Shoot the Lawyer Twice

by Michael Bowen

Book Overview

"Bowen's powers of invention are so florid and his satirical touch so bright, most readers won't care who gets carted off to jail."--Kirkus Reviews

When a frat boy finds himself on trial in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for piracy on the high seas, Lawyer Rep Pennyworth suspects he's being used as an unwitting accomplice in a cheap publicity stunt. Meanwhile Rep's professor wife Melissa gets caught in the middle of a verbal firefight...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1590585291
• ISBN13: 9781590585290
• Release Date: October 2008
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
• Length: 228 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.8" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

Entertaining and smart

Clever, complicated, engaging, actual laughs. And excellent plotting. Who'da thunk Milwaukee could be such a enjoyable place? It's an interesting fact (at least in my experience) that lawyers laugh at themselves - when they choose to - much harder and with many more winks than the rest of us might. When a lawyer like that writes a murder mystery, with all the inside knowledge up for use or humor, the read is usually sharp fun. As is this one.

Will appeal to a broad adult audience

Reviewed by Leslie Granier for Reader Views (6/08) Melissa and Rep Pennyworth are a successful married couple. Melissa is an English professor at a university. Rep is a respected attorney. When their careers cross paths through several overlapping occurrences, they must work together to discover the truth. Rep's office partner is handling what has been termed the "sex or swim" case, in which a woman leapt from a boat because she felt threatened she would be raped. This woman happens to be a relative of a company owner for whom one of Melissa's coworkers is writing a book. Other strange things begin happening at the university including sabotaged presentations, office break-ins and a rare document going missing. As they search for answers, they are stunned by what information they uncover. Michael Bowen obviously put a lot of thought into how he wanted this book to progress. The author expertly intertwined several storylines which added greatly to the intrigue. He also came up with a clever way to refute one of the character's alibis that most readers will probably not catch. "Shoot the Lawyer Twice" is filled with suspense because there were many possibilities as to who the villain would turn out to be. However, I thought there were a few too many minor characters as I sometimes had to look back to see where they fit into the overall picture. This may have been done to keep the reader guessing as to which direction the plot would turn, but I found it was a little distracting. "Shoot the Lawyer Twice" contains many elements that readers will appreciate. Legal aspects, such as theft, murder, and a rape trial play a prominent role in this story. However, personal dilemmas such as deception and questions about religious beliefs are also featured. By providing a variety of topics on which the reader can deliberate, the author helped keep the story interesting. This work of fiction will appeal to a broad adult audience. Mystery lovers will enjoy trying to unravel the clues to figure out what really happened in "Shoot the Lawyer Twice." However, it is important to pay close attention to the details so as not to overlook subtle hints that are provided.

satirical chaos

Married couple, Milwaukee based copyright attorney Rep and University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee Professor Melissa Pennyworth wonder how they got involved in this entangled fiasco that makes the DNA helix look like Lego construction. The mess apparently started at sea on Lake Michigan when undergraduate student Jimmy Clevenger arrives at Carolyn Hoeckstra's boat and blithely gives her a choice between sex and swimming. She chose the water. Later she filed attempted rape charges that ended in a hang jury; she followed that up with a piracy suit in federal court. At about the same time, thriller writer Taylor Gates plans to write a novel based on a WWII document that might be a fake but paints the Vatican as the good guys. Meanwhile Professor Harold Angstrom wants out of a contract he signed to write a centennial history of the Goettinger Corporation, who's CEO happened to be Carolyn's father and just died suspiciously. The situation spins further out of control when an avaricious extortionist professor is apparently murdered and an amoral reporter seeks the scoop while Rep struggles with a stuffed nose and his spouse is caught up the middle of a politically uncorrected scenario. Total satirical chaos as the above and much more occur with no or limited connections between the events except for driving the Pennyworth couple into wanting to dive into the Great Lakes. The story line is fast-paced and humorous as the eccentric cast sends even the amiable lead pair seeking shelter. Rep and Melissa are learning that sometimes good and honorable intentions leave the Samaritan trapped in hell although still might prove safer than PUTTING LIPSTICK ON A PIG. Harriet Klausner