‘We’re a little less regal?’ Roy Grace suggested.

  She nodded in agreement. ‘But no less charming! You are my Prince Charming, and that’s as regal as you need to be!’ She hesitated. ‘God that sounds cheesy!’

  ‘Cheesy is good!’

  She grinned. ‘Did Sir Tommy – and all of them – seriously think they would get away with it?’

  Humphrey licked his hand again. ‘You know, I actually think they were big-headed enough to think they would. And the Magellan-Laceys very nearly did.’

  ‘But they hadn’t reckoned with my very smart husband.’

  ‘Those are kind words, my darling. I don’t know how much is down to me, and how much is down to the mistakes they made.’ He paused. ‘I don’t know who said it, but it’s very apt: The walls of a prison aren’t just made of concrete and steel, they are also built from the lost hopes and the silenced dreams of those within.’

  ‘But we get a behind-the-scenes tour of Buckingham Palace, by Her Majesty The Queen out of it? That’s not rubbish, is it?’

  ‘Not complete rubbish, no.’

  ‘I do actually think, on rare occasions, this is one, that being married to a homicide detective isn’t all bad.’

  Grace raised his glass. ‘Nor is being married to someone who spends her days with dead people!’

  They clinked glasses again. Grace ate the last of the four olives in his Martini and sipped from the glass. ‘This is a seriously good one,’ he announced, with a big, contented smile.

  ‘Dead for a ducat,’ Cleo said.

  ‘Dead for a what?’ Grace responded.

  ‘Hamlet.’ She blew him a kiss. ‘I know Shakespeare’s not your thing.’

  ‘Dead for a what? Tell me?’

  ‘It’s a line by Hamlet. No one is quite sure of the meaning. A ducat was a gold coin – worth a fortune at the time. It could mean that killing Polonius was worth it. Maybe the modern equivalent would be, dead for a diamond.’

  ‘Three people dead – for a diamond? Or a bit more besides just a diamond or two . . .’ Grace added.

  ‘A bit more, yes.’

  ‘But never enough.’

  ‘Can you ever have enough diamonds?’

  ‘You know what Gandhi said?’

  Cleo frowned: ‘About what?’

  ‘It was something along the lines of the world can provide enough for everyone’s needs, but not for everyone’s greed. I think that deserves another drink,’ Roy Grace added.

  Cleo smiled. ‘I’m with you. And I really don’t think that’s being greedy.’

  ‘Not at all!’

  She looked at him for some moments, with a big smile, ‘I think that’s why I love you.’

  ‘So it’s not my good looks, my charm, my skills as a detective?’

  Cleo shook her head. ‘I’m afraid not, my love. It’s because sometimes, just sometimes, you like being naughty too!’

  He raised his Martini. ‘I’ll drink to that!’

  The moment they clinked glasses, there was a cry from Molly on the baby monitor. Cleo jumped up. ‘I’ll check on her.’

  As she walked out of the room, Grace noticed an unopened envelope on the floor. He put his glass on the table, leaned down and picked it up, then tore it open and removed the card inside.

  It was a cheap Christmas card, Santa and his reindeer. Inside, above the message of goodwill, was a handwritten one. It read:

  ‘You might not remember me. But I remember you. Enjoy your last Christmas.’

  AFTERWORD

  The question every author is probably asked most often is: ‘Where do you get your ideas from?’

  When I began my writing career, the answer I never thought I’d be giving in a million years would have been: ‘Well, for this book, my ideas are from Her Majesty The Queen, actually.’

  But it’s true. I’m fortunate enough to count Queen Camilla as my number one fan. In 2019, as the then-Duchess of Cornwall, she wrote me a letter asking if my next Roy Grace novel might be centred in London. As history tells us, things have not ended well for people who have displeased any former Queen of England – just look back to Elizabeth I, who had 100 or so men hanged, drawn and quartered, or to ‘Bloody’ Mary, who turned some 300 souls into human bonfires.

  Not relishing such prospects, I instead thought: What better place in London than Buckingham Palace? At least for a key part of the story. I mulled it over for the next four years, as I always do when I’m planning and plotting, trying to think how a detective based in Sussex could become involved in a major crime in the Royal Household.

  Then I read in a newspaper article that all 775 rooms of Buckingham Palace were undergoing major renovation, taking place over the course of several years. There were concerns for the security and safety of more than a million highly valuable items housed in the Royal Collection during that period – items such as paintings and sculptures by some of the greatest artists of the past, rare ornaments, jewellery, furniture, silverware, glassware and more. Almost all of incalculable value.

  This gave me the meat I needed for the bones of my idea! I wrote a brief outline about Queen Camilla travelling on the Royal Train to Sussex, where, on arrival, a senior member of the Royal Household is murdered. As this is Roy Grace’s manor and he is the on-call SIO, he takes charge of the case. His enquiries lead him to Buckingham Palace, where he uncovers the true hornets’ nest: a conspiracy to steal items from the Royal Collection and sell them on the dark web. And the ruthless conspirators – trusted members of the Royal Household staff – are willing to murder anyone who gets in their way . . .

  Soon after starting my serious research, I learned something I have learned many times before: so often the truth can be much stranger than fiction! In 2021, a Buckingham Palace footman was arrested and subsequently found guilty of stealing items of royal memorabilia, which he sold on the internet. Less sophisticated than the villains in my novel, he was caught through recognition of the pattern of the counterpane on his bed, on which he had laid out the items to photograph . . .

  This novel has been the most brilliant and amazing adventure for me. I’ve had wonderful insights into the workings of the Royal Household, seen what goes on deep inside Buckingham Palace and, as a totally unexpected bonus, achieved my boyhood dream of driving a train.

  A key scene very early in the novel is when the Royal Train, carrying Queen Camila and her entourage, is derailed in a tunnel just north of the city of Brighton and Hove. I wanted to introduce a character who is the proud driver of this train. There are a few drivers who are trained to drive the Royal Train – but, for security reasons, none of them knows if they are to be chosen to drive the train that day until the day itself. And, as the train is rarely used, some drivers never get the chance to drive a Principal in their entire career. So, on this occasion, for my character Stan Briggs, approaching retirement, this is the pinnacle of his professional life, driving the train from London Victoria to Brighton. Little does he know that disaster lies ahead.

  I was fortunate to receive enthusiastic help from Network Rail, who allowed me in the cab, alongside the driver, on a journey from Brighton to London and its return route. Additionally, I had a lesson on a very realistic simulator. I learned that there is so much more to driving a train than I had ever imagined and this is described in the scenes of the book. The responsibility of driving any passenger train is massive, often transporting far more passengers than an airline pilot would, and the driver has to be aware of so much, all the time. Not to mention it can take a mile to bring a full train of eight-to-twelve carriages to a stop. I asked my instructor – who is both a train driver and the senior instructor for Network Rail – if he had ever forgotten to stop at a station. He admitted he had once forgotten to stop at Gatwick Airport, resulting in many people missing their flights. ‘You only forget to stop once!’ he told me with a wry smile. I came away with tremendous respect for these drivers.

  I hope that, as much as you enjoy the story itself, you will find the inner workings of the Royal Household fascinating too, whether or not you consider yourself a royalist. I also hope that you will have as much fun delving behind the scenes of Buckingham Palace – which is more than just a globally iconic building, it is an enduring symbol of the British nation – as I had writing this novel.

  GLOSSARY

  ANPR – Automatic Number Plate Recognition. Roadside or mobile cameras that automatically capture the registration number of all cars that pass. It can be used to historically track which cars went past a certain camera, and can also create a signal for cars which are stolen, have no insurance or have an alert attached to them.

  CID – Criminal Investigation Department. Usually refers to the divisional detectives rather than the specialist squads.

  CPS – Crown Prosecution Service.

  CSI – Crime Scene Investigators. Formerly SOCO (Scenes of Crime Officers). They are the people who attend crime scenes to search for fingerprints, DNA samples etc.

  DIGITAL FORENSICS – The unit which examines and investigates computers and other digital devices.

  FLO – Family Liaison Officer.

  MO – Modus Operandi (method of operation). The manner by which the offender has committed the offence. Often this can reveal unique features which allow crimes to be linked or suspects to be identified.

  RaSP – Royalty and Specialist Protection (officer/team).

  SIO – Senior Investigating Officer. Usually a Detective Chief Inspector who is in overall charge of the investigation of a major crime such as murder, kidnap or rape.

  CHART OF POLICE RANKS

  Police ranks are consistent across all disciplines and the addition of prefixes such as ‘detective’ (e.g. detective constable) does not affect seniority relative to others of the same rank (e.g. police constable).

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Every novel I write is special to me, both for what I learn during my research and for the characters I encounter during the journey from the first line to the final words. But, of all the novels I have written, this one feels the most special – and not just because I learned to drive a train as part of my research! I have so many people to thank.

  Firstly, to all at Buckingham Palace who have helped me: I can never thank you enough. While I’ve tried to be as accurate as possible, I have taken some small fictional licence, both within the Palace and with some items of the Royal Collection.

  To so many members of the police, with firstly a very special mention to Detective Superintendent Andy Wolstenholme, who has, as ever, given the most incredibly detailed feedback to help me get all aspects of policing in this novel accurate.

  Thanks to: Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne OBE; Chief Constable Jo Shiner KPM; Divisional Commander of Brighton & Hove, Chief Superintendent Rachel Carr; Chief Superintendent James Collis; Financial Investigator Emily Denyer; ACC Allan Gregory, British Transport Police; Sergeant Rebecca Cohen, British Transport Police; Robin Smith, Chief of Police, Jersey States Police; PC Jonathan Jackson, Met Police; James Stather, Forensic Investigations; Aiden Gilbert and Jason Quigley, Digital Forensics; Polly Sweeney, Major Crime Team; Beth Durham, Suzanne Heard, Jill Pedersen and Katie Perkins of Sussex Police Corporate Communications; Paul Holmes, Firearms Technical Support Unit; and Dave Hutton, former RaSP.

  Also to my invaluable team on the railways: train-driving instructor Simon Willard, Driver Competence Assurance Manager for Thameslink Railway, who I managed to scare even on the simulator before we got on the track; Tom Guiney, Area Operations Manager, Southern Railway; Steve Butcher, Southern Railway train driver; Chris New, Network Rail; and Jon Bennion-Jones for all the introductions.

  Big thank-yous are due for all other areas of research help to: Nicky Curry of Pangdean Farm; Sean Didcott; Geoff Duffield; Rebecca English; Gary Monnickendam; Russ Phillips; Suzy Pinel; Derek Pratt MBE; Amy Robinson; two individuals who inspire some of my very young characters, Kit Robinson and Molly Robinson; and pathologist Dr David Wright.

  Thank you to my honest, open and trusted early readers, Martin Diplock, Jane Diplock, Lyn Gaylor, James Hodge, Rob Kempson and Dr Georgina Maclean.

  A special mention to my ever-vigilant and lovely mother-in-law, who publicizes my work far and wide and is the first to alert me to press clippings – Margaret Duncton (I’d like to call her hawk-eyed, too, but in a good way!).

  A massive thank-you to my amazing team at Pan Macmillan, both here and overseas, headed up by Joanna Prior. Specifically, I want to mention my brilliant commissioning editor, Francesca Pathak, as well as Jonathan Atkins, Melissa Bond, Lara Borlenghi, Emily Bromfield, Claire Bush, Tom Clancy, Sian Chilvers, Alex Coward, Raphaella Demetris, Stuart Dwyer, Claire Evans, Lucy Hale, Daniel Jenkins, Andy Joannou, Christine Jones, Rebecca Kellaway, Ellie Kyrke-Smith, Neil Lang, Rebecca Lloyd, Sara Lloyd, James Long, Poppy North, Rory O’Brien, Guy Raphael, Grace Rhodes, Katie Roden, Laura Sherlock, Emily Sumner, Charlotte Williams and Leanne Williams. Plus my meticulous freelancers, Susan Opie and Nicole Foster.

  Massive thanks, as always, to my tireless literary agent, Isobel Dixon, and to everyone at my UK literary agency, Blake Friedmann: Sian Ellis-Martin, Nicole Etherington, Julian Friedmann, James Pusey, Tabitha Topping, Conrad Williams, Daisy Way, Alexander Falkenberg. And to my UK PR team at FMcM – Emma Mitchell and Kealey Ridgen – and my US PR team – Emi Battaglia and Tina Joell – thanks also.

  The image many have of an author is that of someone toiling away at their keyboard, perhaps in an attic or a shed, all alone. But I prefer to work as part of a team and I am blessed to have Team James helping me. I’m so grateful for: Danielle Brown and the team at Out of Office – Megan Webster and Alex Goncalves – who run our social media and communications; Emma Gallichan, our wonderful PA; Sarah Middle, who keeps us solvent; Mark Tuckwell, who drives us about tirelessly; and Chris Diplock and Chris Webb, who both make sure our IT systems run as smoothly as IT systems ever will!

  Within Team James, there are two utterly indispensable members: my wife, Lara, and former Detective Chief Super-intendent David Gaylor. These two help plot, plan and line-edit all my work and are vital to my daily writing.

  The first time I met him, back in 1997, David Gaylor was a Detective Inspector in Sussex. In 2002, after being promoted to Detective Chief Superintendent, he happily became my role model for Roy Grace and we have worked together closely on every novel, television screenplay and stage script ever since. David guides me not only on how Roy Grace and the other police officers in my scenarios would think and act, but also on just about every creative aspect of my work. He is an endless font of knowledge, wisdom and creativity, and each of my novels is immeasurably richer for his input.

  My most special thanks of all are to Lara, who somehow – in between her marathon training, managing our business and tending to all our wonderful animals – keeps on top of every word I write and adds wisdom and brilliant creative thinking to every novel, television screenplay and stage script, too. Lara brings so many vital dimensions to each story, and one of the most important of all is her understanding of how people think and behave. Her grasp of human nature is incredibly perceptive and she constantly makes me aware of things that I simply wouldn’t have known if I had been writing in isolation. That’s because she is super smart and totally in tune with the zeitgeist of our times. And, like David, she is incredibly hard-working and has an eye for detail far sharper than any hawk. If you have enjoyed this book, so much credit is due to Lara, as well as David.

  Lastly, thank you to all the creatures in our ever-expanding menagerie – a big welcome to our gorgeous rescue rabbit Ryan, who we have taken in and rehomed through the wonderful JSPCA. Ryan came with an ASBO and is now a delight! When I hunker down to write, I’ll always have one of our dogs under my feet and another keeping a watchful eye from another chair, making sure I stick to my word count, while one of our cats will be prowling around, too, just checking on me . . .

  And thank you, dear readers, for all your amazing support. Do keep your messages coming through any of the channels below.

  Above all, stay safe and well.

  Peter James

  contact@peterjames.com

  www.peterjames.com

  @peterjamesuk

  @peterjames.roygrace

  @peterjamesuk

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  THE HAWK IS DEAD – READING GROUP QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

  1. What three words would you use to describe The Hawk Is Dead and why?

  2. Did you know the story of Granny’s Chips before reading The Hawk Is Dead? Is there anything else new about the Royal Family or Buckingham Palace that you’ve learned from reading this book?

  3. Did you get a strong sense of place from Peter James’s description of Buckingham Palace? When Grace chases Rose through the Palace, how did the setting impact the scene?

  4. How accurately do you think King Charles and Queen Camilla were portrayed by Peter James?

  5. In this instalment, we see Cleo helping Roy to crack the case by decoding Peregrine Greaves’ diary. Did you like seeing husband and wife team up?

  6. What did you think of the tension between Grace and Mosse? What do you think will happen if Mosse joins the Sussex Police in future books?

  7. We met Shannon Kendall in One of Us Is Dead. How do you feel about her character making a return?

  8. Rose Cadoret uses funds from the royal art theft operation to pay for her mother’s care home. Does this make her character more relatable to you? What would you do in her position?

  9. Did you always suspect that Sir Tommy (and his wife) were the masterminds behind the operation or did your suspicions shift to and from different characters throughout the story?

  10. Who do you think sent the mysterious Christmas card to Grace at the end of the book?

  11. Look back at the three words you chose at the beginning of this discussion. Have they changed? Why or why not?