Donne logged off and exhaled. A moment passed. Then the entire coffee shop turned toward him as he screamed. They asked him to leave.
He drove home.
That night, as the snow fell and carpeted his lawn, he drank an entire four-pack of Heady Topper and passed out. The next morning, head throbbing, he went out and shoveled all four bed-and-breakfasts. He left his own front walk for last. The snow was heavy and wet, as if the temperature was just barely cold enough for snow.
The tears in his eyes blurred the whiteness away.
Dave White is a Derringer Award-winning mystery author and educator. White, an eighth grade teacher for the Clifton, NJ Public School district, attended Rutgers University and received his MAT from Montclair State University. His 2002 short story “Closure,” won the Derringer Award for Best Short Mystery Story the following year. Publishers Weekly gave the first two novels in his Jackson Donne series, When One Man Dies and The Evil That Men Do, starred reviews, calling When One Man Dies an “engrossing, evocative debut novel” and writing that his second novel “fulfills the promise of his debut.” He received praise from crime fiction luminaries such as bestselling, Edgar Award-winning Laura Lippman and the legendary James Crumley.
Both When One Man Dies and The Evil That Men Do were nominated for the prestigious Shamus Award, and When One Man Dies was nominated for the Strand Critics Award for “Best First Novel”. His standalone thriller, Witness To Death, was an ebook bestseller upon release and named one of the Best Books of the Year by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. All three books have been reissued by Polis Books and are available wherever ebooks are sold. Follow Dave White on Twitter at @dave_white.
If you enjoyed this book, or any of my books, you need to thank Jason Pinter. Jason, the brilliant mind behind Polis Books brought Donne to print and then saved him off the scrap heap two years ago. Without Polis Books, Donne would have gone away like a lot of other private detectives. I am so happy he’s back on the page, and for that I am so thankful for Jason and Polis Books.
My wonderful agent Allan Guthrie is also to thank, for early read-throughs, smart advice, and a shoulder to lean on.
No one can get by without good friends: Sarah Weinman, Duane Swierczynski, Bryon Quertermous, Jay Stringer, Russell McLean, Chuck Wendig, Chris and Katrina Holm, Bill Cameron, Thomas Pluck, Angel Colon, Hector Acosta, Dan and Kate Malmon, and Alex Segura. To everyone else in the mystery community too. You’ve always been there for a helping hand and Twitter pep talks.
And, of course, the family. I am forever in Carol and Martin White’s debt—you know because they’re my parents. I also thank Thomas White, Jessica Schupp, Eleanore Richard, Thomas Richard, Fred Aguilera, Kristen Richard Aguilera, and Daniel and Brandon Aguilera. Thank you for the support.
To my readers, I hope you enjoyed this book. And all of the other ones. Thank you.
And finally Erin and Ben White. I love you. Thank you for being there for me.
The following is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in an entirely fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2015 by Dave White
Cover and jacket design by Adrijus Guscia
Interior designed and formatted by: E.M. Tippetts Book Designs
ISBN 978-1-940610-36-8
eISBN 978-1-940610-03-0
First trade paperback edition February 2015 by Polis Books, LLC
60 West 23rd Street
New York, NY 10010
Table of Contents
Title Page
Also by Dave White
Dedication
Quote
PART I
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
PART II
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
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
PART III
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
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
About the Author
Acknowledgements
Copyright Notice