David Housewright Dead Boyfriends

Dead Boyfriends

David Housewright

St. Martin's, May 2007, $23.95

ISBN: 0312348304

Former Twin Cities cop millionaire Rushmore McKenzie hears the cries of Merodie Davies who bemoans the death of her boyfriend. Rushmore realizes the woman acts stoned, but more stunning is the dead boyfriend; his corpse is so rotted he had to have died at least two weeks ago. The police arrive and try to rough Merodie into confessing that she hit her boyfriend in the head with a softball bat that lies near the body. When Rushmore intercedes on her behalf, he is arrested for impeding a crime scene investigation. While in jail his girlfriend Nina Truhler dumps Rushmore for not showing up as promised as her escort to a fancy dinner dance.

After he is released from jail, Merodie's attorney hires Rushmore to investigate in order to find a way to get the charges dropped. Bing unlicensed is not a problem for the former cop so he begins making inquiries only to find Merodie has had a zillion boyfriends, all dead except one, a dangerous drug dealer, who makes a more acceptable suspect than she is.

Though entertaining because the knight in shining armor is still a likable individual this is a weak Rushmore entry as the story line leans towards a humorous widow-maker, but the support cast including Merodie seems as weird two dimensional stiffs who fail to pull off the caper. Still the hero saves more than the damsel in distress as he comes to the rescue of his story line with the collapse of his personal life and the investigation into a woman in which everyone inside her sphere has something to hide. Overall this is a solid whodunit, but does not attain the level of Mount Rushmore's previous entries (see TIN CITY and PRETTY GIRL GONE).

Harriet Klausner