Thank you to the author, publisher and Net Galley for providing a free eBook ARC in exchange for my review.

Sadly, this was not the book for me. IT needed a lot of editing done before it is released. This is a book about an archeology dig, and some of the details are rather long winded. IT was very difficult to keep with, and in the end I skimmed portions because it was just not enjoyable.

2 stars for it was ok.

Them Bones is another book in the McKenzie series but can be read as a stand alone book. It does start slow because he's building the mystery but it builds to a mystery with plenty of twists and turns and lots of action. I will probably read more books in the McKenzie series.
Thanks to NetGalley and St Martins Press for my review copy of this book.

I was given a pre-publication version of this book. With luck some of it's glaring errors will be fixed, and my main criticisms would no longer be relevant. But, since it's almost April 2025 and the book is scheduled to hit booksellers' shelves in June, 2025, I'm not holding my breath. Suffice to say, in its current condition, I found the book to be unreadable, and I gave up on it.

What this book is lacking is some serious attention from an editor. I found the writing sufficiently disturbing that I gave up on the book about a quarter of the way through. Hence the single-* rating.

The story revolves around a dig for dinosaur fossils in Montana by a group from the University of Minnesota. They discover a marvelous skull from an Ankylosaurus, which will provide quite an addition to a museum, or perhaps it would provide rather a small fortune on the black market. Just as they've packed up the skull to return to the university, the skull gets stolen. Presumably the rest of the book involves hunting up the perpetrators and getting reunited with the skull.

But the problem is, we have rather a long narrative about the dig, and what led up to the theft, that is written in the 3rd-person voice of an omniscient observer. Nothing wrong with that, in principle, that's how most books are written. This book, however begins as first-person observations by the main character, McKenzie, but then morphs into the omniscient narrator, 3rd-person mode when it begins describing the dig. But, periodically, during that tale, we have weird injections of first person comments, or references to strange people who weren't on the dig.

I suspect that what is going on is that someone on the dig (perhaps Angela Bjork) is describing events to several other people with whom she is having a "sit down". But, if that is the case, then the tale of the goings on at the dig should be written in the voice of the actual person telling the story, likely Angela Bjork, rather than the omniscient narrator. If Angela is telling someone else a story, she should not be referred to in 3rd person. Eventually, I couldn't stand the jarring interruptions in voice, and set the book aside.

My guess is that this book, were I able to read it through, would garner a 3* rating, that is, the book is a decent enough read, but not special in any way.

#ThemBones #NetGalley

Love a great mystery and this was definitely a great one. It kept your interest and the characters were well written. Who doesn’t love a good mystery about dinosaur bones. I highly recommend reading this book, you won’t be disappointed.

What a fun adventure! I loved that I didn't know who stole the item until late in the story. I enjoyed how the scientific / dinosaur / paleontology information was presented; easy to understand and grasp but thorough and detailed. Made me feel like a kid again, itching to join the group and get digging! Great character development with a side of humor. The story line was well thought out and the places and characters were described in enough detail that wasn't boring or overwhelming. This is a book I would recommend to everyone as there is an appealing element for readers of all genres. The last chapter was a nice bonus with lots of information that really completed the story. It could have ended without that chapter just fine, but I appreciated the closure. This story would make for a really entertaining movie and I can't wait to read more from this author!

Them Bones is part of a long-running series that centers around Rushmore McKenzie, ex-homicide detective and sometime-private investigator. I hadn't read any of the other books, and I felt like there was crucial backstory I was missing. Judging by the other reviews at this time, I'm somewhat of an outlier, but this book was not for me. The dialogue felt very unnatural, and the pacing was slow. There's a character who the author repeatedly informs you is a Black paleontologist, who spouts random Black history facts for no good reason. At one point, gunshots are heard, and it's pointed out that he's heard shots before where he comes from (of course.) A main character is shocked because there are two Black men in the room in Montana (gasp!) Sigh. This just felt really unnecessary and added nothing to the story. I could go on, but suffice it to say, this book was not for me.

PI Rushmore Mckenzie was a cop in the Twin Cities but left that mess and became a PI instead. This time he has been asked by Angela Bjork, a post grad student in paleontology at the Twin Cities University of Minnesota who needs his help to find and retrieve the ankylosaurus skeleton which was stolen on the dig in Southeastern Montana. Now this world class storyteller kicks it up into high gear and takes the reader on a trip into the territory of greedy collectors of ancient bones. Excellent unputdownable read!
I requested and received a temporary uncorrected digital galley from St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books via NetGalley. Thank you! Pub Date Jun 24, 2025
#ThemBones by @davidwhousewright2021 #TwinCitiesPIMacMcKenzieBk22 @stmartinspress @minotaur_books @goodreads @bookbub @librarythingofficial @barnesandnoble @waterstones ****Review @booksamillion @bookshop_org @bookshop_org_uk @kobo #NetGalley #archaeology #paleontologists #geologists #privateinvestigator #thriller #suspense

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy! This book is an excellent demonstration of how setting, place, and environment can really set a scene that is at once foreboding and enticing. There is something sinister about an environment that is hostile to organic life being the setting of such a gripping tale. Housewright really wrote a stellar work!

4.5 rounded up
I loved this one. Great characters and story great story. I definitely have to read more of this series. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

McKenzie is a most interesting character. He is both mysterious and a pal you wish you had in a pinch. How is he retired already? His past is colorful but so vague. He seems to be in the right place at the right time, or to know the right people, to be in the position to figure things out and get it done. Since this is not the first book in this series (but it is the first that I have read), some of these mysteries are probably explained in the earlier books. I enjoyed the setup of the dig, and the politics of academia increased the tension and suspicion at the dig site. The characters were authentic and their interactions felt real. I enjoyed the way the clues were laid out, and the many faces of McKenzie in the story. This story started out a little disjointed for me, but as soon as the threads began to weave together, I was hooked. The story picks up the pace in action and danger quickly and becomes difficult to put down. I was able to read an ARC of this book thanks to Ana Couto of St. Martin's Press (Minotaur Books) - I really enjoyed it (and I even learned some things about dinosaurs and auto theft)! If you like exciting mysteries with colorful characters, you will love this book!

A stolen dinosaur skull is at the center of a complex mystery laid at the feet of unofficial P.I. Rushmore McKenzie.There are two things that Rushmore McKenzie hates to turn down—a request from a friend and a challenge.
What a great read! This was my first book by this author, and I will definitely be checking out his other McKenzie books in his series! He’s a great character, and I am intrigued to hear about his other finds! This was well-written, with likable characters, and great action. I am usually a fan of short chapters because I find them quicker reads, however, even with these longer chapters, I still flew through it! I loved the last chapter wrap up as well!

Great mystery about an archeological dig, a stolen dinosaur skull and the politics of discoveries. Good characters.

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 stars.

This was my first introduction to the McKenzie series, and initially I felt a little lost. Eventually things started clicking together as the book settled in. The paleontology angle was interesting, and the setting added to the drama, but overall, I had some difficulty remaining interested in the story. I wasn't a huge fan of the main character, not that that's a necessity. Overall this was OK.

I did like the cover. Would I read more from the series and/or author? I'm not sure.

I received a complimentary copy of the novel from the publisher and NetGalley, nd my review is being left freely.

I had not read all of this series but this one caught my eye and I thought I’d like it. There’s an archeological dig, stolen bones and a mystery to solve. It was everything I hoped for. I’ve long been fascinated with archeology. The details about archeology, the competitiveness in a academia and the museums was enlightening. I raced through the pages, learned things while trying to decide ‘who dun it’. The characters had relatability and personalities that engaged me. If these subjects interest you be prepared for a book you won’t be able to put down. I would read more of the series.
Thanks to St. Martin’s Press (via NetGalley) for the Advance Reader Copy of “Them Bones” Mac McKenzie (volume 22) by David Housewright, publication expected 06/24/2025. These thoughts and opinions are my honest personal ones, given voluntarily without compensation.

The Bones by David Housewrite is another in the series about P I Rushmore Mckenzie. Mac was a police officer in the Twin Cities and now just takes on interesting cases. He is now married to Nina who owns and runs Rickie’s, a well-known bar.
Angela saved his life when he was wandering in the desert – this was in a previous book which I have not read. She is a student at U of Michigan and was an on a dig when they found a rare dinosaur – It is stolen. She asks Mac to find out what happened and to retrieve the fossil.
The story is good. I have read a few in this series and enjoyed them. I highly recommend this one. -- I may find the one with Angela’s story

If you have not read prior books in the series and therefore have no investment in McKenzie (which is my situation), be patient with the story. It starts off slow. The discussion of fossil hunting, paleontology expeditions, theories about ankylosaurus, etc. is interesting, but it takes a while before the theft around which the story centers finally happens. That being said, once the story gets going, there are plenty of twists and turns, and an enjoyable cast of characters, especially McKenzie. I will likely check out other books in the series.

Love a great mystery and this was definitely a great one. It kept your interest and the characters were well written. Who doesn’t love a good mystery about dinosaur bones. I highly recommend reading this book, you won’t be disappointed.

David Housewright’s Them Bones—which is the twenty-second Rushmore McKenzie mystery—is a tale of… well, two tales of the same story. Okay, not really two tales, but rather a single story told in two different styles. The McKenzie books are written in first person from the perspective of McKenzie—an unlicensed private eye in Minnesota’s Twin Cities, that spends his time doing favors for friends. But Them Bones is distinct from its predecessors because the crime is detailed in third person from the perspective of the client, Angela Bjork. We last saw Angela as a girl saving McKenzie’s life in The Taking of Libbie, SD (2010), but now she is all grown up and working on her Ph.D. in paleontology at the University of Minnesota.

Angela discovered a nearly intact fossil of an Ankylosaurus while working a dinosaur dig in Montana. It was a profound find because it is the most complete of its kind, but before the bones can be transported to the Twin Cities, the skull was stolen. Angela tells McKenzie, and the reader, about the discovery (in May) and the heist (in August) and everything that happened in-between. In this unofficial prologue, Angela introduces the suspects—professors, students, and other miscellany—that were present at the dig site when the heist occurred. The paleontology stuff was interesting, including how the dig was done, the problems they encountered and personalities involved; however, it took so long, about a quarter of the narrative, that I had begun thinking McKenzie had the week off.

But once McKenzie agrees to help Angela recover the Ankylosaurus, and he takes charge of the narrative things really pick up. In fact, Them Bones, suddenly becomes a McKenzie novel. With his subtle and not-so-subtle wit, his penchant for finding trouble and breaking the rules, and his always gallant search for justice, McKenzie does an admirable job of flushing out the villains. The action moves from college campuses (there are two), to a museum, to high class neighborhoods, and from Minnesota to Montana to Canada and back again. And it is a good bit of fun.

But that opening prologue made the entire enterprise a little wobbly. Its length almost made me give up before the good stuff started, which I’ve never encountered with David Housewright’s writing. It felt like Housewright was setting-up a traditional whodunit, which is cool, but (for me at least) it never quite worked that way. What I did like about Them Bones is far more than what I disliked. As usual, the setting—the Twin Cities, Montana, and even rural Canada—was vivid and melded perfectly with the story. The actual mystery, who was the Inside Man that helped the thieves steal the skull, is compelling and McKenzie’s self-deprecating style and often flippant attitude is fun. There is a good deal of subterfuge and the final reveal is both surprising and perfectly right. But a few hours spent with McKenzie, even in a flawed tale like Them Bones, is always a chore to look forward to.

This review will go live at darkcityunderground.blogspot.com and gravetapping.blogspot.com on June 23, 2025

Thank you Netgalley and St Martins Press for the ARC of this book.

A stolen dinosaur skull is at the center of a complex mystery laid at the feet of unofficial P.I. Rushmore McKenzie.

There are two things that Rushmore McKenzie hates to turn down—a request from a friend and a challenge. Both of them show up in his wife's nightclub in the person of Angela Bjork, who has come to request McKenzie's help. McKenzie, once a homicide detective, now through a series of unlikely events, is a retired millionaire. But occasionally, for friends, he will do some unofficial private detective work. Over the years, he's hunted down a stolen Stradivarius, the hoard of 1930's gangster, and recovered a stolen, apparently cursed, artifact but McKenzie never imagined a case like this. An exceedingly rare dinosaur skull has been stolen.

Angela, a doctoral candidate, was out on a dig site in Southeastern Montana, when she found a skeleton of an Ankylosaurus. And no sooner than when the skull was removed and placed on a truck then they were attacked, the truck and skull stolen. Worried that nothing is being done to find the stolen skull, she turns to McKenzie. Worth millions on the black market, the chance to recover it becomes fainter by the day. And the people behind the theft are likely willing to do anything, to anyone, to hold onto.

This is the first book I've read in this series and I really enjoyed it. I loved the paleontology aspect taken in the book!

3.75 out of 5 ⭐️

Though Them Bones (Minotaur Books 2025) is the first of the twenty-two Twin Cities PI Mac McKenzie Novels I've read, it won’t be the last. Rushmore McKenzie is a mix of Robert Crais' Elvis Cole and a married moneyed Jack Reacher. The plot is quick-moving and unpredictable, slipping into interesting areas other stories don't.  A quick summary: McKenzie is robbed and left to die in the middle of a desert, surviving thanks to the unexpected arrival of a teenage girl taking a long horse ride too far from her home. Years later, Angela Bjork turns up on his proverbial doorstep asking for a favor, which of course he can't refuse. As part of her PhD studies in archaeology, she uncovered a rare Ankylosaurus skull. Before she can secure it, someone steals it and she asks McKenzie's help recovering it. That starts a journey filled with crooks, truck drivers, morally damaged opportunity seekers, desperate soon-to-be-ex husbands, and more. The intrigue never bores and the action never stops. I sure hope there’s a sequel. I need to see what he does next.