Sign-In
Cart
Dead Man's Mistress: A McKenzie Novel
Paperback
Series: Mac McKenzie Novel, Book 16
Publisher Price: $20.00
ISBN13: 9781970861150
Publisher: Full House Publishing
Published: Dec 15 2025
Pages: 314
Weight: 0.80
Height: 0.70 Width: 5.50 Depth: 8.50
Language: English
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.
Critical Acclaim 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
Also from
Housewright, David
The Silence of the Loons: Thirteen Tales of Mystery by Minnesota's Premier Crime Writers
Housewright, David
Krueger, William Kent
Guest, Judith
Paperback
Also in
Mystery & Thriller
The Underworld U.S.A. Trilogy, Volume I: American Tabloid, the Cold Six Thousand; Introduction by Thomas Mallon
Ellroy, James
Hardcover
Coffin Road: An Utterly Gripping Crime Thriller from the Author of the China Thrillers
May, Peter
Paperback
Sabine's Notebook: In Which the Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin & Sabine Continues
Bantock, Nick
Hardcover
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Movie Tie-In Edition): Book 1 of the Millennium Trilogy
Larsson, Stieg
Paperback
The Golden Mean: In Which the Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin & Sabine Concludes
Bantock, Nick
Hardcover
The Pirate Queen: A Novel from the New York Times Bestselling Author of the Frozen River
Lawhon, Ariel
Hardcover