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 LAST KIND WORD. Copyright © 2013 by David Housewright. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

www.minotaurbooks.com

Cover design by David Baldeosingh Rotstein

Cover photograph of city © Bill Moss; man © Cavan Images/Getty Images

The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:

Housewright, David, 1955–

    The last kind word / David Housewright.—First edition.

          pages cm

    ISBN 978-1-250-00960-9 (hardcover)

    ISBN 978-1-250-03739-8 (e-book)

  1.  Private investigators—Fiction.   2.  Undercover operations—Fiction.   3.  Illegal arms transfers—Fiction.   4.  Minnesota—Fiction.   I.  Title.

    PS3558.O8668L37 2013

    813'.54—dc23

2013006984

eISBN 9781250037398

First Edition: June 2013