marsal.

Arlene Alber, Kara Alber, Nicole Sidlauskas—my family. Can you believe it? Thanks for not pooh-poohing this crazy endeavor that took hold of me.

About the Author

Photo: Jim Titus

Lisa Alber received an Elizabeth George Foundation writing grant based on
Kilmoon
in addition to a Walden Fellowship. Her short story “Paddy O’Grady’s Thigh” appeared in
Two of the Deadliest
(HarperCollins), an anthology edited by Elizabeth George. In addition, Lisa was nominated for a Pushcart Prize for the story “Eileen and the Rock.” A Californian with a penchant for travel, animal advocacy, and photography, Lisa worked in international finance and book publishing before exchanging the corporate ladder for storytelling. She currently lives in the Pacific Northwest.
Kilmoon
is her first novel in the County Clare Mystery series.

Learn more about Lisa at
www.lisaalber.com
.

Copyright

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental and not intended by the author.

Copyright © 2014 by Lisa Alber. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used, reproduced, or distributed in any manner whatsoever without prior written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Muskrat Press, LLC

Portland, Oregon

[email protected]
or
[email protected]

Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Alber, Lisa.

Kilmoon : a County Clare mystery / Lisa Alber.

p. cm.

ISBN: 978-0-9895446-0-3 (pbk.)

ISBN: 978-0-9895446-1-0 (e-book)

1. Family secrets—Fiction. 2. Murder—Investigation—Ireland—Fiction. 3. Fathers and daughters—Fiction. 4. Mystery fiction. I. Title.

PS3601.L3342 K55 2013

813—dc23

2013910968

Book design: Jennifer Omner

First Edition