I read a lot of mysteries but not a lot of them involve private eyes. I mention this up front because I don't have a lot of basis for comparison but, even so, I absolutely loved Michael Harvey's The Fifth Floor.

It's a tough guy kind of mystery but filled with sights and sounds of Chicago, my home area my entire life, so, not surprisingly, I loved it.

As a history buff and a fan of disaster books, it does not hurt that the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 figures prominently into this storyline, as does what was formerly called the Chicago Historical Society (now the Chicago History Museum), one of my favorite places to visit in the city.

I deduct a half star because things occasionally seemed to fly out of nowhere but, overall, for me, one of my favorite books of the year. Michael Harvey, please write many more, and soon. ( )

No question about it Michael Harvey writes with edgy, wry style. THE FIFTH FLOOR is a well-paced story, delivered in clipped, yet highly evocative, prose. And the protagonist, private eye Michael Kelly, has a troubled past (something about a dead woman and getting kicked off the Chicago police force that Harvey may have covered in his first book, THE CHICAGO WAY) and makes all the pithy wisecracks we've come to expect from a guy of his ilk--coming on all tough on the outside, while retaining his essential humanity within.

Harvey also gives you a real feel for Chicago--the place, the people, the politics. (He even mentions The Billy Goat--the greasy spoon lampooned on Saturday Night Live in the "chee-burger, chee-burger" sketch.) The writing is so stylish and goes down so easy that you tend to forgive and forget if the plot gets a little, well, difficult to follow (or, frankly, to swallow).

Kelly is hired by Janet Woods, a woman from his past--they were once romantically involved, but that was long ago and she's married now to Johnny Woods, who's abusing her. Exactly what Janet is hiring Kelly to do is never really spelled out, but he gets her permission to approach Johnny and "talk some sense" into him (whatever that may mean).

So Kelly gets some preliminary intell--finds out Johnny works for the Fifth Floor (of the municipal building, where the mayor has his office) as a "fixer" (and we all know what shady characters those guys are). Kelly follows him to a house and makes a shocking discovery, which leads him to investigate whether the mayor's great grandfather (or maybe it was his great-great grandfather--someone way back there in the family tree) was involved in a conspiracy to start the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

What does this have to do with his client, Janet? Nothing that I could discern. She continues to live with Johnny and take his abuse. Worries that her daughter will end up being his next target. But Kelly is off and running anyway, investigating in land records and historical museums to get to the bottom of a murder that seems to be as much of a shock to Johnny as it is to Kelly . . . and this all helps Janet how? I just don't know.

Entire review available at http://thebookgrrl.blogspot.com/2008/... ( )

Average PI mystery with many Chicago landmarks ( )