David Housewright

A stolen dinosaur skull is at the center of a complex mystery laid at the feet of unofficial P.I. Rushmore McKenzie.There are two things that Rushmore McKenzie hates to turn down--a request from a friend and a challenge. Both of them show up in his wife's nightclub in the person of Angela Bjork, who has come to request McKenzie's help. McKenzie, once a homicide detective, now through a series of unlikely events, is a retired millionaire. But occasionally, for friends, he will do some unofficial private detective work. Over the years, he's hunted down a stolen Stradivarius, the hoard of 1930's gangster, and recovered a stolen, apparently cursed, artifact but McKenzie never imagined a case like this. An exceedingly rare dinosaur skull has been stolen. Angela, a doctoral candidate, was out on a dig site in Southeastern Montana, when she found a skeleton of an Ankylosaurus. And no sooner than when the skull was removed and placed on a truck then they were attacked, the truck and skull stolen. Worried that nothing is being done to find the stolen skull, she turns to McKenzie. Worth millions on the black market, the chance to recover it becomes fainter by the day. And the people behind the theft are likely willing to do anything, to anyone, to hold onto it.

In David Housewright's 18th novel featuring the beloved Rushmore McKenzie What Doesn't Kill Us―McKenzie has been shot and lies in a coma while the police and his friends desperately try to find out what he was doing and who tried to kill him.Rushmore McKenzie, former St. Paul police detective and unexpected millionaire, does the occasional, unofficial private detective work―mostly favors for friends. He's faced kidnappers, domestic terrorists, art thieves, among others, and had a hand in solving some of the most perplexing mysteries of the Twin Cities. But this time, his prodigious luck and intuition may have finally failed him: He was shot in the back by an unknown assailant and lies in a coma.His childhood friend, Lt. Bobby Dunston of the St. Paul Police Department, assigns his best detective to the case while other figures―on both sides of the law―pursue the truth. What was McKenzie investigating, what did he learn that so threatened someone that they tried to kill him? What do a sketchy bar in the wrong part of town, the area's prominent tech millionaire family, drug dealers, investment bankers, and a mysterious woman who left an unknown package for McKenzie all have in common? As time slowly begins to run out, the answer to those questions might be what stands between life and death.Critical Acclaim for What Doesn't Kill Us: "Housewright, an Edgar Award winner and former president of the Private Eye Writers of America, continues to impress. Eighteen books in, his Minnesota-set neo-noir McKenzie series has yet to get stale or tired-in fact, What Doesn't Kill Us feels wonderfully fresh, thanks to the drastic narrative change-up... A rousing whodunit easily devoured in one or two sittings... The McKenzie series is one I love to recommend to friends and strangers alike. There's a delicate balance of darkness and humor in every volume, and What Doesn't Kill Us is no exception." -Criminal Element"A solid look at St. Paul and environs and snappy dialogue enhance the fast-moving plot." -Publishers Weekly"Another deftly crafted 'whodunnit' mystery novel by David Housewright. What Doesn't Kill Us is an inherently riveting read from cover to cover... certain to be an immediately and enduringly popular addition to community library Mystery/Suspense collections." -Library Bookwatch"It's inspiring to see so many people who don't much like each other rally to the cause of Housewright's hero." -Kirkus Reviews

Holland Taylor returns in Girl in a Dumpster, the sixth book in David Housewright's Edgar Award-winning hardboiled detective series. Party girl Henrietta Weller wakes up one morning in a dumpster behind a bar in Minneapolis' notorious north side with no memory of how she got there. She hires Taylor and his partner Sidney Poitier Fredericks to get answers. And revenge. "So there's no misunderstanding later-someone threw me away like so much garbage. Someone is going to pay for that." Taylor soon discovers that the woman was kidnapped and ransomed back to her mother. What's more, she wasn't the only victim. A sophisticated kidnapping ring has targeted the daughters of Minnesota's rich and famous-and infamous. Taylor and Freddie insist that the FBI be informed. However, a financial guru and fixer for the families demands that the incidents be dealt with and forgotten. Until there's another kidnapping. And another. And Taylor and Freddie are forced to take matters into their own hands-no matter what the cost. Critical Acclaim for Girl in a Dumpster: "Girl in a Dumpster marks the return of Holland Taylor and what a welcome return it is Not to be missed " -D.M. Barr, author of the domestic thriller Deadly When Disturbed "I wished I had written it... a riveting, edge of your seat gumshoe thriller in the tradition of Sam Spade." -Vincent Zandri, New York Times and USA Today bestselling Thriller and Shamus Award-winning author of Moonlight Weeps "A gritty but surprisingly heartfelt PI novel; the kind you thought they don't write anymore, but David Housewright does." - Scott McCrea, author of Targets West "A solid, traditional private eye story filled with plenty of twists and turns and featuring a solid, traditional private eye-the tough guy with a soft center who plays by his own rules. You won't want to put it down before the heart-stopping but satisfying finish." -Austin Camacho, Coordinator, Creatures, Crimes & Creativity Con "David Housewright belongs up there with Parker, Crais, and others who have created the private eyes we follow to the ends of the earth just to hear their singular voice." -Charles Philipp Martin, author of the Inspector Lok novels Rented Grave and Neon Panic "Despite the awards, Housewright has been crime fiction's best kept secret for years. Girl in a Dumpster is an excellent place to jump into this wonderful series." -Rick Ollerman, author of Truth Always Kills "David Housewright has done it again - weaving complex crime, in this case sophisticated kidnapping; political intrigue; and the tenaciousness of P.I. Holland Taylor and his partner, Freddie, to create a riveting story. Nothing is straight forward or as it seems, but the book rings true. A must read." -Debra H. Goldstein., award-winning crime fiction author "Holland Taylor is back. That's the main thing. But Girl in a Dumpster also offers a twisty plot and an irresistible nest-of-vipers cast. Sit back, trust no one, and enjoy the read" -Albert Tucher, author of Pele's Prerogative and The Same Mistake Twice

When his wife finds the body of an Army veteran in the lake, it is inevitable that former cop, now unofficial P.I. Rushmore McKenzie will get enmeshed in a complicated case of possible murder. It all starts with the body in the water--on what should be the first boat day of the season, McKenzie's wife Nina finds a dead Army vet. As the dock owner and the insurance companies claim that it was suicide, despite the deceased, E.J. Woods, having no obvious reason to kill himself, his widow starts acting suspiciously. McKenzie finds himself pulled into the fight when Naveah, the victim's daughter, convinced her father was murdered, asks him to investigate. Further complicating the situation are uncooperative boaters, allegations of PTSD, and the simple fact that there was no reason for E.J. to be in the water. McKenzie's investigation unearths not only the petty squabbles surrounding the lake and its dock, but details of her father's past that Naveah is perhaps better off not knowing. With Nina haunted by dreams of the body and the legal fight over cause of death becoming increasingly nasty, McKenzie may be the only one interested in finding justice for E.J.-- and uncovering the truth before another person dies.

Louise Wykoff is arguably the most recognizable woman living in Minnesota, known for her presence in over one hundred paintings by the late and brilliant Randolph McInnis. Louise, known better as "That Wykoff Woman," was just a young apprentice when her intimate representation and the fact of the McInnis's marriage caused rumors to fly-and Louise to hide away for decades. All of McInnis's paintings are in museums or known private collections, until Louise confesses to having three more that no one has ever heard of-and now they've been stolen. Rushmore McKenzie, an occasional unlicensed private investigator, agrees to look into the theft. As he investigates, following clues that appear far too straightforward, he finds himself on the wrong side of the bars wondering if the trail might be deeper and darker than he's been led to believe. Hours away from St. Paul, deep in the nature of Grand Marais, the truth seems murkier-and deadlier-than usual. Praise for Dead Man's Mistress "Edgar winner Housewright's enjoyable 16th novel.... Cursed with a Midwestern charm to match his nonstop patter, McKenzie is an appealing hero who comfortably operates within the hardboiled detective tradition." -Publishers Weekly "Smooth, professional work whose mounting complications... are kept under admirable control right up to the double-barreled denouement." -Kirkus Reviews "The drama is unending, with not-so-clean and not-so-smart small-town deputies investigating a local man's suicide (or it is murder?), a rich family battling for rights to the stolen artwork, and the dogged film crew intent on capitalizing on the scandalous story. It's all painted against a backdrop of greed and deceit-in short, all of the quirky antagonists and character flaws that Housewright has so much fun exploiting for his audience. If Housewright is an acquired taste, I acquired it after the first chapter of my first McKenzie novel..." -Minneapolis Star Tribune "If you are an inspiring writer, then I suggest you read David Housewright's novels. He's one of the best authors in the mystery genre... It is very fast paced. Somehow, the author condenses a four-hundred-page novel into only three-hundred pages without affecting the reader's suspension of disbelief... With its baffling mystery, intriguing plot, human drama, and unique setting, Dead Man's Mistress is highly recommended for seasoned fans as well as for new ones." -Gumshoe Review "This is a nifty little caper... Dead Man's Mistress has lots of snappy dialog in the tried and true gumshoe tradition... it has a nicely realized sense of place... I liked McKenzie, and as I was reading, I kept trying to recall who he reminded me of. Then I remembered: Robert B. Parker's Spenser, of blessed memory." -Books to the Ceiling

Once a homicide detective in St. Paul, Minnesota, Rushmore McKenzie is, through a series of unlikely events, both a millionaire and an occasional private investigator. As an unofficial PI, McKenzie only looks into the occasional situation for friends or friends of friends. Jeanette Carrell stretches McKenzie's guidelines but she's in a bind. She's been arrested, indicted, and about to go on trial for murder. The body of the victim was found buried in a shallow grave at the far edge of her property. The victim was not only a neighbor, he was real estate developer accused of tricking a man with dementia, a friend of Carrell's, into signing away his property for development, property that he'd worked to keep pristine. When the developer was last seen, Carrell was heard threatening to kill him. Even more damning, a potential witness swears she saw Carrell digging near the grave site shortly after the victim disappeared. The final nail in the proverbial coffin is her alibi--she has none. With all the evidence--motive and means and opportunity--pointing to her guilt, and precious little in her defense, perhaps the most confusing aspect is Carrell's calm attitude. Rushmore McKenzie is now faced with a challenging case--how to protect Carrell and unearth the truth of what really happened when all the circumstantial evidence is against her.

Once a police detective in St. Paul, Minnesota, Rushmore McKenzie has become not only an unlikely millionaire, but an occasional unlicensed private investigator, doing favors for friends and people in need. When his stepdaughter Erica asks him for just such a favor, McKenzie doesn't have it in him to refuse. Even though it sounds like a very bad idea right from the start. The father of Malcolm Harris, a college friend of Erica's, was found murdered a year ago in a park in New Brighton, a town just outside the Twin Cities. With no real clues and all the obvious suspects with concrete alibis, the case has long since gone cold. As McKenzie begins poking around, he soon discovers another unsolved murder that's tangentially related to this one. And all connections seem to lead back to a group of friends the victim was close with. But all McKenzie has is a series of odd, even suspicious, coincidences until someone decides to make it all that more serious and personal. Praise for What the Dead Leave Behind "Unlicensed PI Rushmore 'Mac' McKenzie tackles perhaps his most complex case yet in Edgar-winner Housewright's witty 14th Minnesota-based mystery...Housewright is such a pro at plot and character development that it's nearly impossible to put this entry down." -Publishers Weekly "It's a distinct pleasure to follow McKenzie as he uncovers layer upon layer of corporate corruption, from sexual harassment to industrial espionage, while every second woman in the cast comes on to him. The hero emerges with his virtue intact and a brace of new heads for his trophy wall. The surprising number of malefactors at the company isn't a strength of the tale, but they're all well worth your cathartic scorn." -Kirkus Reviews

Rushmore McKenzie has been shot and lies in a coma, while the police and his friends desperately try to find out what McKenzie was doing and who tried to kill himRushmore McKenzie, former St. Paul police detective and unexpected millionaire, does the occasional, unofficial private detective work--mostly favors for friends. He's faced kidnappers, domestic terrorists, art thieves, among others, and had a hand in solving some of the most perplexing mysteries of the Twin Cities. But this time, his prodigious luck and intuition may have finally failed him: he was shot in the back by an unknown assailant and lies in a coma.His childhood friend, Lt. Bobby Dunston of the St. Paul Police Department, assigns his best detective to the case while other figures--on both sides of the law--pursue the truth. What was he investigating, what did he learn that so threatened someone that they tried to kill him? What does a sketchy bar in the wrong part of town, the area's prominent tech millionaire family, drug dealers, investment bankers, and a mysterious woman who left an unknown package for McKenzie all have in common? The answer to that might be what stands between life and death.

In David Housewright's next novel featuring the beloved Rushmore McKenzie What Doesn't Kill Us--McKenzie has been shot and lies in a coma while the police and his friends desperately try to find out what he was doing and who tried to kill him. Rushmore McKenzie, former St. Paul police detective and unexpected millionaire, does the occasional, unofficial private detective work--mostly favors for friends. He's faced kidnappers, domestic terrorists, art thieves, among others, and had a hand in solving some of the most perplexing mysteries of the Twin Cities. But this time, his prodigious luck and intuition may have finally failed him: He was shot in the back by an unknown assailant and lies in a coma. His childhood friend, Lt. Bobby Dunston of the St. Paul Police Department, assigns his best detective to the case while other figures--on both sides of the law--pursue the truth. What was McKenzie investigating, what did he learn that so threatened someone that they tried to kill him? What do a sketchy bar in the wrong part of town, the area's prominent tech millionaire family, drug dealers, investment bankers, and a mysterious woman who left an unknown package for McKenzie all have in common? As time slowly begins to run out, the answer to those questions might be what stands between life and death.

During one of the first heavy snows of the winter, on the Interstate outside the Twin Cities, Rushmore McKenzie is behind a truck behaving erratically when the man in the truck bed dumps a body out onto the road, right in front of McKenzie's car. McKenzie avoids hitting the body, a bound woman who is just barely alive, but his stopped car in the middle of the road starts a chain of accidents, resulting in a thirty-seven car pile-up. By the time the police arrive, and the EMTs and ambulances have taken care of the immediate injuries, the truck is long gone.The injured woman awakens with no memories--not of the accident, not of anything--and is labeled by the police as Unidentified Woman #15. With few leads, the detective in charge, McKenzie's former partner and old friend Bobby Dunston, turns to McKenzie for a favor. Now McKenzie has to try to identify the grievously injured woman and find out who tied her up and dumped her on the freeway to die. And why.

Right up until they put him in jail, McKenzie thought the cops were kidding. After all, he did them a favor by stopping a rookie cop from roughing up a distraught woman at a murder scene. But the next thing he knows, he's in jail, missing an important date with his girlfriend and reliving nightmares he thought he had left far behind him--and vowing payback for all of it. If that means sticking his nose into an ongoing murder investigation, well, he's done it before.Only what appears to be a straightforward case of a cheating boyfriend, his alcoholic girlfriend, and an opportune baseball bat proves far more complicated than the police are willing to accept. More disconcerting, as he investigates, McKenzie finds himself fighting the influence of a shadowy figure who controls more of what goes on in the Twin Cities than a rational voter would believe. Then there are the unidentified thugs who kill a witness and rough up him and his female lawyer ally. Soon McKenzie realizes that the truth of this sordid crime may be as hard to find--and as hard to live with--as the justice he seeks.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, along with his FBI pal Harry, make McKenzie an offer he can't refuse--no matter how hard he tries: take on the identity of a wanted fugitive, escape to the upper reaches of Minnesota and infiltrate a crew of armed robbers known as "The Iron Range Bandits." His mission--help retrieve a cache of stolen weapons before they're used to wreak havoc on the Canadian-US border. But there are a few catches. First, the bandits aren't the hardcore criminals they seem to be although the bent sheriff deputies chasing them certainly are. Then there's the stripper and her nefarious manager, the ex-soldier trying to prove he's a man, the minor-league crime czar who uses blackmail to force McKenzie to rob a highly guarded bank vault, and an enigmatic thug who finds love in all the wrong places. Not to mention the gunrunners who pride themselves on shooting first and asking questions later. And if that's not enough to make him wonder why he didn't stay home with his lady-love Nina Truhler, McKenzie soon learns that the promises of an ambitious Assistant U. S. Attorney to the contrary, he is absolutely on his own. Praise for THE LAST KIND WORD: "Outstanding ingenuity and empathy mark Edgar-winner Housewright's 10th mystery featuring millionaire St. Paul, Minn., ex-cop Rushmore McKenzie. Quirkily sympathetic characters make this more than a clever caper novel." --Publishers Weekly, starred review "If you took a modern-day noir and mixed it with a light comedy, you'd get something very much like a McKenzie novel: a serious, occasionally dark story told by an entertaining, often bemused narrator. An excellent but strangely underappreciated series." --Booklist "There are seriously few writers who can beat David Housewright for sheer storytelling power. His books hit the ground running and don't let up until the last page. This is another terrific story--I can't wait for the next one." --Aunt Agatha's

Daring thieves steal the 200-year-old Jade Lily from a Minneapolis art museum and then offer to sell it back for one-third of its insured value--$1,300,000. But there's a catch. They demand that unlicensed P. I. Rushmore McKenzie act as go-between. McKenzie reluctantly agrees partly out of curiosity--why did the thieves pick him to deliver the ransom?--and partly because he feels he owes a favor to the insurance company that made him a millionaire years earlier. But when McKenzie makes contact with the thieves, he is bound, gagged and tossed in the back of a speeding van. It turns out there is a wide circle of misbegotten scoundrels who want the Lily for themselves, including a Bosnian thug, the U. S. State Department, a crooked cop, and a fortune hunter out of McKenzie's past. The game soon turns dark and violent and as the bodies start piling up, McKenzie comes to believe the truth of the Jade Lily's curse--terrible death follows anyone who touches it. Praise for CURSE OF THE JADE LILY: "McKenzie, who navigates a treacherous path just to stay (barely) alive, not only delivers a Nick Charles-like ending but metes out poetic justice to a fair number of participants." --Publishers Weekly, stared review "Like the other entries in this entertaining series, the book is a contemporary mystery with overtones from the era of classic hard-boiled detectives: the Jade Lily itself, with its perhaps not so mythical curse; the first-person narration; the wonderfully named femme fatale, Heavenly Petryk. Rushmore is a likable series hero, a guy who'd rather be doing not much of anything but who won't back down from a fight. The book works as a stand-alone, too, so readers unfamiliar with the series can jump right in." --Booklist "The latest McKenzie mystery is a wonderful thriller... Filled with humor and a strong cast...this is a fast-paced winner..." --The Mystery Gazette "Housewright's wit is every bit as sharp as (Robert B.) Parker's, and as I read along, I was chuckling to myself over bits of dialogue and acerbic observations on McKenzie's part... (It) has the snap and crackle of great storytelling. I can't think of a better way to spend a couple of evenings than curled up with a new David Housewright novel. Check it out for yourself" --Killer Books