GUEST REVIEW: The Route 66 Detective in Missouri by Micki Pierce

ABOUT THE BOOK

One man. Two wheels. A thousand miles of trouble. Mac McCarty has spent his life dodging death. First in the dogfights over Europe, then on the lethal wooden planks of the motorcycle racing circuit. Now, he’s a private investigator with a simple beat: the 2,400 miles of asphalt known as Route 66.

In 1937, the highway is a lifeline for some and a graveyard for others. In the first book of the Route 66 Mystery Series, Mac’s search for the son of a wealthy zinc mine owner takes him deep into the Missouri night. He soon finds himself immersed in a world of Kansas City gangsters, Ozark moonshine, and murder. With the help of a captivating motel owner, Mac plays hard, rides hard, and works harder to close the assignment before more bodies pile up.

The Route 66 Detective in Missouri by Micki Pierce. Publication: March 13, 2026

OPENING LINES

The bar of light from the desk lamp appeared with a click to illuminate his notes. The predawn gray fled to the corners of the room. Two steps to get to the kitchenette and pull a match from the match safe on the wall. One rasp, and the flame sprang to life.

GUEST REVIEW by Sophia Rose

The nostalgic Mother Road becomes the iconic setting for a 1930s era detective noir-like historical mystery debut for author Micki Pierce. Loving the genre and this unique setting and characters, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to "get my kicks on Route 66."

After the Great War, a fighter pilot, “Mac” McCarty, makes the transition from racing motorcycles to the keen job of detective work for a lawyer in Missouri. The new Route 66 becomes his stomping grounds, and his latest case has him going head-to-head with the bootlegging mob.

Meanwhile, Mac’s motor-court landlady, the widowed Lydia, finds her life is never dull and is filled with color when Mac is around, working his case, using his rented room as an office, and roaring out on his classic motorbike. He’s a mystery as much as his cases to her, and she’s not sure how she feels about that.

The Route 66 Detective in Missouri was loaded with 30s-era historical detail, right down to the lingo of the time, and styled in the noir detective fiction vein. The characters were diverse and representative of time and place. Loved that Route 66 and the places along the route, like Lydia’s motor court, gas station, and café, were brought as vividly to life as any human characters.

Mac is up against a tough crowd trying to extract his client’s son from his connection with organized crime, moving into the area. Mac loves a good fight and taking on the mob. He’s got hubris, but also the ability to back it, and he navigates the people he encounters as well as the twists and turns of the case.

All in all, the rapid-fire pace of the machine-gun writing style felt as authentic as the historical setting and characters. I sincerely hope Micki Pierce continues to showcase her writing chops in more such historical mystery adventures.

Micki Pierce, author

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Micki Pierce grew up in Bordentown, NJ, where she spent much of her childhood reading mysteries set in the early half of the twentieth century. As a reader and a writer, her focus is on period detective fiction. Researching and writing about the hardships of American life in the 1930’s started out as just a hobby. Riding around the Midwest, on her husband’s Harley-Davidson, fueled her interest in the Mother Road. Creating a detective series about a mysterious, motorcycle-riding private eye and the characters he meets along the famous highway is the result. The Route 66 Detective in Missouri is her debut.

ABOUT SOPHIA ROSE, Guest Reviewer

Sophia is a quiet, curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, piano-playing, and gardening. Road trips and campouts, museums and monuments, restaurants, and theaters are her jam. Encouraged and supported by an incredible man and a loving family. A Northern Californian transplant to the Great Lakes region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, baseball, cats, Scooby Doo, and chocolate. As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing. In 2012, she submitted her first book review and is currently an associate reviewer.

Sophia is a prolific reader and audiobook listener, which allows her to experience many wonderful books, authors, and narrators. Few genres are outside her reading tastes, but her true love is fiction, particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and romance. Sorry, no horror...or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby. Connect with Sophia via FACEBOOK GOODREADS TWITTER