Them Bones by David Housewright - Book Review

Series: Twin Cities P.I. Mac McKenzie Novel #22 

Publication Date: 24th June 2025 

Genre: Mystery/ Thriller 

3.5 Stars 

One Liner: This was rather interesting! 

PI (and former homicide detective) Rushmore McKenzie can’t turn down a challenge or say no to a friend. So, when both occur in the form of Angela Bjork, he cannot resist. 

Angela is a doctoral candidate working on a dig site in Southeastern Montana where she found the bones of a dinosaur (Ankylosaurus). Soon, they were attacked, and the skull was stolen. Worried about the lack of action, Angela turns to McKenzie for help. 

The story comes in McKenzie’s first-person POV with some parts in an omnipresent third-person POV. 

My Thoughts: 

Yo! That’s me jumping straight to the twenty-second book in a series because I got a widget for it. To be fair, the blurb said dinosaur bones. Not that I know my dinosaurs, but I loved Jurassic Park as a kid, so… yeah! *shrugs* 

Though the book is a mystery/ thriller/ suspense, it seems closer to the cozy border than the hardcore stuff. Luckily, cozy is right in my zone. 

The book starts with McKenzie’s first-person POV. His voice is pretty fun to read with a good dose of self-deprecating humor and some quirky one-liners. The shift to third-person POV when Angela narrates the event caught me off guard, but once I figured it out, it was easy to follow the rest. 

Naturally, I missed a lot of backstory, but it was hard to follow the details. I went with the flow and could get the hang of things soon enough. That said, his age is revealed after 50%, and that was a surprise. I added 8-10 years to his actual age based on the narrative style. Imagine my surprise when McKenzie is less than 50!  

There’s a lot of detail about digs, dinosaur bones, the setting, etc. I liked the topic, so it was entertaining and informative. It also covers quite a few topics, like the other side of academia, the smuggling/ black market of artifacts and ‘exotic’ items, interpersonal relationships, etc. 

Of course, there is some danger, but it seems like McKenzie is very good at what he does. So, essentially, this is a low-stakes thriller where danger is present but easily handled. Kinda like your Tollywood hero who can bash a dozen bulky goons without breaking into a sweat. 

The pacing is a bit on the slower side. I wasn’t bored, which is a good sign. Will I go back and read the previous books? Not likely. Will I read the next book if given a copy? Yeah, I will. 

Oh, like McKenzie, I learned of the word zaddy in this one. As you can guess, he was rather tickled by the term, lol. 

To summarize, Them Bones is an entertaining read, I would call a borderline cozy thriller (is that even a genre?) with some intrigue, action, and drama. The lighthearted narrative may not work if you want something dark, but it does a good job if you want a nice little mystery to keep you occupied for a while. 

Thank you, Ana Couto, NetGalley, and St. Martin's Press (Minotaur Books), for the eARC. 

#NetGalley