Michael Harveys sizzling follow-up to The Chicago Way A wonderful first novel Harvey has studied the masters and put his own unique touch on the crime novel Heralds the arrival of a major new voice Michael Connelly opens with a murder in contemporary Chicago and winds its way back to Mrs OLearys cow and the Great Chicago Fire of Private investigator Michael Kelly the Windy Citys answer to Philip Marlowe is back in another page-turner that revives a tantalizing mystery buried in Chicagos past 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 Kelly to an old house on Chicagos North Side Inside it he finds a body and perhaps the answer to one of Chicagos most enduring mysteries who started the Great Chicago Fire and why The ensuing investigation takes Kelly to places hed rather not go specifically City Halls 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 and along the way he finds himself framed for murder before finally facing a killer bent on rewriting historyThe Fifth Floor is fast-stepping intricately woven suspense rich with the lore and atmosphere of a great city A marvelous successor to Harveys critically acclaimed debut.
