My incredible blog sisters at Jungle Red Writers: Julia Spencer-Fleming, Hallie Ephron, Roberta Isleib/Lucy Burdette, Jenn McKinlay, Ingrid Thoft, Deborah Crombie, and Rhys Bowen. And my Career Authors posse, captained by the brilliant Glenn Miller.
My dear friends Mary Schwager, Laura DiSilverio, Elisabeth Elo, and Paula Munier. And my treasured sister Nancy Landman.
The Nevis-based legal team of Jonathan Shapiro, Marjorie Suisman, Roger Geller, Liza Lunt, and Tony Doniger. Thank you for taking your fees in Killer Bees at Sunshine’s.
Jonathan is my darling husband, of course. Thank you for answering the legal question of the day—every day.
Do you see your name in this book? Some very generous souls allowed their names to be used in return for an auction donation to charity. To retain the magic, I will let you find yourselves.
Sharp-eyed readers will notice I have tweaked Massachusetts geography a bit. It’s only to protect the innocent. And I adore it when people read the acknowledgments.
Keep in touch, okay?
www.hankphillippiryan.com
www.jungleredwriters.com
www.careerauthors.com
BOOKS BY HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN
Trust Me
The Murder List
The Jane Ryland Series
The Other Woman
The Wrong Girl
Truth Be Told
What You See
Say No More
The Charlotte McNally Series
Prime Time
Face Time
Air Time
Drive Time
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN has won five Agatha Awards, in addition to the Anthony, Macavity, Daphne du Maurier, and Mary Higgins Clark Awards for her bestselling mystery novels. Her work as an investigative reporter has resulted in new laws, criminals sent to prison, homes saved from foreclosure, and millions of dollars in restitution for victims and consumers. Hank has received dozens of other honors for her groundbreaking journalism along with her thirty-four Emmys and fourteen Edward R. Murrow Awards. A former president of Sisters in Crime and founder of MWA University, she lives in Boston with her husband, a nationally renowned civil rights and criminal defense attorney.
Visit him online at www.hankphillippiryan.com, or sign up for email updates here.
instagram.com/hankpryan
twitter.com/hankpryan
facebook.com/HankPhillippiRyanAuthor
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Epigraphs
Part One
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
Part Two
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Part Three
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Part Four
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Acknowledgments
Books by Hank Phillippi Ryan
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.
THE MURDER LIST
Copyright © 2019 by Hank Phillippi Ryan
All rights reserved.
Cover design by Daniela Medina
A Forge Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates
120 Broadway
New York, NY 10271
www.tor-forge.com
Forge® is a registered trademark of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Names: Ryan, Hank Phillippi, author.
Title: The murder list / Hank Phillippi Ryan.
Description: First Edition. | New York: Tor, 2019. | “A Tom Doherty Associates Book.”
Identifiers: LCCN 2018054459 | ISBN 9781250197214 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781250197238 (ebook)
Classification: LCC PS3618.Y333 M87 2019 | DDC 813/.6—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018054459
eISBN 9781250197238
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First Edition: August 2019