The Governor's Wife

by Michael Harvey

Overview

In the latest installment in Michael Harvey’s beloved Michael Kelly series, Chicago’s favorite Ovid-reading, gun-toting private investigator takes on Illinois’s first family in a blistering thriller that charts the border where ambition ends and evil begins.

It’s been two years since disgraced Illinois governor Ray Perry disappeared from a federal courthouse in Chicago moments after being sentenced to thirty-seven years in prison on corruption charges. P.I. Michael Kelly is sitting in his office when he gets an anonymous e-mail offering to pay him nearly a quarter of a million dollars if he will find Perry, no questions asked. Kelly’s investigation begins with the woman Ray Perry left behind—his wife, Marie. Ostracized by her former friends and hounded by the feds, Marie tells Kelly she has no idea where her husband is. Like everyone else, Kelly doesn’t believe her. As he hunts for her husband, Kelly begins to unwind Marie Perry’s past. What he finds is a woman who turns out to be even more intriguing than her husband, with her own deeply complicated reasons for standing by him. Everyone in Chicago has secrets, including the governor’s wife. Some of them she shared with her husband. Some of them she kept to herself. And some of them could get Michael Kelly killed.

The Governor’s Wife is a hard-eyed look at the intersection of the political and the personal, at the perils of trusting even those closest to us, and the collateral damage of our highest aspirations. Stylish, knock-out suspense from a modern master.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780307948847
Publisher:	Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Publication date:	05/17/2016
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	377,174
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

MICHAEL HARVEY is the author of The Chicago Way, The Fifth Floor, The Third Rail, We All Fall Down, and The Innocence Game, as well as a journalist and documentary producer. His work has won numerous national and international awards, including multiple news Emmys, two Primetime Emmy nominations, and an Academy Award nomination. He holds a law degree with honors from Duke University, a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University, and a bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, in classical languages from Holy Cross College. He lives, of course, in Chicago.

Read an Excerpt

chapter 1

My laptop is set up so a tiny black box flashes in the corner of the screen every time I get an e-mail. The alerts arrive like an endless parade of crows, pecking away at me with people I don’t want to talk to and problems I’d rather ignore. I don’t know how my Mac got programmed to do this and have no idea how to stop it. So I live with my birds. The one that hired me fluttered in at 2:14 p.m. on a Tuesday afternoon. I took one look at the subject line and clicked through to read the rest.

Mr. Kelly,

Would like to retain you to find Raymond -Perry. Use any and all means at your disposal to accomplish same. Global search okay. Money, no object. If you are willing to take the job, please hit reply to this message. A $100,000 retainer will be wired into an account set up for you. Another $100,000 will be wired when you locate Mr. -Perry. A separate fund for expenses will also be established and replenished as needed. Details on accounts, etc. will be forwarded upon acceptance of the terms of employment.

I’m sure there’s a manual somewhere that sets out the guidelines for when and how private investigators should take on new cases. Knowing the name of your client would seem to be a necessity. When the proposed retainer hits six figures, however, necessity becomes a somewhat elastic concept, and guidelines tend to get tossed out the window. Be that as it may, the money wasn’t what did it for me. Don’t get me wrong. The cash caught my eye. In fact, there might have been a moment or two of involuntary drool at the prospect of two hundred K sitting in a bank account with my name on it. But the reason I hit reply was not the money. Really. It was the name. Raymond ­Perry. As I waited for my newest client to get back to me with particulars such as account numbers and wiring instructions, I plugged ­Perry’s name into Google. I knew the story. Hell, everyone knew the story. Still, it made for good reading. I brewed myself a pot of coffee and caught up on Illinois’s former governor and convicted felon. I started with the FBI’s “Most Wanted” list and ­Perry’s mug shot residing, as it had been for the past year and a half, in slot number one.

Editorial Reviews

 "Harvey makes political corruption personal: this isn't a story of anonymous millions being shuffled between various offshore accounts. The consequence of every decision in Kelly's gritty world bleeds."
—Kirkus Starred Review 
 
"The Governor's Wife is deeply rooted in Chicago: its neighborhoods, its ethnic communities, its politics. [It's a book that's] replete with surprises. Every time the reader turns the page and thinks he knows what he's going to encounter, there's Harvey waiting to wallop him with a sandbag. Harvey does that: he surprises you. Repeatedly. Read this book. You'll enjoy it a lot."
—Publisher's Weekly Starred Review
 
"Harvey... knows Chicago like Raymond Chandler knew Los Angeles, and these mean streets come alive even as bodies pile up." 
—Library Journal Starred Review

"With his snappy patter, jaded outlook, weakness for mysterious women and proficiency at violence, this former cop is squarely in the tradition of the classic gumshoes... Deft characterizations and lean, mean plotting."
—Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/books/ct-prj-crime-fiction-roundup-governors-wife-20150604-story.html

"Michael Harvey writes frugally but in a fast-paced style that will have you turning pages at a rapid rate. The Governor’s Wife is like the city Harvey loves – gritty, complex and with few frills. Michael Harvey captures the spirit of his city and its quirky history in ways that few writers can accomplish. He is a joy to read." 
—Illinois Times
http://illinoistimes.com/article-15593-the-illinois-governor-becomes-a-fugitive.html

"Harvey’s book is written in the taut, spare style of modern-day noir. It’s an enjoyable ride...  In his latest book, he’s a master."
—San Antonio Express News
http://www.mysanantonio.com/entertainment/arts-culture/books/article/Harvey-s-The-Governor-s-Wife-is-6313920.php

From the Publisher