Dead Man’s Mistress

At the start of Edgar winner Housewright’s enjoyable 16th novel featuring PI Rushmore “Mac” McKenzie (after 2018’s Like to Die), Louise Wykoff, an icon of the Minnesota art world, hires Mac to retrieve three stolen paintings depicting her by renowned regional artist Randolph McInnis. In her youth, Louise was McInnis’s assistant until she became his muse, and he painted more than a hundred likenesses of her. After McInnis’s death, his widow sold all the paintings except for three that Randolph had given Louise. Until stolen, no one else knew of their existence or laid eyes on them. When a suspect turns up dead, the uncertainty surrounding the cause sends Mac in search of the killer. Local law enforcement, a documentary film crew, and a wealthy third party claiming ownership each have competing interests in finding the paintings. Cursed with a Midwestern charm to match his nonstop patter, Mac is an appealing hero who comfortably operates within the hardboiled detective tradition. [em]Agent: Alison Picard, Alison J. Picard Agency. (May) [/em]