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Mackinac Island #2
Somewhere in Crime: A Mackinac Island Novel
Mayhem, Movies, Murder, and Magic. Welcome to the Summer of 1979.
Paperboy Jack McGuinn thinks his life on Mackinac Island, Michigan, is all figured out, but when a Hollywood production arrives to film Somewhere in Time starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour, his perfectly constructed life comes apart like a newspaper in a windstorm. The island is gripped with movie mania, and his parents are pulled apart by mysteries from their past.
With the help of a metalhead misfit named Blaze, Jack embarks on a delusional mission to earn reward money from a 20-year-old unsolved murder. His goal? To buy the dream vacation his parents never quite had the time to take-a trip he believes can save their marriage, and his perfect life on the island.
As Jack digs deeper, he sees the island in a new light-and it's not all rocky beaches, tranquil trails, T-shirt shops, and pistachio fudge. Reality unravels as ghosts from the past, some real, some imagined, reemerge.
"Somewhere in Crime," the prequel to the Amazon bestseller and Michigan Notable Book "The Dockporter," is a nostalgic, touching - and often hilarious - coming-of-age adventure set against the backdrop of the filming of a Hollywood classic.
Paperboy Jack McGuinn thinks his life on Mackinac Island, Michigan, is all figured out, but when a Hollywood production arrives to film Somewhere in Time starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour, his perfectly constructed life comes apart like a newspaper in a windstorm. The island is gripped with movie mania, and his parents are pulled apart by mysteries from their past.
With the help of a metalhead misfit named Blaze, Jack embarks on a delusional mission to earn reward money from a 20-year-old unsolved murder. His goal? To buy the dream vacation his parents never quite had the time to take-a trip he believes can save their marriage, and his perfect life on the island.
As Jack digs deeper, he sees the island in a new light-and it's not all rocky beaches, tranquil trails, T-shirt shops, and pistachio fudge. Reality unravels as ghosts from the past, some real, some imagined, reemerge.
"Somewhere in Crime," the prequel to the Amazon bestseller and Michigan Notable Book "The Dockporter," is a nostalgic, touching - and often hilarious - coming-of-age adventure set against the backdrop of the filming of a Hollywood classic.
- GenresFiction
352 pages, Paperback
Published July 26, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
November 18, 2023
My joy in reading this mystery was looking for myself in the background; my first visit to Mackinac Island happened to be in the summer of 1979 during the filming of “Somewhere in Time.” AlI wanted was to see Superman and go to the Haunted Theater. Fudge was a poor - but delicious - substitute. This would get a full five stars EXCEPT for three misspellings: “Bella Lugosi,” “Captain and Tanille,” and, unforgivable in a Michigan book, “Bob Segar.” Come on now.
April 8, 2024
Such a cute story in a wonderful setting!
January 4, 2025
Purchased while my husband and I were vacationing on Mackinac Island, Somewhere in Crime is a loving homage to the movie Somewhere in Time and its filming locations in Michigan. I found the story to be occasionally amusing, but ultimately I came away from it wanting something other than it offered.
July 7, 2023
I was lucky enough to get a pre-read version. It is a great story with a lot of Mackinac Island references. It transports you back to the island. I enjoyed the characters and found the book engaging. It is a wonderful companion to the Dockporter.
August 11, 2024
Love the book. Murder, love, Somewhere in Time, and fudge. I didn't weed or clean or do laundry cause I had to find out what happened.
October 5, 2023
Disclaimer: Any story which takes place on Mackinac Island, Michigan automatically rates five stars in my book.
Somewhere in Crime: A Mackinac Island Novel, co-authored by Dave McVeigh and Jim Bolone, is the second book in the Mackinac Island Novel series and the prequel to the authors’ The Dockporter: A Mackinac Island Novel, the first book in the series. It is set on Mackinac Island—one of the rare gems of the state of Michigan (and one of my very favorite places to visit).*
The plot of Somewhere in Crime revolves around the escapades of eleven (“almost twelve”) year old Jack McGuinn, who spends his summers at his family’s cottage on the Island. While set in 2009, the story is told via flashbacks to the summer of 1979, when Jack was the local paperboy on Mackinac Island. The year 1979 was significant in that the majority of the romantic fantasy movie Somewhere in Time, starring Christopher (“Superman”) Reeve, Jane (“Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman”) Seymour, and Christopher (“Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music”) Plummer, was actually filmed on Mackinac Island that summer. A fictionalized account of the filming of the movie plays a significant role in the story.
For some time, Jack has noticed that his mother Ana and his father Big Jack have been growing apart, with their arguments becoming more intense. After Ana was hired as a seamstress for the movie, the rift between mother and father widens. Jack fears that his parents’ divorce is imminent.
While reading the Island Gazette, the newspaper which he delivered, Jack becomes aware of the gruesome murder in 1959 of then twenty-one-year-old Marjorie Kitmore, Mackinac Island’s only murder, which has remained unsolved for the last 20 years. The article also confirms that the $25,000 reward posted by the Kitmore family for information regarding the murder remains unclaimed. With the naiveté of an eleven (“almost twelve”) year old, Jack hatches a plan to solve the two decades old Kitmore murder mystery and use the reward money to send his parents on their dream vacation to Cairo, Egypt [sic] hoping that the trip would revitalize their marriage.
Jack’s “partners in crime” in his plan include childhood chums Gordon and Smitty, along with “Jill from California,” whose father is the production designer for the movie.
So, did eleven (“almost twelve”) year old Jack solve the Marjorie Kitmore murder? Was Jack able to save his parents’ marriage? Did Jack fall in love with “Jill from California”—and, if he did, was Jack too old in 2009 to remember how it first felt to fall in love?
No spoiler alert this time—you will have to read the book to find out!
* By way of background, Mackinac Island is an island and resort area, covering 4.35 square miles in land area and located in Lake Huron at the eastern end of the Straits of Mackinac between the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan. More than 80% of the island is preserved as Mackinac Island State Park and the entire island is listed as a National Historic Landmark. Motorized vehicles were banned in 1898 and are still prohibited on the Island to this very day. Transportation is limited to horse and buggy, bicycle, or foot. The island can only be reached by private boat, by ferry, by small aircraft or, in the winter, by snowmobile when Lake Huron freezes over creating an ice bridge to the mainland seven miles away.
Somewhere in Crime: A Mackinac Island Novel, co-authored by Dave McVeigh and Jim Bolone, is the second book in the Mackinac Island Novel series and the prequel to the authors’ The Dockporter: A Mackinac Island Novel, the first book in the series. It is set on Mackinac Island—one of the rare gems of the state of Michigan (and one of my very favorite places to visit).*
The plot of Somewhere in Crime revolves around the escapades of eleven (“almost twelve”) year old Jack McGuinn, who spends his summers at his family’s cottage on the Island. While set in 2009, the story is told via flashbacks to the summer of 1979, when Jack was the local paperboy on Mackinac Island. The year 1979 was significant in that the majority of the romantic fantasy movie Somewhere in Time, starring Christopher (“Superman”) Reeve, Jane (“Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman”) Seymour, and Christopher (“Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music”) Plummer, was actually filmed on Mackinac Island that summer. A fictionalized account of the filming of the movie plays a significant role in the story.
For some time, Jack has noticed that his mother Ana and his father Big Jack have been growing apart, with their arguments becoming more intense. After Ana was hired as a seamstress for the movie, the rift between mother and father widens. Jack fears that his parents’ divorce is imminent.
While reading the Island Gazette, the newspaper which he delivered, Jack becomes aware of the gruesome murder in 1959 of then twenty-one-year-old Marjorie Kitmore, Mackinac Island’s only murder, which has remained unsolved for the last 20 years. The article also confirms that the $25,000 reward posted by the Kitmore family for information regarding the murder remains unclaimed. With the naiveté of an eleven (“almost twelve”) year old, Jack hatches a plan to solve the two decades old Kitmore murder mystery and use the reward money to send his parents on their dream vacation to Cairo, Egypt [sic] hoping that the trip would revitalize their marriage.
Jack’s “partners in crime” in his plan include childhood chums Gordon and Smitty, along with “Jill from California,” whose father is the production designer for the movie.
So, did eleven (“almost twelve”) year old Jack solve the Marjorie Kitmore murder? Was Jack able to save his parents’ marriage? Did Jack fall in love with “Jill from California”—and, if he did, was Jack too old in 2009 to remember how it first felt to fall in love?
No spoiler alert this time—you will have to read the book to find out!
* By way of background, Mackinac Island is an island and resort area, covering 4.35 square miles in land area and located in Lake Huron at the eastern end of the Straits of Mackinac between the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan. More than 80% of the island is preserved as Mackinac Island State Park and the entire island is listed as a National Historic Landmark. Motorized vehicles were banned in 1898 and are still prohibited on the Island to this very day. Transportation is limited to horse and buggy, bicycle, or foot. The island can only be reached by private boat, by ferry, by small aircraft or, in the winter, by snowmobile when Lake Huron freezes over creating an ice bridge to the mainland seven miles away.
August 9, 2023
I just finished reading (an ARC) of the new prequel to The Dockporter, Somewhere in Crime, and I loved it! It is stuffed with Mackinac references, coming of age 70’s nostalgia, friendships, betrayal and so much more. I couldn’t help but think of the movie “Stand By Me” when I was reading it. It will take you back in time on a most spectacular journey…
Inexperienced sleuth Jack McGuinn is on a mission to to solve Mackinac’s only cold case murder mystery to win the bounty and save his parents marriage. With no experience solving crimes he lands himself in a number of predicaments and threatens to take his friends, and the Hollywood movie being filmed on the island, down with him. Will he identify the killer and whisk his parents away to marital bliss? Or will the movie star Bond girl fall in love with Jack’s dad and break up their marriage? Will Jack’s investigation impede the filming of the Hollywood smash hit? Will Jack land the new girl from Hollywood? Read it to find out. You won’t be disappointied!
Inexperienced sleuth Jack McGuinn is on a mission to to solve Mackinac’s only cold case murder mystery to win the bounty and save his parents marriage. With no experience solving crimes he lands himself in a number of predicaments and threatens to take his friends, and the Hollywood movie being filmed on the island, down with him. Will he identify the killer and whisk his parents away to marital bliss? Or will the movie star Bond girl fall in love with Jack’s dad and break up their marriage? Will Jack’s investigation impede the filming of the Hollywood smash hit? Will Jack land the new girl from Hollywood? Read it to find out. You won’t be disappointied!
August 27, 2023
This book combines my two favorite things – Mackinac Island and “Somewhere in Time” movie. If you’ve been to the island, the descriptions take you back to the places you know well. It’s like you’re back there smelling the horse poo, hearing the horses clop along, hearing the ferry horns, and the people yelling greeting to one another. The story is told from the perspective of Jack as an “almost 12 year-old” boy. In the Prologue, Jack is an adult telling his children his story (the majority of the book). The way the author wraps up the book makes you want to go back and reread The Dock Porter. I enjoyed being able to visualize the different places that the author describes. Next best thing to being there. If you haven’t visited the island, read both books then go to the island and experience the sights and sounds as never before. The book will mean so much more for you if you’ve been there. But maybe the books will peak your interest enough to plan your next vacation on Mackinac Island.
September 17, 2023
Somewhere in Crime gives serious Hardy Boys vibes 🕵🏻
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Set on idyllic Mackinac Island in 1979, paperboy Jack McGuinn finds himself caught up in solving a cold-case murder. But that’s not the only excitement on the island that summer. Hollywood talent like Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour are on the island for the filming of “Somewhere in Crime.” Jack’s mom’s involvement in the production puts her marriage on the rocks, which Jack takes on as another problem for him to solve.
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I bought this book at The Island Bookstore on Mackinac Island in August and really enjoyed the story. Who doesn’t love a kid solving the town’s only murder? The setting and characters are both developed so well. You don’t need to have visited Mackinac Island to read this book, but it did a great job transporting me back there as I read.
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Set on idyllic Mackinac Island in 1979, paperboy Jack McGuinn finds himself caught up in solving a cold-case murder. But that’s not the only excitement on the island that summer. Hollywood talent like Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour are on the island for the filming of “Somewhere in Crime.” Jack’s mom’s involvement in the production puts her marriage on the rocks, which Jack takes on as another problem for him to solve.
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I bought this book at The Island Bookstore on Mackinac Island in August and really enjoyed the story. Who doesn’t love a kid solving the town’s only murder? The setting and characters are both developed so well. You don’t need to have visited Mackinac Island to read this book, but it did a great job transporting me back there as I read.
August 6, 2023
awesome read.
Loved this prequel to The Dockporter. I could picture Jack and all his adventures in solving the crime, and his visits to the Somewhere in Time movie sets. He’s a great kid with a huge heart. Oh, and I really wanted to 🤜🏼😵 Blaze. Such a fun read. I can’t wait to get to Mackinac Island in October to pick up a copy of the book to add to my Michigan book collection. I did find a little blunder. Jack mentions Mackinac Bridge being 7 miles away… it’s actually under a mile. Unless I miss understood the passage. Anyway…. READ THIS BOOK! You will enjoy it, especially if you’re an island addict like me. Hats off to Jim and Dave for a great book. I look forward to the “Whole other book.” On it goes….. 😊
Loved this prequel to The Dockporter. I could picture Jack and all his adventures in solving the crime, and his visits to the Somewhere in Time movie sets. He’s a great kid with a huge heart. Oh, and I really wanted to 🤜🏼😵 Blaze. Such a fun read. I can’t wait to get to Mackinac Island in October to pick up a copy of the book to add to my Michigan book collection. I did find a little blunder. Jack mentions Mackinac Bridge being 7 miles away… it’s actually under a mile. Unless I miss understood the passage. Anyway…. READ THIS BOOK! You will enjoy it, especially if you’re an island addict like me. Hats off to Jim and Dave for a great book. I look forward to the “Whole other book.” On it goes….. 😊
October 21, 2023
So, as a Detroiter who first went to Mackinac Island as a kid around 1980 (but not in the ‘Somewhere in Time’ summer), I was totally digging all of the references and the atmosphere. And even though though I usually don’t like when authors try to write as/ about kids, this book really did a good job of capturing the voice in a funny and authentic way. This preteen adventure gave me shades of ‘It,’ but in a more familiar era and setting, with more humor, fewer murders, and a creepy Native American spirit rather than an evil clown. Would I have liked this book as well if I wasn’t a Michigan native GenXer? Probably not—but it was still a fun story.
June 5, 2025
WOW! What a fun, exciting, and fascinating tale set on Mackinac Island! It was hard to put the book down, once the movie crew arrives on the island and our hero, 12-year-old Jack McQinn's mother, gets hired to assist with all the historical costumes for the movie. Jack attempts to solve a old murder for the reward to help his parents, ends up with his friends as extras in the movies, breaks into an old musician's home, spends a night in a cave, and does indeed finally solve the murder and helps his parents.
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August 27, 2023I think the positive reviews about this book are based on nostalgia for Mackinac Island and Somewhere in Time. Mystery about an 11 year old who tries to solve a 20 year old murder in order to save his parent’s marriage. The plot is absurd that an 11 year old would be roaming free at all hours of the night and even get questioned by the police with no parental involvement. The first book was much better.
January 3, 2024
Great book!
Nostalgic. Think "Stranger Things."
Clever.
Coming-of-age.
If you are familiar with Mackinac Island or were around in the '80's you'll love this one.
3 different conflicts all tied together in the end.
I would have loved Jack and his buddies!
Side note: I was also on the island when the movie was being filmed.
Nostalgic. Think "Stranger Things."
Clever.
Coming-of-age.
If you are familiar with Mackinac Island or were around in the '80's you'll love this one.
3 different conflicts all tied together in the end.
I would have loved Jack and his buddies!
Side note: I was also on the island when the movie was being filmed.
March 12, 2024
Fun, engaging read! Great prequel to The Dockporter
A little drama, a bit of romance, mystery, suspense and lots of Mackinac Island and Somewhere in Time humor. This book is fun for both young and old and will take the reader back to a wistful, simpler time on what we Summer Workers lovingly refer to as The Rock. Enjoy!
A little drama, a bit of romance, mystery, suspense and lots of Mackinac Island and Somewhere in Time humor. This book is fun for both young and old and will take the reader back to a wistful, simpler time on what we Summer Workers lovingly refer to as The Rock. Enjoy!
June 29, 2024
I've never read a murder mystery from the viewpoint of an 11-year old boy! This book made fun references to the filming of the movie "Somewhere in Time," without being about that movie. It's always fun to read about places when you've actually been there and can visualize it. And the culprit was definitely NOT who I initially thought it was.
October 14, 2025
I love these books. If you’ve been to Mackinac Island, you will thoroughly enjoy. And the authors do a nice job of building characters you love and can relate to. Reminds me of Goonies, the Hardy Boys, and Encyclopedia Brown, some of my favorite stories from childhood. Looking forward to reading the third one and I hope they make a fourth one.
August 3, 2023
I was so lucky to live on Mackinac Island and lived in Northern Michigan when this book was set.
What a great read! they really catch the magic and mystery of the Mackinac Island. Now as my wife and get ready to go on a trip I'll have to get her a copy.
Now, I'm waiting for the next Book!
What a great read! they really catch the magic and mystery of the Mackinac Island. Now as my wife and get ready to go on a trip I'll have to get her a copy.
Now, I'm waiting for the next Book!
September 26, 2023
A Mackinac Island Adventure
The second book in the Mackinac Island Novel series is another fun read. After reading The Dockporter, I was pleased read another great story by McVeigh and Bolone. Watching for the next one!
The second book in the Mackinac Island Novel series is another fun read. After reading The Dockporter, I was pleased read another great story by McVeigh and Bolone. Watching for the next one!
September 3, 2024
If you like Mackinac Island, you will love this book. If you don't know about the island, you will learn more by reading this book. But most importantly you will enjoy the story of this book...so fun and twisty! Loved it!!!
September 14, 2024
Pretty good book overall. Maybe a bit too long of a story line, but if you know the movie, or the island, it sparks a lot of memories and things you are basically familiar with, and that helps maybe.
September 17, 2023
I enjoyed the storyline but the language was filthy. This was the first book I've read by this author and I will not be reading more.
December 17, 2023
Great read!
Love the characters and the way the story is told. In my opinion it's as good, if not better than the first book in the series.
Love the characters and the way the story is told. In my opinion it's as good, if not better than the first book in the series.
December 20, 2023
A fun, light-hearted read
"Easy-to-relate-to" characters, and easy to read. Has enough substance to keep you entertained. Good for a wide age range of readers.
"Easy-to-relate-to" characters, and easy to read. Has enough substance to keep you entertained. Good for a wide age range of readers.
February 8, 2024
Mackinac Island 1979. Somewhere In Time. Kids trying to solve a mystery. What’s not to love?
February 15, 2024
Enjoyable prequel to The Dock Porter.
April 22, 2024
Cute story and definitely felt transported back in time!
August 24, 2025
Entertaining in its setting for people that know the island. Cute enough. The similes were as ridiculous as the outfits worn to the met gala. I also needed Blazes introduction to be less choppy
October 25, 2025
it's not a great american novel, but it was a lot of fun with great descriptions of mackinac island
March 31, 2026
It had suspense, it was funny and had a twist I didn't see coming. Although the main character is 11, I was on the adventure with him. It has kind of a Stand By Me/Goonies vibe. I loved that it was in Michigan, I loved that it was on Mackinac Island, I loved it was on the "Somewhere in Time" timeline, I loved that it had humor...Just a fun read. I hope someone picks it up and makes it a movie.
I didn't realize this was a series, I will definitely read the other two.
I didn't realize this was a series, I will definitely read the other two.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews