Atlantic Monthly Press
Atlantic Monthly Press
Atlantic Monthly Press
In House Privilege, the fourteenth novel in the DeMarco series, Mike Lawson sends his likable protagonist on a journey that begins in Boston and ends up in a country beyond the reach of the law
Fifteen-year-old Cassie Russell, the only daughter of a mega-rich Boston couple, is the sole survivor of a plane crash that killed her parents. She’s also the goddaughter of the newly elected Speaker of the House, John Mahoney, and Mahoney becomes her legal guardian. Normally, Mahoney would send his kind-hearted wife to deal with his new ward, but she’s unavailable so he dispatches his fixer, Joe DeMarco, to make sure the girl’s okay. DeMarco’s job is only to put things into a holding pattern until Mrs. Mahoney is able to step in and take charge — but DeMarco unintentionally flips over a rock and out from under it crawls a lawyer, the one managing Cassie’s vast estate. DeMarco learns the lawyer has been embezzling from the estate and may have killed Cassie’s parents.
What should have been a simple assignment unleashes murderous plots involving a Boston mob boss and his Irish thugs, and quickly escalates. DeMarco ends up chasing the scheming lawyer halfway around the world to save Cassie and ensure that justice is done. And, this being DeMarco, the legal niceties are mostly ignored.
House Privilege is one of the best installments yet in Edgar Award nominee Mike Lawson’s long running series.
“Excellent… No surprise, the resourceful DeMarco finds ingenious ways to solve all the problems. The author’s felicitous style will keep readers smiling throughout. Lawson remains at the top of his game.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“House Privilege is worthy of as many stars as the stargivers are giving this year. And you’d think the award-givers would—after 13 novels featuring Joe DeMarco, one of the genre’s most intrepid and endearing (very) private investigators—heap cheesy trophies and worthy praise on Lawson. Lawson is a natural storyteller. He can craft believable characters and connivances that leave you breathless. House Privilege is a lesson in writing believable prose. Lawson makes it look easy, and that’s what fiction writers all hope they’re doing or aspire to do.”—Durango Telegraph
“This is a consistently entertaining, well-crafted series. The real mystery here is why Lawson has yet to garner a major award.”—Booklist (starred review)
“Another first-rate novel from Lawson, the thirteenth in his celebrated Joe DeMarco series (following House Witness, 2018), with a clever cliff-hanger ending that will both delight and concern his legion of fans.”—Booklist (starred review), on House Arrest
“Lawson’s matter-of-fact tone, walking a fine line between satire and reportage, propels his tale forward…And his final sequence, both blackly comic and ineffably sad, provides the perfect conclusion.”—Kirkus Reviews, on House Arrest
“Lawson [is] a reliably excellent writer . . . As always, Lawson’s plotting is ingenious and his characters memorable.”—Seattle Times, on House Rivals
“What a pleasure to read a book by a writer who gets everything right—the engaging protagonist, the fluid and often funny dialogue, the quick-paced and believable plot . . . Grade: A.”—Cleveland Plain Dealer, on House Odds
“Mike Lawson . . . should be a fixture on the bestseller lists, if not a household name . . . Lawson has a deceptively smooth, low-key style that is perfect for the stories he tells . . . Mike Lawson is the only writer I know who comes close to matching the stories of the great Ross Thomas, the finest thriller writer to ever roll a blank page into an Underwood.”—Strand Magazine, on House Reckoning
“A what-happens-next, edge-of-your-seat thriller, told with the author’s clear prose and storytelling skills . . . [Lawson’s] consistent excellence needs to be more universally acknowledged.”—Deadly Pleasures, on House Blood
“If you’ve been reading and enjoying Block, Crais, Child, Pelecanos, Winslow, et al, you should also be reading Mike Lawson . . . Mike Lawson is a very fine writer. His plots are devious and intriguing, and his characters are well developed.”—JB Dickey, Seattle Mystery Bookshop, on House Odds
“A great novel from a great author! . . . Equal parts funny, clever and cool, this book will make your heart race and your mind ponder.”—Lisa Gardner, on House Divided
“A compelling story of vengeance. Lawson is a gifted master.”—Rick Mofina, on House Reckoning
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