Housewright, David – DEAD BOYFRIENDS

[LJ Roberts]

DEAD BOYFRIENDS (Unlicensed Investigator, Rushmore McKenzie, Twin Cities, MN, Cont) – G+
Housewright, David – 5th in series
St. Martin’s Minotaur, 2007, US Hardcover – ISBN: 9780312348304

First Sentence: The dream came back to haunt me the night they threw me in jail.

Former policeman Rushmore McKenzie is retired, wealthy and does favors for people. Merodie Davies has problems with alcohol and men, particularly the one who has been dead for several days upstairs. When she finds him and runs screaming into the street, the policeman on the scene is roughing her up rather than questioning her. McKenzie steps into the scene and is thrown in jail for his efforts. Convinced by Merodie’s attorney to help her, McKenzie finds things are not as simple as they appear and that the case resurrects old nightmares.

Books by Housewright are always a pleasure but this one; not quite as much as some of the others. McKenzie is a great character and it’s nice to see him overcome his past and grow to the next level in his romantic life. However, unless you’ve read the previous books, other recurring characters, and certainly the new characters, were very one dimensional. The plot kept the story moving forward and provided some exciting moments, but was imminently forgettable. It really was McKenzie’s story, and that’s not all bad but I’ll hope the next book is a bit more well rounded.