Mysterious Reviews Home

Service Dress Blues

A Rep and Melissa Pennyworth Mystery by Michael Bowen

Service Dress Blues by Michael Bowen

Review: Attorney Rep Pennyworth's latest client hires him to copyright a politically controversial song, then is found murdered soon thereafter, in Service Dress Blues, the fifth mystery in this series by Michael Bowen.

Ole Lindstrom and his wife Lena are aging hippies but still politically active, especially when it comes to local issues, in this case Indians and casinos. They've also been known to be physically abusive with each other. Not long after Ole hires Rep, Lena is arrested for knocking him out with a frying pan. Ole insists she didn't do it (despite the fact she's found with the object in her hands), and bails her out. When he's later found murdered, and scalped, Lena is taken into custody again, though the manner in which Ole is found suggests a political motive rather than a domestic dispute. Meanwhile, Ole had wanted to involve Harald, his All-American nephew and a midshipman at the Naval Academy, in his political campaign, but he's in a bit of trouble himself; his wallet, keys, and more important, his academy pass, have been stolen. Though Rep's client is dead, he wants to clear Lena's name as well as try to figure out if there's a connection between the death of Ole and his nephew's problems in Annapolis. "Ole Lindstrom [was] killed because he tried to prevent the corruption of a corrupt system from corrupting him," he says to Melissa.

Typical of the books in this series, the plot of Service Dress Blues is convoluted, involving disparate, seemingly unrelated events that will eventually be tied together by Rep and his wife Melissa. As Melissa summarizes at one point, "This mess didn't start with the arson in Loki or with Ole Lindstrom's murder or with the burglary of the Lindstrom home last December. It started with Harald Lindstrom being drugged and mugged near Annapolis. This isn't a series of isolated felonies. It's a mini-crime wave focused on the Lindstrom family." Much of the fun in reading these books comes from how Rep and Melissa will link a random encounter in their personal lives that triggers an "a-ha" revelation related to the case. Part of the problem here, however, is their case, solving the murder of Ole, simply isn't all that compelling. There are the requisite number of quirky characters that add color to the story, a locked room / impossible crime aspect that has some appeal, and some interesting locations that Rep and Melissa visit, but altogether it feels a bit flat.

Service Dress Blues has its moments, and fans of the series will enjoy Rep and Melissa's banter as well as the situations in which they frequently find themselves, but overall, it's rather disappointing as a mystery.

Acknowledgment: Poisoned Pen Press provided an ARC of Service Dress Blues for this review.

Review Copyright © 2009 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved

Selected reviews of other mysteries by this author …

Mystery Book Review: Shoot the Lawyer Twice by Michael BowenShoot the Lawyer Twice
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), October 2008
ISBN-13: 9781590585290; ISBN-10: 1590585291

Location(s) referenced in Service Dress Blues: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Baltimore, Maryland

— ♦ —

Service Dress Blues by Michael Bowen

Service Dress Blues by A Rep and Melissa Pennyworth Mystery

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Format: Hardcover
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-667-9
Publication Date:
List Price: $24.95

Buy the Book (purchase options)