Putting Lipstick on a Pig: A Rep & Melissa Pennyworth Mystery

by Michael Bowen

Book Overview

"Bowen effectively captures his Midwestern locale and takes readers on a fast-paced, exciting ride."--Publishers Weekly

Vance Hayes died while joyriding on a snowmobile late one night near the Wisconsin Dells. The cold-hearted, hard-headed lawyer goes unmourned by clients, colleagues, or anyone else--including his reluctant eulogist, fellow attorney Rep Pennyworth.

In fact, interest in Hayes' death is merely perfunctory...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 159058287X
• ISBN13: 9781590582879
• Release Date: July 2006
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
• Length: 243 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.4" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

A pleasure to read

Rep Pennyworth does a favor for a friend. He delivers the eulogy at the funeral of Vance Hayes, the epitome of many negative connotations associated with lawyers. Rep acts as Sue Key's lawyer in a very low-level case, which somehow seems to be tied to Hayes's death. The connections back to Vietnam remind one of Dymmoch's WHITE TIGER, although what the two writers do with the connection is totally different PUTTING LIPSTICK ON A PIG traces Rep's investigations into Keys family, some possibly Mafia-connected [...] peddlers, and a case which Hayes was scheduled to argue before the Supreme Court. Rep and his wife Melissa are in the process of moving from Indiana to Wisconsin, so there are some cultural adjustments being made while the case unfolds. Indianapolis winters just don't have the same ambience as Wisconsin deer season, for starters. Bowen has a great feel for characters, able to make them visual in a reader's head with an economy of words. His ability to write about setting is just as good. Bowen's plots leave nothing to be desired, convoluted as one reads but able to be fairly clearly spelled out at the denouement. PUTTING LIPSTICK ON A PIG is a pleasure to read, with several laugh-out-loud moments in the middle of the seriousness.

A fun ride with lots of twists!

Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (7/06) "Putting Lipstick on a Pig" is a humorous, adventurous mystery that takes you for a fun ride along the unexpected twists in the plot. Husband and wife team Rep and Melissa Pennyworth are trying to find the connection between a disliked, dead attorney named Vance Hayes and an Asian-American court reporter named Sue Key. Along the way, they discover that they cannot trust everyone that they thought they could. Both of their lives become endangered. Melissa realizes what levels she is willing to go to, to keep her husband alive and to stay alive herself. The characters in this story are well developed. Many of them are likeable and have a lot of character. The ones that aren't likeable, really aren't likeable. This is a fun story with a lot of humor. The camaraderie between Rep and his associates is enjoyable. His relationship with his wife is one that you enjoy reading. They have a lot of fun together while solving this case. This is the third book in a series about this couple. I have not read the other two yet, but I plan to. It is not necessary to have read the other ones first to understand what is going on, but this one was so enjoyable, I want to read more of the adventures with Rep and Melissa. This is a great book for all to read. It would be really fun to for a readers group to cover. It is an enjoyable escape!

fascinating Pennyworth legal thriller

Attorney Mackenzie Stewart calls Indiana lawyer Reppert "Rep" Pennyworth with bad news that peer Vance Hayes is dead. Seriously responding Rep asks Mac what is the bad news; as serious, Mac informs Rep that Vance had selected him to do the eulogy. Rep tells his wife Melissa he detested the nasty odious Vance, who tried to destroy Rep's legal career. Rep learns that Vance died when his snowmobile broke through thin ice in the Wisconsin Dells. Law enforcement assumes Hayes committed unconscious suicide because of an inability to cope with diabetes. Two years later Rep is in Milwaukee looking into whether his Indianapolis based law firm should open an office here. Colleague Walt Kuchinski sends Vietnamese-American court reporter Sue Key to him over a photo of her in a calendar "Pretty Girls Smoking Cigarettes; the woman insists she agreed to the picture, but the background was altered to make it look like she smokes, which she never has. A letter signed by Vance to Sue's mom mentioning Kuchinski opens Rep's eyes as it sounds like the dead rat did a nice thing. Intrigued he takes Sue's case that leads to the heart of Milwaukee's Hmong community, but soon uncovers evidence that Hayes was murdered because of doing that good deed. This is a fascinating Pennyworth legal thriller that though it has deep interesting insight into trademark and copyright law and litigation, in many ways is more an investigative thriller. Rep feels some guilt as his lousy eulogy two years before the Key case haunts him though he believes his words fit the nasty Hayes. The whodunit contains terrific icy twists that will send readers spinning for his two previous appearances (see SCREENSCAM and UNFORCED ERROR). Harriet Klausner