Service Dress Blues

July 20, 2009
Bowen's convoluted fifth mystery to feature Rep and Melissa Pennyworth (after 2008's Shoot the Lawyer Twice
) finds the Milwaukee lawyer and his English professor wife pursuing a couple of cases with a family connection. Rep is doing trademark and copyright work for political activist Ole Lindstrom, while Melissa is investigating the mugging of a U.S. Naval Academy midshipman, found naked and unconscious in an Annapolis, Md., motel, who happens to be Ole's nephew. Meanwhile, the authorities charge Ole's wife, Lena, with attempted murder after someone—Lena claims it was an intruder who entered their house—sneaks up on Ole and whacks him over the head with a skillet. Ole's subsequent murder raises the stakes. Set between December 2008 and May 2009, this up-to-the-minute whodunit is filled with topical allusions that will either amuse or irritate, depending on your politics. The light tone and easygoing dialogue make for a quick read.