cover image Jelly's Gold: A McKenzie Novel

Jelly's Gold: A McKenzie Novel

David Housewright, . . Minotaur, $24.95 (295pp) ISBN 978-0-312-37082-4

In Edgar-winner Housewright's enjoyable sixth novel to feature PI Rushmore “Mac” McKenzie (after 2008's Madman on a Drum ), graduate student Ivy Flynn, last seen in 2005's Tin City , and her new boyfriend believe gold from a 1933 bank robbery engineered by Frank “Jelly” Nash is still hidden somewhere in St. Paul, Minn. When Mac agrees to investigate, it becomes apparent others are after the same pot of gold, now worth at least $8 million. The searchers consult historical archives and private letters, interview descendants of crooks and bigwigs, and even manage to locate one ancient ex-con who knew Nash. Readers get a dual treat as the likable Mac deals with a parade of present-day sharpies and gold hunters, while Housewright retells the story of the wholesale corruption that for decades made St. Paul a playground for a who's who of gangsters, including John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and others who hobnobbed with St. Paul's upper crust. (June)