Reviews
New York Times Book Review – March 16, 2019
“John McMahon is one of those rare writers who seem to have sprung out of nowhere. His first novel, THE GOOD DETECTIVE, which is pretty much perfect, features a decent if flawed hero battling personal troubles while occupied with a murder case of great consequence to his community.”
Fresh Fiction – March 7, 2019
“THE GOOD DETECTIVE written by John McMahon is such a great novel… A thriller that hits on some very sensitive matters and written tastefully, McMahon did an excellent job with making his characters seem real.”
Publishers Weekly January 14, 2019
“[John McMahon is] a talented writer with a good sense of place, and readers are sure to look forward to Marsh’s next outing.”
Booklist Starred Review – January 1, 2019
T. Marsh, of Mason Falls, Georgia, was a good detective—at least until his wife and son died in a car accident less than a year before, leading him to drink too much and make bad decisions, one of which is to teach the abusive boyfriend of a hooker a lesson. So he beats Virgil Rowe one night, only to be called to Rowe’s murder scene the next morning, leaving him unsure about whether he, in a drunken stupor, might have killed the man himself. It gets worse when Marsh and his partner, Remy Morgan, a strong young black woman, find the partially burned body of black, 15-year-old Kendrick Webster with a noose around his neck in a torched farmer’s field. Suspicion points to white-supremacist Rowe as responsible. But arson murder seems to Marsh an unlikely combination, even with the racial overtones (not publicly revealed) of Kendrick’s death. So Marsh looks for similar crimes in the area and uncovers something even worse than a serial killer, presenting him with the dilemma of how to achieve justice. This unusually accomplished debut is the first in a projected series; with Marsh still having demons to deal with, the table is set for much more compelling, character-centric stories to come. Crime-fiction fans are advised to get in at the start. — Michele Leber
