Time's Up

Starred review from May 25, 2015
Mack’s outstanding debut conjures up equal parts Janet Evanovich (zany characters) and Michael Harvey (the Chicago political machine). Maisie McGrane was a top recruit in the police academy until she was booted for failing the psych review. Embarrassed and devastated but not deterred, she takes a job with the traffic department as the next best thing and a way to get back into the police department’s good graces. Unfortunately, giving tickets to Chicago’s drivers and parking scofflaws proves dangerous: Maisie stumbles on a body, who happens to be a union activist. Things go from bad to worse when she hassles the mayor’s driver for illegal parking. A firestorm of controversy soon pits Maisie against a slew of shady folks stretching from the mayor’s office to the unions, and even the police department itself. Riotous characters, including the members of the large McGrane clan, enhance a fast and furious plot that expertly balances menace and laugh-out-loud hijinks. Agent: Laura Bradford, Bradford Literary Agency.

Starred review from June 1, 2015

After flunking her psych review, Maisie McGrane is booted out of the police academy. How will she face her policemen brothers and father? She decides to become the best meter maid in town. While performing her traffic enforcement duties, Maisie discovers the dead body of a City Hall employee in a no-parking, no-waiting zone. What's a meter maid to do? Maisie can't shake the feeling that this corpse may well be connected to the murder of Keith Nawisko, bus driver and officer of the Amalgamated Transit Union. It's Chicago, where politics can turn murderous. With the surreptitious assistance of her shadowy ex-Ranger boyfriend, Hank Bannon, Maisie gets involved in nefarious goings-on in the Windy City. VERDICT Mystery buffs will not only be swept up in the ingenious and well-crafted plot but will love the irrepressible Maisie, who knows what she wants. Having grown up with several older brothers, she has fought for herself for years. Recommend for readers who miss the works of Eleanor Taylor Bland and enjoy those of Tim Dorsey.

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