Both Mackenzie Elizabeth Taylor first appeared in Sleuthing for a Living and one of the best ways to learn about a person is by asking questions, so let’s get to know both Mackenzies.

What is your name?
(Mom) Mackenzie Elizabeth Taylor aka “The Parental Unit.”
(Mac) We’re doing alias, really?
(Mom) All the cool kids are doing it.
(Mac) Mackenzie Elizabeth Taylor the second. *sighs*
(Mom) Come on, you know you want to. . .
(Mac) Fine, aka Mac.
(Mom) That’s my girl.

How old are you?
(Mom) 32 going on 16
(Mac) 16 going on 32

What is your profession?
(Mom) I’m an unlicensed Private Investigator in training. Essentially, I’m like Magnum PI, but I can only work the cases my lawyer/ boss assigns me.
(Mac) I’m a full time student, part time PI helper. Computers intimidate Mom, so I do most of the online digging for her.
(Mom) They don’t intimidate me. Well, at least not until they go all Rise of the Machines on our sorry backsides. That would be pretty intimidating.
(Mac) Mom, focus.

Do you have a significant other?
(Mom) Not really.
(Mac) Liar.
(Mom) This to the woman who gave you life?
(Mac) Mom, I know about you and Hunter.
(Mom) He’s not my SO. He’s my neighbor. And my friend.
(Mac) Who sometimes sleeps over.
(Mom) I’m not comfortable with this line of questioning. Let’s move on.
(Mac) She has commitment issues.
(Mom) What about you?
(Mac) I’m saving myself for Bieber.
(Mom) You hurt mommy when you say such things.

What is his name and profession?
(Mac) I’ve got this one. His name is Hunter Black and he lives in our building. He’s a detective with the Boston P.D.

Any children?
(Mom) Only if it’s too late to give her up for adoption.
(Mac) You love me more than coffee.
(Mom) I kinda do. I’m a masochist like that.

Do you have any sibling(s)?
(Mom) Nope.
(Mac) *shudders* Can you imagine if there were more than two of us?
(Mom) It would be gloriously horrific. We could sell tickets.

Do your parents live near you?
(Mac) This is a sore subject.
(Mom) Sadly, yes. My mother lives right upstairs.
(Mac) You see, Mom’s Uncle Al left this building to both Mom and Grams. So we live in the only two bedroom apartment. Grams lives in the studio upstairs. Hunter is in the apartment across the hall from us. The last one is rented out by Nona.
(Mom) She feeds us.

Who is your best friend?
(Mom) *points* Her.
(Mac) Her. *points back*

Cats, dogs or other pets?
(Mom) Dog unfortunately. An angry little puggle who has designs on my shoes.
(Mac) Along with the building, Uncle Al also left us Snickers. And Mom loves her.
(Mom) *snorts* Don’t believe everything you read.

What town do you live in?
(Mom) Boston.
(Mac) East Boston. About two T stops from Logan Airport.
(Mom) She’s always showing me up. That’s what you get with version 2.0. Smarter, faster. . .
(Mac) Less distracted by shiny things.

House or building complex? Own or Rent?
(Mom) It’s a complex house full of complex people.
(Mac) Nicely put.
(Mom) See, I still have things to teach you.

What is your favorite spot in your house?
(Mom) Anywhere my mother isn’t.
(Mac) Same.
(Mom) Brat.

Favorite meal? Favorite dessert?
(Mom) All of them.
(Mac) Agreed. As long as they come with coffee.

Favorite hobby?
(Mom) *Looks to Mac* What is this hobby she speaks of?
(Mac) Mom had me when she was sixteen so she never had time to develop any hobbies.
(Mom) Is eating a hobby?
(Mac) The way we do it it’s more of a full contact sport.

Favorite vacation spot?
(Mom) *Looks to Mac* What is this vacation that she speaks of?
(Mac) We’ve never actually had a vacation. Never enough time or money.
(Mom) Does the backyard count?

Favorite sports team?
(Mom) Anything from Beantown.
(Mac) Agreed.

Movies or Broadway?
(Mom) Broadway baby.
(Mac) Mom’s a fan of show tunes. I can hear her singing them off key from Hunter’s shower.

Are you a morning or a night person?
(Mom) I’m a coffee person.
(Mac) We’re both night owls.

Amateur sleuth or professional?
(Mom) Professional. In training.
(Mac) Amateur with professional aspirations.
(Mom) Very nice.
(Mac) Thank you.

Whom do you work with when sleuthing?
(Mom) *points* Her.
(Mac) Her. *points back*

In a few sentences, what is a typical day in your life like?
(Mom) Stumble to the coffee pot, dodge my mother and her latest crackpot activity, check in at the law office with Len. Sit in my Dodge Challenger Hellcat aka Helga, and eat very bad convenience store food. Follow a guy faking a back injury or some broad cheating on her spouse until I snag the money shot. Quip with Mac, avoid my mother, mooch dinner off Nona, lather rinse repeat.
(Mac) Sometimes you sift through garbage.
(Mom) That happened once.
(Mac) For me I get up, go to school, do homework, run background checks online and dig through social media accounts.
(Mom) Then there’s your afterschool job.
(Mac) Right.
(Mom) Mac helps out with Boston P.D.’s cybercrimes department.
(Mac) I’m pretty much a gopher. Do some debugging and run firewall checks. Stuff like that.
(Mom) All part of the ruse while she figures out how to become Queen of Everything.
(Mac) Mom.
(Mom) Next up MIT, then the world! I am practicing my evil cackle.
(Mac) Easy mastermind. I’d like to finish junior year first. Besides, when I rule the world, what are you going to do?
(Mom) I don’t know, maybe check out that vacation thing I’ve been hearing about.
(Mac) And bonus! You’ll have time to do activities with Grams.
(Mom) That’s just mean.

You can read about both Mackenzie Elizabeth Taylor in Sleuthing for the Weekend, the third book in the “Mackenzie & Mackenzie PI” mystery series, coming March 5, 2019.

It’s St. Patrick’s Day in Beantown, and Mackenzie Elizabeth Taylor needs the Luck of the Irish to solve her latest mystery—namely, who was the mysterious Uncle Al, the man who left her his apartment building as well as his PI business? But that personal investigation has to take a backseat to raising her teenage genius Mac, and dealing with her immature baby-daddy and demanding mother. Not to mention taking on a job that will actually produce some green.

The case is a gnarly dispute by two Irish pub owners who happen to be brothers as well as rivals over a missing inheritance. With the entire city out pub-crawling, Mackenzie goes hunting for a pot of gold…but winds up with a body instead.

With an assist from Mac, Mackenzie must slip into her gumshoes and go toe-to-toe with Detective Hunter Black, her neighbor, protector, and main squeeze, in order to solve her case. this case and claim the reward before someone else. Can the mother daughter team successfully investigate in the middle of a city-wide chaos? Or is their luck about to run out?

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About the author
Putting the fun in dysfunctional. . . Born and bred in upstate New York, USA Today bestselling author Jennifer L. Hart now lives in North Carolina with her three Hart men, two spoiled canines and a host of imaginary friends. She is the author of several romances and mystery series including The Misadventures of the Laundry Hag and Mackenzie & Mackenzie P.I. and The Unseelie Court Y.A. fantasy series.

Visit Jennifer at jenniferlhart.blogspot.com and follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

All comments are welcomed.