Elise still loves me, Kiara thinks. She still loves me.

  She doesn’t want to stop and soon realises she doesn’t have to: they can pause this kiss from time to time, but they never have to end it.

  She pulls back. ‘You really want to get married, after what we’ve just seen? Lies, affairs, dead husbands …?’

  Elise smiles through the tears. ‘There wouldn’t be any husbands in our marriage.’

  Kiara laughs, and kisses her again. ‘In that case,’ she whispers, without taking her lips off Elise’s, ‘the answer is yes.’

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Every book is a group effort, but Kill Your Husbands would have been especially impossible without the following marvellous people.

  Firstly, thanks to the wonderful team at Audible, particularly Radhiah Chowdhury and Karen Yates, for immediately seeing Kill Your Husbands’ potential and expertly guiding the book towards it. Thanks also to the incredible cast of the audiobook. I wish I had your talents.

  Thanks to all my partners in crime at Allen & Unwin, especially Genevieve Buzo, Shannon Edwards, Angela Handley, Isabelle O’Brien, Jennifer Thurgate and, as always, the devious Jane Palfreyman. Your dedication is incredible. Whether it’s a whole new prologue or a missing slipper, there’s no job too big or too small! Thanks to Luke Causby for the playfully sinister cover.

  Thanks to all my loyal friends at Curtis Brown, especially Clare Forster, Talia Moodley and Benjamin Paz, for always backing me up on even the craziest ideas. It’s such a privilege to be able to focus entirely on character and plot, knowing you have the business side well in hand.

  Thanks to all my author friends, who make this job a little less lonely and a lot more fun. Extra special thanks to Sarah Bailey, Alan Baxter, Shelley Burr, Gabriel Bergmoser, Rae Cairns, Paul Cleave, Jessica Dettmann, Candice Fox, Sulari Gentill, John M. Green, Chris Hammer, Sam Hawke, Rebecca Heath, Rachael Johns, Jess Kitching, Veronica Lando, Ali Lowe, Dinuka McKenzie, Tara Moss, Michelle Prak, Hayley Scrivenor, Kate Solly, Benjamin Stevenson, Fiona Taylor, Sarah Thornton, Karen Viggers and Greg Woodland.

  Thanks to all the experts who read versions of the manuscript, including Elizabeth Cowell, Isobelle Evans, Shireen Faghani, Kate Goldsworthy, Katri Hilden, Juliette Major (‘Another simile?! Stop it!’), Bill Massey, Detective Sergeant Emily McCallum, Minh Hiền, Jessica Perini and Damon Young. None of the characters are based on real people, and mistakes are my own.

  I would apologise to all my friends in the stand-up comedy community, but I know you’re not easily offended.

  Thanks to my ever-supportive family, who are increasingly alarmed by my book titles but nevertheless keep encouraging me. You’re all bad influences.

  Biggest thanks of all to my wife, Venetia, who read this book one chapter at a time as I was writing it and whose enthusiasm was infectious. Her thoughts on costume design, set dressing and dialogue were invaluable. Thank you for telling me to write the book I wanted to write without worrying what anybody else might think. I love you so much.

 

 

  Jack Heath, Kill Your Husbands

 

 

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