The Fifth Floor

Michael Harvey's sizzling follow-up to The Chicago Way ("A magnificent debut that should be read by all" — John Grisham; "This book heralds the arrival of a major new voice" — Michael Connelly) opens with a murder in contemporary Chicago and winds its way back to Mrs. O'Leary's cow and the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

When PI Michael Kelly is hired by an ex-flame to tail her abusive husband, he expects trouble of a domestic rather than a historical nature. Life, however, is not so simple. The tail leads Kelly to an old house on Chicago's North Side. Inside it, the private investigator finds a body and, perhaps, the answer to one of Chicago's most enduring mysteries: who started the Great Chicago Fire and why. The ensuing investigation takes Kelly to places he'd rather not go, specifically, City Hall's fifth floor, where the mayor is feeling the heat and looking to play for keeps. Ultimately, Kelly finds himself in a world where nothing is quite what it seems, face-to-face with a killer bent on rewriting history and staring down demons from a past he never knew he had.

A fast-stepping, intricately woven narrative, rich with the history and atmosphere of a great city, The Fifth Floor is a worthy successor to Harvey's critically acclaimed debut.

"Harvey's superb second thriller to feature PI Michael Kelly (after 2007's The Chicago Way) has the ex-Chicago cop taking on what he thinks is a simple domestic violence case. But when he tails Johnny Woods, a 'fixer' for the city's powerful mayor, to what turns out to be a grisly murder scene, Kelly realizes he's stumbled onto a scandal that began with the great Chicago Fire of 1871. Digging deeper, Kelly unearths what was once considered an urban legend: two of Chicago's most eminent families conspiring to eradicate Irish immigrants by burning down the city's slums. As more bodies pile up and he becomes romantically involved with a judge with secrets of her own, Kelly vows to expose the conspiracy, even if that means putting himself on the wrong side of the city's most powerful men. Harvey's plot twists in all the right places, and his noir-inspired dialogue crackles without sounding showy. Marlowe and Spade would readily welcome Michael Kelly into their fold. 4-city author tour. (Aug.)" Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"[F]irst-rate....Like Chicago itself, The Fifth Floor is edgy but intoxicating, and Harvey seems ready to join Sara Paretsky at the top of the city's crime-fiction A-list." Booklist (Starred Review)

"PI Michael Kelly digs into the history of the Great Chicago Fire for his second case in what's shaping up as a strong series....Dry wit, delectable clues and tricky leads hallmark this trenchant tale of the Windy City." Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

"[A] page-turner with a damaged yet interesting hero worth rooting for....Vivid writing, snappy dialogue and fast-paced drama, along with the mystery and intrigue of Chicago and its legendary fire, make The Fifth Floor an end-of-summer sizzler." BookReporter.com

"In The Fifth Floor, Michael Harvey gives us a tale of murder, bare-knuckle mayoral politics, and historical catastrophe–in short, the perfect Chicago detective story, complete with a loving tour of the city's funkier locales that'll make any displaced Chicagoan long for home." Erik Larson, author of The Devil In the White City

A fast-stepping, intricately woven narrative, rich with the history and atmosphere of a great city, The Fifth Floor is a worthy successor to Harvey's critically acclaimed debut, The Chicago Way.

Harvey's sizzling, intricately woven follow-up to The Chicago Way opens with murder in contemporary Chicago and winds its way back to Mrs. O'Leary's cow and the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

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 1871.

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 history.

The 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.

Michael Harvey is a journalist, documentary film producer, and writer, as well as the co-creator and executive producer of the television series Cold Case Files. His work has won many national and international awards, as well as an Academy Award nomination. He lives in Chicago.