Service
Dress Blues
A
Rep and Melissa Pennyworth Mystery
Michael
Bowen
Poisoned
Pen Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-59058-667-0 (1590586670)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-667-9 (9781590586679)
Publication Date: September 2009
List Price: $24.95
Synopsis (from
the publisher): On the night before the 2008 Army-Navy Game, a
midshipman is found stark naked and barely alive in the lobby of a
cheap motel near the Naval Academy. The plebe's closest relatives are
Ole and Lena Lindstrom, a pair of aging but still scrappy Wisconsin
political activists who want lawyer Rep Pennyworth to help them get
copyright protection for an audacious package of campaign ideas that
put rich and ruthless gambling interests in the cross-hairs. The
political neophyte they have in mind as a candidate heads a think-tank
at UWM, where she is exploiting for her own political purposes the
sensitive issue of domestic violence.
Ole and Lena themselves have a well-earned reputation for trading
punches with each other. So when Ole is murdered, Lena becomes an
instant suspect. But Rep and Melissa are sure that more than
coincidence ties the midshipman's mugging near Annapolis to Ole
Lindstrom's murder in Milwaukee. Along with their good friend, criminal
lawyer Walk Kuchinski, Rep and Melissa attack the mystery with
unconventional investigative techniques such as discussing Anna
Karenina with a hooker, answering baseball trivia questions, and
reviewing fourth-grade geography lessons.
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.
Special thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for providing an ARC of Service Dress Blues for this review.
Review Copyright © 2009 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read Service Dress Blues? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series …
Screenscam
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), October 2001
ISBN-10: 1-890208-91-4 (1890208914)
ISBN-13: 978-1-890208-91-2 (9781890208912)
Unforced
Error
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), April 2004
ISBN-10: 1-59058-109-1 (1590581091)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-109-4 (9781590581094)
Putting
Lipstick on a Pig
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), July 2006
ISBN-10: 1-59058-287-X (159058287X)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-287-9 (9781590582879)
Shoot the Lawyer Twice
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), October 2008
ISBN-10: 1-59058-529-1 (1590585291)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-529-0 (9781590585290)
Service Dress Blues
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), September 2009
ISBN-10: 1-59058-667-0 (1590586670)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-667-9 (9781590586679)
Omnimystery
keywords for Service Dress Blues
...
Location(s) referenced: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Baltimore, Maryland.
