Rushmore
McKenzie, created by David Housewright, is one of my favorite fictional
characters and I am happy to see his adventures continue. Pleasantly
self-indulgent and not especially energetic in his so-called retirement, he
still periodically serves as unofficial private investigator, he calls it doing
favors, for his friends, as well as for friends of friends.
In Man in
the Water (Minotaur, 2024) the 21st title of this very good
series, the temperatures are rising after a long Minnesota winter, and Nina and
Rush are looking forward to joining their friends on a trip down the St. Croix
River. Upon arrival at the largely deserted marina they encounter a distraught
woman who says her husband was looking at the boats and now she doesn’t see
him. Rush begins to search, checking the marina office and nearby coffee shop,
but it’s Nina who finds the husband in the river near the edge of a dock. Rush
called the police; when they arrived and he and Nina answered their questions, they
stepped back from a sad situation that did not require them.
The insurance
company declined to pay the double indemnity for an accidental death and the victim’s
widow filed a lawsuit; Nina was considered a critical witness so they became
involved again. Then the dead man’s daughter became convinced her father was
killed and she asks Rush to investigate.
He started
out, logically enough, at the marina. The boat-owning denizens of the marina were
a lively bunch. One of the yacht owners seemed to hold a perennial open house
where the liquor flows and the good times roll.
Rush noticed
a reference to a co-owner of the company the dead man owned, only no one can
tell him who that partner is. He learned a co-owner might well take precedence
in the payout of the insurance policies at issue. Tracing the money flowing
into and out of the small but prosperous company became critical.
It’s always a pleasure to spend time with Rush and his friends, only this time his usual sidekick Bobby Dunston isn’t around. Instead a couple of his boating friends are added to the mix and the insurance company that Rush has worked with several times is represented. While Housewright normally concocts complicated plots, this one is downright byzantine, up to the unexpected but satisfying ending. Not the place to start the series but readers familiar with earlier entries will like this one.
- Publisher:
Minotaur
Books (June 25, 2024)
- Language:
English
- Hardcover:
320
pages
- ISBN-10:
1250863600
- ISBN-13: 978-125086360
Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2025
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works
on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
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