Tin City (Twin Cities P.I. Mac McKenzie Novels) (Hardcover)

by David Housewright (Author) "The old man held three dead honeybees in the palm of his caramel-colored hand..." (more)
Key Phrases: New York, Frank Crosetti, Carver County (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
In Edgar-winner Housewright's entertaining second noirish mystery starring Twin Cities ex-cop Rushmore "Mac" McKenzie (after 2004's A Hard Ticket Home), an elderly family friend, Mr. Mosley, asks Mac to look into the mysterious deaths of some bees at his honey farm. A University of Minnesota graduate student, Ivy Flynn, identifies an insecticide as the cause, but not before Mr. Mosley's surly new neighbor, Frank Crosetti, takes a shot at Ivy while she's collecting soil samples near his property. Then someone shoots Mr. Mosley in the head gangland style, and Crosetti disappears. A bereaved and guilt-ridden Mac pulls out all stops for a full-fledged investigation, diving under deep cover when the FBI issues a Seeking Information Alert for him. The suspense builds as Mac traces a couple of dim-bulb thugs to a tiny oasis of trailer homes where resides a bent FBI man, Steve Sykora, who's protecting a dangerous mobster. Channeling Raymond Chandler with tongue-in-cheek humor, Housewright delivers plenty of action, a pinch of romance and more than a few surprises.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Housewright hits his stride in this second outing for good-hearted Minnesota tough guy Rushmore McKenzie. It all begins innocently enough when an old family friend hires Mac to look into who or what is killing his honeybees, but when a routine investigation leads to assault, rape, and murder, it's payback time. As the guilty parties seem to be enjoying federal protection, Mac drops off the radar and winds up in a trailer park, where lives a lovely lass. The smooth, straightforward action comes off without a hitch, lightly seasoned with a dash of introspection from a wry, self-assured hero who is a true pal to those in need and who charms ladies and librarians alike. For those who can accept Mac's advice, "Best not to think too much about it . . . just sit back and see what happens next," this series may be seriously habit-forming. It's also a welcome selection for libraries where Robert Parker is popular, which is to say everywhere. David Wright
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur (April 14, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312321511
• ISBN-13: 978-0312321512
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #505,156 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Follow-Up Novel, May 2, 2005

By	Craig Larson (Maple Grove, MN USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is the second book in a new series focused on Rushmore "Mac" McKenzie, who used to be a St. Paul policeman, but retired after collecting a $3 million bounty on an embezzler. Now, he does the occasional "favor" for his friends and otherwise takes it pretty easy. At the start of _Tin City_, Mac gets a call from Mr. Mosley, an old friend of his father's, who is a beekeeper and wants Mac's help figuring out why an unusually large number of his bees have been dying off lately. Mac calls in a favor from a friend in the entomology department at the University of Minnesota and it's not too long before the friend's graduate teaching assistant has tracked down the source of a pesticide being sprayed on a neighboring property, which is drifting over to Mosley's hives and killing his bees. When the teaching assistant calls in and reports being shot at, Mac and Mosley hurriedly drive to the scene to offer their assistance. At the scene, they're confonted by a man holding a shotgun and telling them they're trespassing. They leave, only to involve one of Mac's other friends, a lawyer, by having him send a threatening letter to the property's owner. From there, events suddenly turn violent--Mosley is killed and the lawyer's wife is assaulted, leaving Mac a very angry man who must get to the bottom of things and track down the man responsible.

This was an excellent book, with its settings and locations around the Twin Cities brought to convincing life. Much of the story takes place in a tiny municipality called Hilltop, the "tin city" of the title, which is an actual place, a city of mobile homes completely surrounded by the larger city of Columbia Heights. Mac pretends to be a writer for _Trailer Life_ magazine and interviews several of the residents, allowing Housewright to include some fascinating historical details about this real place (I checked my Twin Cities street atlas just to make sure, and sure enough, there is a Hilltop, right where Housewright says it is). Along the way, Mac falls in love with Penelope Glass, a song writer and the neglected wife of a rogue FBI agent. The scenes describing their conversations and a dinner they have together have a real sweetness to them. Mac finds himself in the middle of a complicated mess, involving a mobster on the run from a botched assassination attempt in New York and a couple of local gangster wanna-be's, and things are complicated further when the FBI agent places a locate and detain order for him, requiring Mac to go underground.

Mac's an appealing character, with lots of friends in high and low places. His loyalty to his friends and willingness to do what it takes to make things right, as well as his thoughts on his deceased father and the hand Mr. Mosley had in bringing him up to be a "good guy," and the uncertainty he feels when he gets some measure of vengeance, make him a pretty complicated character. _Tin City_ is an excellent follow-up to the very strong _A Hard Ticket Home_ and, hopefully, there will be many more "Mac" McKenzie novels to follow. Highly recommended.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Housewright is exceptional!, July 22, 2005

By	armchairinterviews.com (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

Rushmore "Mac" McKenzie is a former St. Paul Police officer who became wealthy when he left the force to accept a three-million-dollar bounty on an embezzler. He may be retired but he manages to keep busy helping friends in trouble.

Mr. Mosley, a beekeeper and an elderly family friend, wants Mac to help him find out why his bees are dying. Mac agrees to look into the problem with the help of the entomology department at the University of Minnesota. When the graduate student who is taking soil samples is shot at, Mac and Mosley drive to the scene and are confronted by a large man with an even-larger shotgun.

Mac and Mosley ask an attorney friend to send a threatening letter to the man who assaulted them verbally and physically. Violence erupts when the lawyer's wife is raped and Mosley is murdered. Mac becomes determined to track down the responsible person or persons and bring them to justice (whatever justice looks like).

During the investigation, Mac poses as a writer for a magazine titled Trailer Life. Using that cover, he is based in a tiny Twin Cities municipality called Hilltop. He uncovers a rogue FBI agent with a songwriter wife, Penelope (whom Mac falls "a little bit" in love with) and a mobster on the run from the mob.

What started as a simple investigation into dying honeybees may cost Mac a lot-maybe his own life, or someone he cares about.

David Housewright, author of Tin City is one of my favorite mystery writers. He is almost pitch perfect in plot, characterization, motivation and pacing. His ability to articulate the feel of the Twin Cities might be expected since he lives there, but I think it's more than that. It's what I call "the touch." Others that have it are Dennis Lehane, Michael Connelly and Robert Crais. Simply put, I'd read a cereal box if David Housewright wrote it.

That said, I have one criticism. I read mysteries to be entertained. I found the author's inclusion of what I took to be a personal political statement distracting. I'm weary of folks using their public access as a political platform, even if I happen to agree with them. And I don't look for things to offend me; this found me.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Wishes, December 29, 2008

By	PJ (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tin City (Mac McKenzie Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Although I found Tin City to be an interesting read, I was really put off by the snide digs at religion, conservatives and Fox News. Why is it that some authors insist on dragging their uber-liberal viewpoints into otherwise good novels? Why is it that Housewright insists on insulting at least half of his readers? Probably his background in the 'progressive' swamps of academia and journalism makes him believe that everyone is of the same stripe. I sure hope he realizes sooner rather than later that many of us are religious, conservative Fox News viewers.