Step back to the roaring twenties, when speakeasies thrived beneath respectable storefronts, bootleggers controlled the lakefront, and a woman named Roxanne Maxx built an empire in the shadows. Her world echoes through time, connected to the present by an emerald pendant and souls that refuse to stay buried.
Roxanne Elizabeth Maxx
The Bootlegger Queen
1904 - 1972 | Whiskey Pines, Michigan
Roxanne Maxx looked exactly like her granddaughter Roxie, with the same deep emerald green eyes that seemed to see through pretense and promise alike. But where Roxie guards her heart with humor, Roxanne protected hers with ice-cold calculation.
A powerful woman in the Prohibition-era world of smuggling and speakeasies, Roxanne ran the most powerful bootlegging operation in Whiskey Pines. The town's water-accessible cavern system became her empire, and the tunnels beneath Maxx House her headquarters.
Her rivalry with Dut Steeplepuss I became the seed of a generational feud that would haunt both families for a century. When Roxanne died in 1972, she did not leave quietly. Bound to the emerald pendant as a guardian spirit, she left behind legacy items and coded truths meant to protect the Maxx line across generations.
"Finally," Roxanne's voice whispered in her mind.
— Roxanne's telepathic voice, reaching across timeRoxanne's influence is selective, tied to the pendant and legacy. She is not a constant ghost hovering at Roxie's shoulder, but a presence that emerges when the stakes demand it. She is always called "Roxanne" or "Mrs. Maxx", never "Roxie." That name belongs to the present.
Her wound was this: softness was exploited in her era. She learned to protect what she loved through strategy rather than sentiment. Her desire: to preserve her family line, her property, and her control of the truth, even from beyond the grave.
Mackenzie: The Loyal Waitress
Mackenzie
Speakeasy Waitress | Died 1926
In the smoky depths of Roxanne's speakeasy, a young waitress named Mackenzie moved between tables with sharp eyes and sharper instincts. Street-smart and pragmatic, she served bootleg whiskey to dangerous men while keeping her ears open for anything that might threaten her employer.
Mackenzie was more than an employee. She was Roxanne's most trusted ally, a woman who understood the difference between loyalty bought and loyalty earned. Hers was the latter.
In 1926, during a police raid on the speakeasy, Mackenzie made a choice that would echo through eternity. She died saving Roxanne's life.
The Reincarnation
Death was not the end for Mackenzie. Her soul returned, reborn into a white Bichon Frise who would find her way to Roxie Maxx nearly a century later. The speakeasy waitress became the telepathic companion, her cigarette-rasp voice now speaking directly into Roxie's mind.
Kenzie: The Present-Day Companion
Kenzie
White Bichon Frise | Roxie's Telepathic Companion
To the world, Kenzie appears to be an ordinary white Bichon Frise, fluffy and adorable, padding along at Roxie's heels. But Kenzie carries within her the soul of Mackenzie, the 1920s waitress who gave her life for Roxanne.
Kenzie is female, and the residents of Whiskey Pines have come to accept that Roxie talks to herself. She tells them it's how she sorts out the many things in her head without becoming overwhelmed. They don't know she's actually responding to a sarcastic telepathic voice with a 1920s cigarette-rasp quality.
Kenzie lived with Roxie in Chicago during her marriage to Dut Steeplepuss III, witnessing the abuse firsthand from the Lake Shore Drive penthouse. When Roxie escaped, Kenzie escaped with her. Both know Chicago intimately: its streets, neighborhoods, society events, and the darkness that can hide behind wealth.
The Telepathic Connection
The telepathic bond between Kenzie and Roxie operates under strict rules. Kenzie's telepathy is one-way only. Kenzie can send thoughts to Roxie. Roxie can hear her. But Roxie cannot send thoughts back through telepathy.
When Roxie needs to respond, she must do so through whisper, spoken dialogue (people assume she is talking to herself), a physical gesture like a look or a nod, or sometimes no response at all. This limitation keeps the bond grounded and the communication real.
How Kenzie Speaks
"Oh for heaven's sake, you're being dramatic again," Kenzie's voice rasped in her head.
Kenzie's telepathic voice uses "sent" as the attribution verb. Her voice carries the quality of a 1920s waitress, sarcastic and pragmatic, occasionally profane.
The Naming Split
Kenzie: The present-day Bichon Frise. Used for physical dog behavior, barking alerts, expressions, and comic beats.
Mackenzie: The Prohibition-era persona. Used for the telepathic voice, historical identity, and dry pragmatic commentary.
Kenzie is often more pragmatic than Roxie, offering warnings and observations that cut through sentiment. Only Roxie can hear her telepathic voice, making their partnership both intimate and isolating. It is a bond forged in sacrifice and sealed across lifetimes.
"The butler didn't do it. It's always the one who seems the nicest. Also, I would like a biscuit."
— Kenzie, offering mystery-solving adviceAcross the Timeline
The 1923 Prohibition era and the present day are not separate worlds in the Whiskey Pines Mysteries. They are woven together through the emerald pendant that once belonged to Roxanne and now hangs around Roxie's neck. When the pendant vibrates and Roxie grasps it, she is displaced into the alternate era, experiencing Roxanne's world firsthand.
Every time travel involves a romantic interest, and some of these men sometimes follow Roxie into the present. The timeline integrity holds, but Roxie returns with sensory, emotional, and occasional physical residue from her journeys. The past is never truly past in Whiskey Pines.
And watching it all, from her fluffy vantage point, is Kenzie. The waitress who died in 1926. The dog who lives in the present. The soul that bridges both worlds.
