Later, Nancy asked how she could repay my generosity.
I told her she already had.
Still, she insisted that she should do something.
I told her to “Live well, be useful.”
She asked me if that was my personal mantra.
I told her that it was.
Which brings me back to Nina Truhler.
We had our ups and downs after I left the hospital. One minute she treated me as if I were the most precious thing she owned. The next she wanted to slap me upside my head. I asked her exactly what she wanted from me.
“Tell me what to do and I’ll do it,” I said.
“I want you to say that you’re done. I want you to say that you’ll never do another favor for another friend forever.”
“I…”
Nina quickly covered my mouth with her hand. After she was sure I wouldn’t attempt to say anything more, she removed her hand, kissed me hard, and hugged me close, which I happily tolerated despite the pain it caused.
“You should never make a promise you can’t keep,” she said.
ALSO BY DAVID HOUSEWRIGHT
Featuring Holland Taylor
Penance
Practice to Deceive
Dearly Departed
Darkness, Sing Me a Song
First, Kill the Lawyers
Featuring Rushmore McKenzie
A Hard Ticket Home
Tin City
Pretty Girl Gone
Dead Boyfriends
Madman on a Drum
The Taking of Libbie, SD
Highway 61
Curse of the Jade Lily
The Last Kind Word
The Devil May Care
Unidentified Woman #15
Stealing the Countess
What the Dead Leave Behind
Like to Die
Dead Man’s Mistress
From the Grave
Other Novels
The Devil and the Diva (with Renée Valois)
Finders Keepers
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
DAVID HOUSEWRIGHT has won the Edgar Award and is a three-time winner of the Minnesota Book Award for his crime fiction. He is a past president of the Private Eye Writers of America. He lives in St. Paul, Minnesota. You can sign up for email updates here.
Visit the author on Facebook at:
www.facebook.com/David-Housewright-134321043247961
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Just So You Know
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Also by David Housewright
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
First published in the United States by Minotaur Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group
WHAT DOESN’T KILL US. Copyright © 2021 by David Housewright. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Publishing Group, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.
www.minotaurbooks.com
Cover design by Rowen Davis
Cover photograph © Lavin Photography / iStock / Getty Images
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Names: Housewright, David, 1955– author.
Title: What doesn’t kill us / David Housewright.
Other titles: What does not kill us
Description: First Edition. | New York: Minotaur Books, 2021. | Series: Twin cities P.I. Mac Mckenzie novels; 18
Identifiers: LCCN 2020053270 | ISBN 9781250756992 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781250757005 (ebook)
Subjects: GSAFD: Mystery fiction.
Classification: LCC PS3558.O8668 W47 2021 | DDC 813/.54—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020053270
eISBN 9781250757005
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First Edition: 2021