A shout-out to my people at Putnam: Mark, Ivan, Sally, Danielle, Ashley, Ashley, Dan, Emily, and all the others who work behind the scenes. It’s one thing to arrange words on a page, but someone’s gotta market this book, sell it to the folks on the sales team, get a cover done, proof the thing, get it to stores, and arrange all the publicity and marketing to let the world know it exists. Appreciate you guys!

The following booksellers hosted me on my tour for The Evil Men Do, and their stores are great places to buy a book: Doug at Eagle Eye in Decatur; Cynthia at the Vero Beach Book Center; Rebecca, McKenna, and John at Murder by the Book in Houston; Barbara and Patrick at the Poisoned Pen; and Anne at Book Carnival. The coronavirus laid waste to my visit to Vroman’s in Pasadena and Clues Unlimited in Tucson, but I know they would’ve been great stops. Another big thanks to everyone at the Savannah Book Festival—and to all the writers I’ve met over the last three years. The only community as welcoming as crime writers are the fans who follow their writing. One other shout-out of gratitude: to Marilyn Stasio of The New York Times for giving an unknown writer great publicity.

Last, there’s the writing life. And then there’s the work that supports you as you get better at your craft. In the latter, there’s a handful of folks who were like lanterns in the night, helping me survive over three decades when I was younger. This sometimes came through advice or a job. Or even a place to stay. None of this relates to writing books, but it kept the engines running while I got better at my craft. So I thought I’d give a shout-out to three folks who helped me at pivotal times: Linda Filep, Hahn Lin, and Jeremy Kaplan. Thank you.

I’ve ended the last two acknowledgments saying that “this is not over” and “P. T. Marsh will be back.” I’ll just say here that there’re more stories to tell with P.T. and Remy. Either way, at some point, you will meet my next hero, Gardner Camden. If you like these stories, you will love Gardner as much or more. Talk to y’all soon and happy reading.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John McMahon is the author of The Good Detective and One Good Deed. In his role as an ad agency creative director, he has won a Gold Clio for his work with Fiat, and he's written a Superbowl spot for Alfa Romeo. He currently lives in Southern California with his family and two rescue animals.

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