What the Dead Leave Behind

Unlicensed PI Rushmore “Mac” McKenzie tackles perhaps his most complex case yet in Edgar-winner Housewright’s witty 14th Minnesota-based mystery (after 2016’s Stealing the Countess). Mac should have known from the outset that this was going to be a challenge. First, it’s a cold case—the stabbing murder of Frank Harris, who worked for human resources in a large furniture company, in a Minneapolis suburb a year earlier. Next, the person bringing it to Mac—the victim’s college-age son, Malcolm—is beside himself with rage and grief. Frank’s widow says she’s comfortable with her husband’s murder remaining unsolved, but Malcolm needs closure and he needs it now. Once Mac begins to investigate, he finds little the local police missed. Once he starts asking questions, however, the intrepid former cop learns of another unsolved murder that’s possibly related. But can he unearth the connection? Housewright is such a pro at plot and character development that it’s nearly impossible to put this entry down. Agent: Alison Picard, Alison J. Picard Agency. (June)