Dead Man's Mistress (Rush McKenzie) by David Housewright

When some previously unknown paintings of a famous artist are stolen Rush McKenzie is asked to look for them. He ends up in a small town called Grand Marais and discovers a dead body. Tangling with some people who want to stop him from investigating and being hampered as much as well as helped by a young reporter the unofficial private eye is on one hell of a case again.
I always like McKenzie in every tale he's in. It's like meeting up with an old friend in every novel. I have to admit though this particular story was a bit dull at some times. It could have done with some more twists and turns or a higher degree of danger. Decent, but there have been better in this series.

Like To Die (Rush McKenzie) by David Housewright

At first it seems like a pretty tame investigation... Wealthy ex-cop Rush McKenzie is asked to find out who is sabotaging the factory of a friend's friend.
When he investigates he finds himself mildly attracted to her and discovers a whole bunch of secrets, leading him to face a lot more dangers then he figured.
As always it's good to hang out with McKenzie who manages to be both Spenser-style hero and Everyman.
While this one starts up a bit slow when it starts to speed up it's an exciting read.

What The Dead Leave Behind (Rush McKenzie) by David Housewright

As fans know Rush McKenzie isn't a PI because of the money. In fact, he isn't an official licensed one. He's an ex-cop now millionaire who sometimes does favors for friends which end up with him solving crimes. I'm a fan of this series and gladly review every book.
As always we slowly follow how he further deepens his relationship with his girlfriend and her daughter. In fact, the daughter is the reason he starts an investigation in an unsolved murder in this book. He ends up investigating corporate espionage and fraud and a different cold case.
After a few books that had Rush go undercover and a bit less traditional sleuthing it's nice to see him really investigate a murder cause again. I must say I had a bit of trouble keeping all the female characters apart that pop up in this one.  The way all kinds of secrets pop up seemed a bit overdone at times.
Mostly though I enjoyed the book, happy to ride along with one of my favorite PI's again. Never too dark but too hardboiled for a cozy by far a nice, enjoyable read.

Stealling the Countess (Rush McKenzie) by David Housewright

The McKenzie series I've been constantly enjoying for years now. Like clockwork there's a new book every year that may not be very surprising but very entertaining. I compare it to the first few Elvis Cole novels before Crais felt the need to experiment with different ways of telling the story.
Although a hardboiled detective novel there is a certain lighter mood to this series that makes it an enjoying read for all mystery fans.
Ex-cop McKenzie is rich enough to be able to spend time taking on some unofficial PI work. He is asked to find a stolen Stradivarius, a mission that takes him to a small time. There he meets semi-regular Heavenly, a Travis McGee like salvage consultant but with a more criminal bend who's got the same mission. She's becoming more interesting with every novel. Beautiful and smart, I wouldn't be surprised if she's going to star in a novel of her own soon as David Housewright seems to lover her so much as any man she meets.
The chemistry between Heavenly and McKenzie is fun to read, the mystery entertaining and McKenzie one of the most likable PI's out there right now.

Unidentified Woman #15 (Rush McKenzie) by David Housewright

During some nasty weather Rush McKenzie barely avoids hitting a bound woman with his car. Helping her, he finds out she lost her memory and decides to aid her finding out who she is.
He ends up getting caught up with a ring of thieves, making good use of his criminal alter ego Dyson.
McKenzie, the unofficial PI with a lot of money in the bank is always nice to read about. He's got a lot of everyman about him, a lot more than guys like Reacher, Hammer or even Cole. That's what makes him such a nice character.
The main storyline I enjoyed less then I usually do, I'm just not sure I liked the villains / the main crime and I started to have a hard time knowing which character was who in the middle of the book.
Still, David Housewright doesn't write a bad book, so while this may not be my favorite in the series I still liked it and am looking forward to the next one.

The Devil May Care (Rush McKenzie) by David Housewright

It's so good to have someone in your life you can depend on. McKenzie is one of those guys for me, even if he is fictional. Every year there's an entertaining new novel coming out that never lets me down.
In this one the cop-turned-millionaire-adventurer is asked by the daughter of an old enemy to track down her missing lover. It turns out this lover might not be who he said he was and soon McKenzie is involved with a psycho badguy, the FBI and Mexican Mafia.
Besides this main plot we see how the relationship between McKenzie and his spunky lover Nina contintues in what might be the best relationship in a PI novel since Spenser & Susan.
I read this one in no time. David doesn't exactly leave out the parts people skip like Elmore Leonard but has a fun, easy to read style that has you turning the pages quickly and the tone is so perfectly mixed between light and dark you are always in the mood for more.
Looking forward to the next one next year.

The Last Kind Word (Rush McKenzie) by David Housewright

A new Rushmore McKenzie novel always gets to the top of my TBR-list. Alwasy entertaining and easy to read it is the perfect series for fans of Spenser or earlier Elvis Cole novels. I wasn't disappointed by the latest entry in the series.
McKenzie is asked by the ATF to infiltrate a gang of smalltime and smalltime bank robbers so he can find out who is supplying them with assault rifles. Channeling his inner-Parker (from Richard Stark's great series) he plays a hardboiled criminal called Dyson. This role gives him the chance to really give in to his wild side which made for enjoyable reading. Luckily there's also a bit more about his relationship with his best friend's wife and his own girlfriend, bits I always enjoy.
David Housewright always manages to come up with original plots for his hero, by having his hero go undercover he was able to write a heist novel instead of a PI novel while still using all the great bits that compromised earlier novels of this series.

Curse of the Jade Lily (Rushmore McKenzie) by David Housewright

David Housewright & Rush McKenzie... A combination that never ever disappoints.
McKenzie, the rich ex-cop is asked to deliver the ransom money to some artnappers, trading it for a sculpture called the Jade Lily. A corrupt cop, a garbage disposal company, and a US State Department official are just some of the people involved in the case as well. Returning is Heavenly Petryk, fortune hunter after her previous appearance in Jelly's Gold. Heavenly is a wonderful, Catwoman-like nemesis to McKenzie's Batman.
The plot is pretty good and exciting but as always Rush is the element that makes this read so enjoyable. A perfect example how to make a PI hardboiled but extremely human an likable McKenzie is one of my favorite modern PI's.

Highly recommended!

Highway 61 (Rushmore McKenzie) by David J

David Housewright has been putting out the consistently entertaining Rush McKenzie series for a couple of years now but this is his best.
McKenzie, both rich and an ex-cop does favors for friends. This time he helps out someone who is not exactly a friend. The ex-husband of his girlfriend is being blackmailed, having ended up in a motel with a dead young girl. When McKenzie tries to do something about it he gets involved in a prostitution ring, crazy gangster brothers, arsonists and some of the most powerful people in the Twin Cities.
This is one of the darker books in the series as we see how McKenzie struggles to stay into the light while the problems he faces drag him into the dark further and further.
This novel really has it all, a cool hero, action, a lot of twists and intrigue. This might end up being my favorite PI novel of 2011.

The Taking of Libbie, SD (Rush Mckenzie) by David Housewright

Reading a new Rush McKenzie novel always feels like getting back in touch with an old friend to me. He may be filthy rich and at times can be quite the hardass, most of the time McKenzie is a likable character you can relate to.
In this novel he's taken from his home by a couple of bounty-hunters, resulting in quite an exciting opening chapter. Interestingly enough, Daniel Judson's new novel (Voyeur, expect a review on this site soon) also starts off with the hero being tasered. In the old days PI's just had to worry about brass knuckles.
It turns out the bounty-hunters were after Rush because someone has been impersonating him and conning the people of Libbie, SD out of their money. After it is clear to the people from Libbie that Rush is not the man who conned them he decides to track down the imposter. During his search he fights bullies, discovers that Libbie has a lot of good looking women and in the end of course, solves several mysteries.
Another very enjoyable installment in this series.