Book description
Intellectual property attorneys, romance publishers, and librarians-the
very last people you'd expect to be mixed up in murder! Add a pinch of
authentic Civil War re-enactors and a sparkling tour of Kansas City, and
voilà, a classic yet up-to-the-minute crime. Rep and Melissa Pennyworth
head west from Indiana to a re-enactment of a Civil War battle in Kansas
City, Missouri. Rep is really in quest of a cutting-edge copyright case
connected with romance publishing house Jackrabbit Press. He finds a
corpse instead. Linda Damon, Melissa's best girlhood friend, worked for
the victim, an editor (and womanizer) before his death. Linda's husband,
librarian Peter, an enthusiastic Civil War hobbyist, had motive (it must
be said that on one recent occasion Linda became a bit too involved in
her job), means (a Civil War saber that upon examination proves to be
drenched in the victim's blood), and opportunity (a publishing party).
Logically, Rep's knowledge of trademark and copyright law, Melissa's Ph.
D. in Literature, and the passionate enthusiasm for all things English
embraced by Peter's boss at the KC library, Diane Klimchock, should be
no help in what is clearly a case for the police. However, when Rep and
Melissa are involved in crime, logic is seldom a reliable guide, as we
saw in their earlier investigation, Screenscam. While Unforced Error is
great good fun as a mystery, as forecast in its witty (and startling)
opening scene, it reminds us about the relevance of language, of words,
to everything we do. Copyright lawyer Rep Pennyworth and wife Melissa
are back in Bowen's follow-up to Screenscam (2001). The Pennyworths
travel to Kansas City to stay with Melissa's school chum Linda Damon and
her husband, Peter. An employee of Jackrabbit Press, Linda hopes to
direct some lucrative copyright business to Rep through an introduction
to the company owner, John Paul Lawrence; the only catch being that Rep
and Melissa must participate in a Civil War reenactment that Lawrence is
attending. After their first night in camp, Rep and another
"soldier" find a dead body in the latrine: handsome editor Tom
Quinlan, with whom Linda was having an affair. As Rep and Melissa try to
solve the crime, our minds are distracted from the somewhat implausible
plot by the appeal of the heroes. A modern-day Nick and Nora, the
quick-witted Rip and the literature-loving Melissa trade sophisticated
quips that may make readers wish they had paid more attention in English
class. Good fun, but let's hope Bowen tightens up the plotting a bit
next time. Mike Bowen, a trial lawyer practicing in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, is the author of numerous mystery novels, including
Screenscam (2002), which introduced Rep and Melissa Pennyworth. Bowen
has been a member and moderator of panels at several Bouchercons and has
made presentations at numerous other mystery-related events. He wrote
the entry on The American Legal System for the Oxford Companion to Crime
and Mystery Writing, and was a member of the panels that selected the
winner of the 1995 Edgar Award for Best Mystery and the 1996 Edgar Award
for Best Critical or Biographical Work. Bowen graduated cum laude from
Harvard Law School in 1976. While at Harvard, he served on the Board of
Editors of the Harvard Law Review, and was a member of the winning team
and was named the best oralist in the Ames Competition (moot court).
Bowen lives with his wife, Sara Armbruster Bowen and their younger
children, John, Marguerite and James, in Fox Point, a suburb of
Milwaukee.
