Them Bones by David Housewright Book Review

About the Book:

A stolen dinosaur skull is at the center of a complex mystery laid at the feet of unofficial P.I. Rushmore McKenzie.

There are two things that Rushmore McKenzie hates to turn down—a request from a friend and a challenge. Both of them show up in his wife's nightclub in the person of Angela Bjork, who has come to request McKenzie's help. McKenzie, once a homicide detective, now through a series of unlikely events, is a retired millionaire. But occasionally, for friends, he will do some unofficial private detective work. Over the years, he's hunted down a stolen Stradivarius, the hoard of 1930's gangster, and recovered a stolen, apparently cursed, artifact but McKenzie never imagined a case like this. An exceedingly rare dinosaur skull has been stolen.

Angela, a doctoral candidate, was out on a dig site in Southeastern Montana, when she found a skeleton of an Ankylosaurus. And no sooner than when the skull was removed and placed on a truck then they were attacked, the truck and skull stolen. Worried that nothing is being done to find the stolen skull, she turns to McKenzie. Worth millions on the black market, the chance to recover it becomes fainter by the day. And the people behind the theft are likely willing to do anything, to anyone, to hold onto it.

My Review:

This mystery got off to a slow start for me. The lengthy beginning section about digging for dinosaur bones was informative in that area but did not draw me into the plot. I like a novel that captures me with a soon happening murder or some other compelling action.

McKenzie ultimately comes in and I like the sly humor and sharp tongue that came along. But even this part of the mystery progresses slowly. There are many suspects since there are so many people involved in the dig.

This is the first novel I have read by this author. While I ultimately liked it, I did not find it a compelling read. It is part of a series but I felt it read well enough on its own.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

About the Author:

David Housewright has won the Edgar Award and is the three-time winner of the Minnesota Book Award for his crime fiction, which includes the modern noir Twin Cities P.I. Mac McKenzie series (starting with A Hard Ticket Home). He is a past president of the Private Eye Writers of America (PWA). He lives in St. Paul, Minnesota. Photo credit: Renee Valois.

Minotaur Books, 320 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent review.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)