Murder for hire isn’t always a straightforward business—especially when the target is already dead. Millie Henshaw, the caustic, witty assassin from Wrong Man Down, is back in Dead Sure, a darkly hilarious, high-octane noir with interlocking secrets like a Russian nesting doll. Tasked with eliminating a notorious mobster, Millie quickly discovers he’s already been declared dead—and yet, someone still wants him iced. What follows is a whirlwind of deception, double-crosses, and bodies stacking up faster than Millie can keep count. From a paranoid mortician hiding unidentified corpses to trigger-happy nuns and a kick-ass protagonist with a penchant for danger, the cast of characters is as unpredictable as the job itself. As Millie navigates Boston’s underworld in her black Camaro, facing mobsters who want her dead, she brings her signature wit and unflinching brutality to the chaos. With crackling dialogue straight from the streets and a plot as intricately layered as an espionage thriller, Dead Sure is a wickedly clever, fast-paced ride. It’s noir at its grittiest, laced with biting humor, sizzling action, and writing so sharp you’ll want to savor every word. In the end, as Millie peels back the final layer of this deadly game, one thing is certain—when it comes to fate and justice, you better be dead sure. Even hit women experience "one of those days."... crazy complications include a mysterious call to ice a Russian mobster who is officially dead, a paranoid mortician with unidentified corpses, and nuns with pistols. Masinton's ability to interweave the complex stories of these and other improbable characters makes for a brilliant tour de farce in this thrilling, darkly humorous novel. - D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review Dead Sure is a tight noir mystery that moves along at a blistering pace, with surprises around every corner. The story is soaked in its hometown of Boston, with entertaining characters whose voices you can practically hear. Protagonist assassin Millie Henshaw is one tough broad who doesn't take crap from anyone. If you enjoy a satisfying, down-and-dirty noir mystery, you cannot go wrong with Dead Sure! -Amber Fraley, Author of Kansas GenExistential and The Bug Diary Millie is unsentimental, whether facing thugs in nun's habits, outgunning gangsters in her black Camaro, or reposing with Mandy, a beautiful professional model who does nude motorcycle shoots. ... Dead Sure is a literary mystery--one of the best in the genre--not the formulaic quick read. The gripping suspense makes it a page turner. But the sumptuous writing makes you want to linger on each page, rereading the acid bite of dialogue or the gritty descriptions of where the body is about to fall. In the finale, when the last Maryoshka doll is unclothed and the last onion-dome layer exposed, we learn the hard-bitten creed that the execution of fate and justice means being dead sure. -Leonard Krishtalka, Author of Native Blood, a Harry Przewalski novel [archeological thriller] Suspenseful but also very clever and funny. . . . The novel is a high-wire parody of noir detective fiction yet manages to preserve the reader's deep pleasures of the genre. -Dorice Elliott, author of Transported to Botany Bay: Class, Nation, and the Figure of the Australian Convict How can you beat these characters-Millie, the lesbian assassin with a deadly sense of humor; Mary Mike, the co-founder of Continental Removals who quotes nuns from her childhood to chart her murderous ways; or Ralphie, the male partner here who wears leisure suits and pink-and-black socks. And don't forget the great writing in this book. Here's a sample: 'Ralph was building three fresh glasses of Black and Tan. He was careful, deliberate, and alchemist conjuring up a layer of gold, then a layer of dark brown, and finally, at the top, an inch of celestially white foam.' Dead Sure-you 're going to love it! -Lida Osbern, MD Jerry Masinton is a retired English professor who has published critical studies of Christopher Marlowe and J. P. Donleavy. He reviewed books for The Kansas City Star from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s. He lives in Lawrence, Kansas. Dead Sure is the second novel in the Milly Henshawe Series. Both novels feature the tough, wise-cracking assassin who works for Continental Removals LLC in Boston, a niche firm with a very specialized clientele. Marked by dark humor, complicated plots, punchy dialogue, and an original cast of characters, these novels reinvent the genre of crime fiction.