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A Hard Ticket Home: A Mystery (Twin Cities P. I. Mac Mckenzie Novels #1)
by David HousewrightMcKenzie is an ex-St. Paul cop with time on his hands. That's why he's doing a favor for an old friend with a very sick daughter: Nine-year-old Stacy has been diagnosed with leukemia, and the only one with the matching bone marrow that could save her life is her big sister, Jamie. But Jamie ran away from home years ago—and disappeared. McKenzie starts with Jamie's last known associates, a seedy collection of the Twin Cities' pimps and drug dealers. But the trail doesn't lead where Mac expects. It takes him to some very respected businessmen—and some people far more dangerous than the low-life hustlers he anticipated. And everywhere he goes, every time he starts asking questions and raking up the past, people start dying...in very unpleasant ways.
A Hard Ticket Home: A Mystery (Twin Cities P.I. Mac McKenzie Novels #1)
by David HousewrightEx-St. Paul cop Rushmore McKenzie has more time, and more money, than he knows what to do with. In fact, when he's willing to admit it to himself (and he usually isn't), Mac is downright bored. Until he decides to do a favor for a friend facing a family tragedy: Nine-year-old Stacy Carlson has been diagnosed with leukemia, and the only one with the matching bone marrow that can save her is her older sister, Jamie. Trouble is, Jamie ran away from home years ago. Mac begins combing the backstreets of the Twin Cities, tracking down Jamie's last known associates. He starts with the expected pimps and drug dealers, but the path leads surprisingly to some of the Cities' most respected businessmen, as well as a few characters far more unsavory than the street hustlers he anticipated. As bullets fly and bodies drop, Mac persists, only to find that what he's looking for, and why, are not exactly what he'd imagined. David Housewright's uncanny ability to turn the Twin Cities into an exotic, brooding backdrop for noir fiction, and his winning, witty hero Rushmore McKenzie, serve as a wicked one-two punch in A Hard Ticket Home, a series debut that reinforces Housewright's well-earned reputation as one of crime fiction's rising stars.
The Holland Taylor Trilogy: Penance, Dearly Departed, and Practice to Deceive (The Holland Taylor Trilogy #3)
by David HousewrightThree compelling and unforgettable mysteries by Edgar Award winner David HousewrightHolland Taylor is comfortable in interrogation rooms. For years the cold, dark cells of the Minneapolis homicide squad were his turf, and with the help of his partner he wrung confessions out of countless killers. But that was long ago. In Penance,Taylor is on the other side of the desk. Tonight he is the suspect. Taylor&’s career in the department ended after his wife and daughter were killed in a drunk driving accident. The culprit, John Brown, was sentenced to a measly six years for vehicular manslaughter, and Taylor vowed bloody vengeance in front of open court. After a few months of freedom, Brown is shot dead, and Taylor, now a private investigator, is called in as the obvious suspect. He didn&’t kill Brown, but he will find out who did—even if it means tearing Minneapolis apart from the inside out. In Dearly Departed, Holland Taylor discovers a recording made by a woman named Alison Emerton explaining that if she is missing, it is because Raymond Fleck killed her. Fleck, a convicted rapist, lost his job at a kennel after Alison accused him of sexual harassment and stalking. She vanished soon after, leaving behind her wallet, coat, and boots, on a night when twenty-three inches of snow fell on Minneapolis. Her lawyer has hired Taylor to find her. But as Taylor digs into Alison&’s past, he learns that Fleck was not the only person who wanted her dead. In Practice to Deceive, Florida widow and retiree Irene Gustafson is rich and alone. Following the advice of Ann Landers, Gustafson hands her money over to an investment manager. The returns are steady until he starts investing in Willow Tree, a low-income housing development on the fringes of the Twin Cities. The money vanishes, and the widow is destitute. That&’s where Holland Taylor, Minneapolis private detective, comes in. His recently retired parents are her neighbors, and they want Taylor to recover the old lady&’s money. It seems impossible, but as he investigates Willow Tree he finds a twisted real-estate conspiracy with deep roots in city politics—and a vicious killer hired to protect the secret.
In a Hard Wind: A McKenzie Novel (Twin Cities P.I. Mac McKenzie Novels #20)
by David HousewrightOnce 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.
Like to Die: A McKenzie Novel (Twin Cities P.I. Mac McKenzie Novels #15)
by David HousewrightA seemingly simple investigation, done as a favor for a friend, takes McKenzie down a dark and twisted path in Like to Die, the next mystery in David Housewright’s award-winning series.Once a police detective in St. Paul, Minnesota, Rushmore McKenzie has become an unlikely millionaire and an occasional unlicensed private investigator, doing favors for friends. The favor, this time, is for a friend of a friend—Erin Peterson, a local business person and owner of a growing food company called Salsa Girl. Someone seems to have a beef with her: the outside locks on her factory having been systematically filled with superglue. But for some reason, Erin doesn’t want to report this harassment to the police. As a favor to his poker buddy and hockey teammate Ian, McKenzie agrees to stop by and chat with Erin. At first Erin denies there's anything going on and then, when the harassment escalates and threatens her business, she also asks for McKenzie's help. The further McKenzie digs into the situation, the more complicated—and deadly—it becomes. And somewhere, in the middle of it all, is Erin, playing all sides against the middle, leading McKenzie to wonder if you ever really know who your friends are.
Penance: A Holland Taylor Mystery (The Holland Taylor Trilogy #1)
by David HousewrightA Minneapolis PI investigates the murder of the man who killed his wifeHolland Taylor is comfortable in interrogation rooms. For years the cold dark cells of the Minneapolis homicide squad were his turf, and with the help of his partner he wrung confessions out of countless killers. But that was long ago. Tonight Taylor is on the other side of the desk. Tonight he is the suspect. Taylor's career in the department ended after his wife and daughter were killed in a drunk driving accident. The culprit, John Brown, was sentenced to a measly six years for vehicular manslaughter, and Taylor vowed bloody vengeance in front of open court. After a few months of freedom, Brown is shot dead, and Taylor, now a private investigator, is called in as the obvious suspect. He didn't kill John Brown, but he will find out who did if--even it means tearing Minneapolis apart from the inside out.
Practice to Deceive (The Holland Taylor Trilogy #2)
by David HousewrightThe swindling of an elderly widow leads to &“a greased-lightning tale of scam and counterscam&” from an Edgar Award–winning author (Kirkus Reviews). When a drunk driver kills her entire family, Florida retiree Irene Gustafson is left rich and alone. Between savings and life insurance, the death of her son and his family leaves her with nearly $300,000—a veritable fortune in a community where most live off social security. Following the advice of Ann Landers, Mrs. Gustafson hands the money over to an investment manager. The returns are steady until he starts investing in Willow Tree, a low-income housing development on the fringes of the Twin Cities. The money vanishes, and Mrs. Gustafson is destitute. That&’s where Holland Taylor, Minneapolis private detective, comes in. His recently retired parents are Mrs. Gustafson&’s neighbors, and they want Taylor to recover the old lady&’s money. It seems impossible, but as he investigates Willow Tree he finds a twisted real-estate conspiracy with deep roots in city politics—and a vicious killer hired to protect the secret.
Something Wicked: A McKenzie Novel (Twin Cities P.I. Mac McKenzie Novels #19)
by David HousewrightIn David Housewright's next hardboiled mysterySomething Wicked, Rushmore McKenzie, who promised to retire after his last nearly-fatal case, gets talked into doing an old friend a favor involving a castle, a family fighting over an inheritance, and at least one mysterious death.Rushmore McKenzie was a detective with the St. Paul, Minnesota PD until unlikely events made him first a millionaire and then a retiree. Since then, he's been an occasional unofficial private investigator - looking into things for friends and friends of friends - until his most recent case put him into a coma and nearly into a coffin. Now, at the insistence of his better half Nina Truhler, he is again retired.That is, until a friend of Nina finds herself in dire straights and in desperate need of a favor. Jenness Crawford's grandmother owned the family castle - a nineteenth century castle that has been operating as a hotel and resort for over a hundred years. Since her grandmother's death, the heirs have been squabbling over what to do with it. Some want to keep it in the family and running as a hotel. Some want to sell it and reap the millions a developer will pay for it. And Jenness is convinced that someone - probably in the latter group - killed her grandmother. A conclusion with which the police do not agree. Now McKenzie finds himself back in action, trapped in a castle filled with feuding relatives with conflicting agendas, long serving retainers, and a possible murderer. And if McKenzie makes one wrong move, it could be lights out.
What Doesn't Kill Us: A McKenzie Novel (Twin Cities P.I. Mac McKenzie Novels #18)
by David HousewrightIn 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.
What the Dead Leave Behind (Twin Cities P.I. Mac McKenzie Novels #14)
by David HousewrightOnce 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.
The Last Paradise
by James D. HoustonIn "The Last Paradise", James D. Houston transforms a classic genre, the detective story, into a masterful narrative of a quest for spiritual and cultural value. The time is 1986. Travis Doyle, a restless Vietnam veteran now working as an insurance claims adjuster in the Bay Area, is dispatched to Hawai'i to investigate fire damage at a geothermal drilling site located in volcanic lava fields. The last thing he expects is to confront the mystery of an ancient spirituality and an indigenous world view that tests and challenges his own. On the Big Island he encounters a former lover, Evangeline Sakai, a mixed-blood woman who, after many years away, has returned hoping to reconnect with her ancestral past. She becomes Travis's guide through a realm of nature signs and uncanny coincidences. With her he comes to know a world in which two opposing views are in conflict: Earth as commodity (whose resources exist to be consumed) and Earth as ancestor (to be honored and revered). "The Last Paradise" begins in San Francisco and pushes farther west, past the continent's edge, out into the Pacific. While its environmental drama is as contemporary as today's headlines, the novel resonates with the ancient themes of quest and transformation. A compelling cross-cultural love story, it is also a lyrical meditation on the volcano. Said to be the home of Pele, the fire goddess, Hawai'i's volcano region is at once destructive and creative, deadly and healing. Its capacity to transform human lives is at the heart of this powerful tale of crisis and renewal.
At the Edge of the Woods (A Lew Ferris Mystery #3)
by Victoria HoustonSomeone is murdering pickleball players in Loon Lake and Sheriff Ferris is on the hunt for their killer in Victoria Houston&’s third nail-biting Lew Ferris mystery, perfect for fans of Marc Cameron and Nevada Barr.When a local pickleball player is shot in the head while practicing at an abandoned tennis court with his partner-slash-lover, Sheriff Lew Ferris suspects that the bullet was a stray shot from hunters in the area. It&’s not until a second player–the first victim&’s mistress and pickleball partner–is killed that Sheriff Ferris realizes this is no hunting accident. Someone is hunting people, and it&’s up to her to find out who.With the first victim&’s crazed widow breathing down Lew&’s neck, there&’s no room to breathe, let alone to find time to appreciate the beautiful Loon Lake fall and go fishing. Adding to Sheriff Ferris&’ difficulties are three pickleball players convinced someone has targeted them, someone who will do anything, even murder, to frighten them away from the courts where they play – but why?Who is really at risk? The pickleball players, or Lew and the people close to her?
Dead Angler (A Loon Lake Mystery #1)
by Victoria HoustonLoon Lake, Wisconsin's newly appointed Chief of Police, Lewellyn Ferris, is a tough-as-nails crime fighter and a fly fishing wonder. And when she reels in a dead body, she gets an opportunity to put all her talents to work.
Dead Big Dawg (Loon Lake #19)
by Victoria HoustonMurder, She Wrote meets Fargo in the Northwoods of Wisconsin in the nineteenth &“gripping, atmospheric, and smart&” (T. Jefferson Parker, New York Times bestselling author) installment of the Loon Lake series. When the bodies of a wealthy Chicago industrialist and his wife are discovered in their summer home at the same time that a local lawyer disappears, life becomes complicated for Loon Lake Chief of Police Lew Ferris. Relying on the forensic dental expertise of her close friend and acting coroner, Doc Osborne, Lew soon finds the investigations are even more complicated than she thought when a rarely used computer belonging to a local sawmill operation is taken over by foreign hackers. Add to that the family issues facing both Lew and Doc, and this Northwoods summer becomes both hot and dangerous. Engaging and fast-paced, Dead Big Dawg is a clever mystery perfect for fans of Lee Goldberg and Janet Evanovich.
Dead Boogie (Loon Lake Fishing Mystery #7)
by Victoria HoustonEven though experienced angler Doc Osborne knows there are plenty of fish in the sea--in Loon Lake, Wisconsin, only police chief Lew Ferris qualifies as his catch of the day.But just as the summer is heating up, the town gets turned upside down by the bizarre triple homicide discovered on a backcountry road. . . Peg Garmin was not Loon Lake's most beloved citizen. Considering her ''calling'' in life, no one was completely surprised when she was found murdered in the company of two exotic dancers. . . no one, that is, except for Ray Pradt, Peg's dearest friend.As the team digs into the mystery of her past, they discover some startling connections to one of the wealthiest families in Chicago and to the buried secret that could destroy them. Now Lew, Osborne and Ray must root the skeletons out of the Garmin family closet before Peg's killer becomes the one who got away. . .
Dead Boogie
by Victoria HoustonDoc Osborne knows there are plenty of fish in the sea, but only police chief Lew Ferris qualifies as his catch of the day.Just as the summer is heating up, the town gets turned upside down by the bizarre triple homicide discovered on a backcountry road... Peg Garmin was not Loon Lake's most beloved citizen. Considering her "calling" in life, no one was completely surprised when she was found murdered in the company of two exotic dancers...no one, that is, except for Ray Pradt, Peg's dearest friend.As the team digs into the mystery of her past, they discover some startling connections to one of the wealthiest families in Chicago and to the buried secret that could destroy them. Now Lew, Osborne, and Ray must root the skeletons out of the Garmin family closet before Peg's killer becomes the one who got away...
Dead Creek (A Loon Lake Mystery #2)
by Victoria HoustonWhen Doc Osborne up in the middle of a murder mystery, only Chief of Police Lew Ferris can get him out of it.Fishing aside, there's nothing Doc likes better than helping Chief of Police Lew Ferris, a world-class fly fisherman in her own right, delve into Loon Lake's criminal underworld. He's looking for any excuse to spend time with the only woman he knows who likes to fish as much as he does. So bloodthirsty killers and backwoods bandits be damned, Doc will take the quiet risk.
Dead Deceiver
by Victoria HoustonIt's late January in Loon Lake and bodies abound: a woman on snowshoes has been discovered wedged under a wooden bridge on a cross-country ski trail. A day later, Police Chief Lewellyn Ferris interviews a couple who alleges that the wife, a former nun, is being stalked. Meanwhile, Loon Lake is hosting an International Ice Fishing Festival with problems.
Dead Deceiver
by Victoria HoustonIt's late January in Loon Lake and bodies abound: a woman on snowshoes has been discovered wedged under a wooden bridge on a cross-country ski trail. A day later, Police Chief Lewellyn Ferris interviews a couple who alleges that the wife, a former nun, is being stalked. Meanwhile, Loon Lake is hosting an International Ice Fishing Festival with problems.
Dead Deceiver (Loon Lake Fishing Mystery #11)
by Victoria HoustonThe eleventh book in Victoria Houston's popular Loon Lake mystery series! It's late January at Loon Lake and bodies abound: a woman on snowshoes has been discovered wedged under a wooden bridge on a cross-country ski trail. A day later, Police Chief Lewellyn Ferris interviews a couple who alleges that the wife, a former nun, is being stalked. Meanwhile, Loon Lake is hosting an International Ice Fishing Festival with problems. Victoria Houstonlives in Rhinelander, Wisconsin.
Dead Firefly (Loon Lake #18)
by Victoria HoustonMurder She Wrote meets Fargo in the eighteenth installment of Victoria Houston&’s &“engaging&” (Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine) and critically acclaimed mystery series set in the northwoods of Wisconsin."My wife and Gordon Maxwell tried to kill me this morning."Doc Osborne is startled by the unexpected words tumbling out of the mouth of his friend and fellow AA member Chuck Pelletier, the recently remarried lead accountant for a planned luxury fly-fishing lodge preserve under construction in the area.Alarmed, Doc tries to alert Police Chief Lew Ferris, but she is tied up with law enforcement teams across the state. They&’re searching for thieves who have been cutting down and stealing hundreds of thousands of precious birch trees from public and private property across northern Wisconsin.But it&’s too late. Pelletier is found dead not two hours later. Doc is shocked, saddened, and determined to get to the bottom of the murder.With one man dead, evidence of lakeshore properties being stolen from elderly owners, and an attempted sexual assault, short-handed Chief Ferris deputizes Doc and his skilled tracker neighbor to help with the investigation. Then, just as they seem to be getting somewhere, things grow even more complicated.Just another summer in Loon Lake.
Dead Frenzy (A Loon Lake Mystery #4)
by Victoria HoustonBetween a fishing tournament and a biker convention, Doc Osborne and Police Chief Ferris are spending less time catching bass and more time catching crooks...For fishing pals (or are they more than just pals?) Doc Osborne and Police Chief Lew Ferris, Loon Lake, Wisconsin, is usually a great place to seek out some mutual solitude in the trout stream. But lately, the town has been teeming with competitive bass fisherman and bikers, too many less-than-savory characters. Meanwhile, there's an old murder case Doc's bent on solving even as he himself is stalked by a mysterious visitor.
Dead Hot Mama (Loon Lake Fishing Mystery #5)
by Victoria HoustonIt's ice-fishing season in Loon Lake and Doc Osborne is trying to cnvince Police Chief and fishing pal Lew Ferris to give it a chance. But fish aren't the only things lurking below the surface. The bodies of two snowmobilers have just been pulled out of nearby Two Sisters Lake. And a beautiful woman's corpse turns up in a snowdrift. Is it payback for a drug deal gone bad? Or is it something more sinister?
Dead Hot Mama
by Victoria HoustonIt may be winter, but things heat up when Police Chief Lew Ferris discovers a mystery buried under the icy waters of a local lake.It's ice-fishing season in Loon Lake and Doc Osborne is trying to convince Police Chief and fishing pal Lew Ferris to give it a chance. But fish aren't the only things lurking below the surface. The bodies of two snowmobilers have just been pulled out of nearby Two Sisters Lake. And a beautiful woman's corpse turns up in a snowdrift. Is it payback for a drug deal gone bad? Or is it something more sinister? Osborne and Ferris once again team up to get to the bottom of a very murky mystery.
Dead Hot Shot (Loon Lake #9)
by Victoria HoustonMurder never takes a holiday...or so Loon Lake learns one wintry Thanksgiving Day.Chief of Police Lew Ferris, short-handed thanks to an AWOL coroner, never even gets the turkey stuffed before the bodies start to surface. By the end of the day, credit card theft and dysfunctional families have so muddied the waters that not even expert tracker and dedicated fishing guide Ray Pradt can hope to fish the final day of muskie season. And while retired dentist Doc Osborne had counted on sitting by the fire with Lew (out of uniform) and planning a fly-fishing trip to Wyoming, the unexpected arrival of Gina Palmer, former investigative reporter turned forensics database expert, ramps up the action with her pursuit of a Canadian link to the theft of merchandise from stores across the upper Midwest. Dead Hot Shot, ninth in the Loon Lake Mystery series, is a heady mix of murder, mayhem, and fishing in the northwoods of Wisconsin.