I gave Nina time alone. A lot of it. The sun slowly arced across the sky and started setting behind us.
“Okay,” Shelby said.
I grabbed my coat and started out the door. I zipped up and put on gloves as I crossed the street. My shoes were smothered by the snow, yet I didn’t care.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hey.”
Nina had been crying, though her tears were dry by the time I reached her.
“Thank you for not rushing over the first chance you got to ask if I was all right,” she said. “To see if you could make it better.”
“I figured you needed some alone time.”
I owe you, Shelby.
I pointed at an ancient oak tree.
“Did I ever tell you about the time that I kissed Mary Beth Rogers right over there?” I asked.
“You did. Whatever happened to her, anyway?”
“I have no idea. I don’t really want to know. By not knowing, I can always remember her the way she was that night. The way I was.”
“It’s a pleasant memory. Your first kiss. Why change it? The bad ones, though—the bad memories you need to do something about.”
“Is that what Kayla told you?”
“In her way.”
“What did she say about your mother?”
“I might tell you someday, but not now,” Nina said. “Is that okay?
“Sure.”
“It’s not a deep, dark secret. It’s just … I haven’t really got it figured out yet.”
“I understand.”
“You’ve always been kind to me in that way. Understanding, even when you didn’t.”
“Actually, I would say it was the other way around,” I said. “You putting up with me all these years, with my investigations, with my constant intrusions into other people’s lives.”
“You’ve done a lot of good, McKenzie. So many favors for so many people. Will you do one for me?”
“Of course. Anything.”
“Don’t say that until you’ve heard the favor,” Nina said.
“Anything,” I repeated.
“Will you marry me?”
ALSO BY DAVID HOUSEWRIGHT
Featuring Holland Taylor
Penance
Dearly Departed
Darkness, Sing Me A Song
First, Kill the Lawyers
Featuring Rushmore McKenzie
A Hard Ticket Home
Tin City
Pretty Girl Gone
Dead Boyfriends
Madman on a Drum
Jelly’s Gold
The Taking of Libbie, SD
Highway 61
Curse of the Jade Lily
The Last Kind Word
The Devil May Care
Unidentified Woman #15
Stealing the Countess
What the Dead Leave Behind
Like to Die
Dead Man’s Mistress
Other Novels
The Devil and the Diva (with Renée Valois)
Finders Keepers
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. He is a past president of the Private Eye Writers of America. He lives in St. Paul, Minnesota. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Just So You Know
Also by David Housewright
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
First published in the United States by Minotaur Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group
FROM THE GRAVE. Copyright © 2020 by David Housewright. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Publishing Group, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.
www.minotaurbooks.com
Cover design by David Baldeosingh Rotstein
Cover photograph © Jas Ong / Pixoto.com
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Names: Housewright, David, 1955– author.
Title: From the grave / David Housewright.
Description: First edition. | New York : Minotaur Books, 2020. | Series: Twin cities P.I. Mac McKenzie novels ; 17|
Identifiers: LCCN 2019051875 | ISBN 9781250212177 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781250212184 (ebook)
Subjects: GSAFD: Mystery fiction.
Classification: LCC PS3558.O8668 F76 2020 | DDC 813/.54—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019051875
eISBN 9781250212184
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First Edition: May 2020