A Good Kill
Contents (67)
Titles by John McMahon
The Evil Men Do
The Good Detective


G. P. Putnam’s Sons
Publishers Since 1838
An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC
penguinrandomhouse.com

Copyright © 2021 by John McMahon
Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: McMahon, John, 1970– author.
Title: A good kill / John McMahon.
Description: New York : G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2021. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2021012338 (print) | LCCN 2021012339 (ebook) | ISBN 9780593328361 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780593328378 (ebook)
Subjects: GSAFD: Mystery fiction.
Classification: LCC PS3613.C5843 G665 2021 (print) | LCC PS3613.C5843 (ebook) | DDC 813/.6—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021012338
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021012339
Book design by Katy Riegel, adapted for ebook by Maggie Hunt
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Cover design: Eric Fuentecilla
Cover image: Silas Manhood / Arcange
pid_prh_5.7.0_c0_r0
This one’s for Hank. We miss you every day.
CONTENTS
Cover
Titles by John McMahon
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Acknowledgments
About the Author
1
In times of reflection, I find that my chosen profession isn’t one that I’d recommend to others. Homicide is a lonely division in a police department, filled with a particular type of person—as comfortable with the dead as with the living, and often able to suppress their emotions in ways that cannot be healthy.
My partner, Remy Morgan, had arrived at Falls Magnet Middle School about twenty minutes before me and was hunkered down behind one of six patrol cars that littered the school’s front lawn.
I grabbed a Remington 870P from a patrolman and ran in a crouched position, the shotgun clasped under my right arm. Dropped behind the black and white where Remy was.