The Fifth Floor: A Michael Kelley Novel: 2 (Michael Kelly) - Softcover

Harvey, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0307386295 ISBN 13: 9780307386298

Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group, 2009

Synopsis

Private detective Michael Kelly returns in a lightning-paced, intricately woven mystery. When Kelly is hired by an old girlfriend to tail her abusive husband, he expects trouble of a domestic rather than a historical nature. Life, however, is not so simple.

The trail leads to a dead body in an abandoned house on Chicago's North Side and then to places Kelly would rather not go: specifically, City Hall's fabled fifth floor, where the mayor is feeling the heat. Kelly becomes embroiled in a scam that stretches from current politics back to the night Chicago burned to the ground. Along the way, he finds himself framed for murder, before finally facing a killer bent on rewriting history.

About this title

Review

"The perfect Chicago detective story, complete with a loving tour of the city's funkier locales that'll make any displaced Chicagoan long for home." --Erik Larson, author of The Devil in the White City"Michael Harvey is a magnificent new voice."--John Grisham"Impressive.... A tangled, fascinating tale."--Chicago Tribune"A nifty retro-noir series."--The New York Times Book Review"Dazzlingly good." --ThePlain-Dealer"Another sophisticated caper.... Harvey brilliantly brings all the threads together and provides a satisfying conclusion." --The Missourian"Harvey's superb second thriller . . . Harvey's plot twists in all the right places, and his noir-inspired dialogue crackles without sounding showy. Marlowe and Spade would readily welcome Michael Kelly into their fold."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)"PI Michael Kelly digs into the history of the Great Chicago Fire for his second case in what's shaping up as a strong series. . . . Dry wit, delectable clues and tricky leads hallmark this trenchant tale of the Windy City."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)Praise for The Chicago Way"The Chicago Way is a wonderful first novel. Michael Harvey has studied the masters and put his own unique touch on the crime novel. This book harkens the arrival of a major new voice."--Michael Connelly, author of the bestselling Harry Bosch novels"An intricate, fast-paced crime thriller."--Chicago Sun-Times"A smart, stylish debut. . . . The dialogue is snappy and crisp, and characters pop off the page. The plot flows along swimmingly with plenty of surprises."--The Boston Globe"A provocative novel that captures the grittiness of the Windy City and spins a murder mystery with a satisfying and out-of-left-field ending. . . . Wonderfully reminiscent of Raymond Chandler."--USA Today

From the Back Cover

When Michael Kelly is hired by an ex-flame to tail her abusive husband, what looks like a bread-and-butter domestic dispute turns out to be more than he bargained for. The tail leads him to a body and the answer to one of Chicago's most enduring mysteries: who started the Great Fire of 1871 and why.
As he explores further he is drawn into a web of corruption and intrigue. A mysterious enemy is out to frame him for murder and rewrite the past he didn't even know he had. Soon Kelly will find himself in the last place he wants to be - City Hall's fifth floor, where the mayor is feeling the heat and looking to silence any investigations.
Michael Kelly, the tough-talking Irish cop turned private investigator first encountered in The Chicago Way, returns in an equally stylish, hard-boiled follow-up that cements Harvey's credentials as heir apparent to Leonard and Chandler.

About this edition

• Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0307386295
• ISBN 13: 9780307386298
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288