Unpaid Dues: A Munch Mancini Crime Novel

Rating:
Summary: Smart and gritty
Review: After some heavy rains, a woman's body is found in the drainage sewer at the exclusive Riveria Country Club. The woman was badly beaten and her body tied to two cinder blocks so that she would sink without a trace. LAPD detective Mace St. John, back on the job after suffering a heart attack four months ago, leads the investigation. He learns the victim is Jane Ferran.

When he looks at her file he sees Munch Mancini's face with Jane's name underneath it. When he goes to question Munch, she tells him that she used her friend's name when she was arrested for a DUI. Munch has a feeling one of her druggie friends from years ago might have killed Jane but she can't tell Mace about it because she would implicate herself in a decade old triple homicide. It is only when it looks like Thor is going to kill anyone connected to that incident does she come forward and offers herself up as bait to trap a killer.

Munch is an ex-druggie, a recovering alcoholic and a former prostitute but she has turned her life around. She goes to AA meetings, has an adopted daughter and has a good job working as a mechanic in Brentwood. She is a role model for people who want to start over and make something of his or herself. The perpetrator of the murder will come as a shock to the reader because everyone involved in the case is missing a vital piece of information. Barbara Seranella, known for her urban noir thrillers, once again has created a realistic who-done-it that is both exciting and poignant.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Gritty Mystery
Review: Mechanic Munch Mancini has her troubled life finally settled down, until her old pal New York Jane is murdered. Wasn't fond of the third person perspective, and it didn't keep me focused all the way. (B)

Rating:
Summary: Great character, Absorbing story
Review: Miranda (Munch) Mancini, former runaway, drug addict and prostitute, has reformed her life. She's now a car mechanic, limo driver, part-time detective and adoptive mother. Munch one of the most original characters to come along in quite awhile. UNPAID DUES explores Munch Mancini's former life in flashback sequences when a former friend from her drug days is found in a storm drainage canal. Munch's connection with her friend comes to light when Munch's picture turns up in the friend's police file. Munch's past secrets are slowly revealed to the important people in her present life.

Seranella takes us into the world of everything from drugs and violence, to the life of an auto mechanic from first-hand experience. This is Barbara Seranella's sixth novel featuring Munch, but my first. I loved almost everything about the book and the character. I have already gotten two of the earlier books and can't wait to find out more of Munch's story. This is a definite must-read for anyone who enjoys a gritty absorbing cirme novel.

Rating:
Summary: Beyond Genre
Review: The Munch Mancini novels by Barbara Seranella are being marketed as "mystery fiction" and "crime novels." That is a blessing and a pitty as these books are often dismissed by literary snobs as inferior because of average writing and flat characters. Barbara Seranella is an excellent writer! And Munch is one of the best characters in ALL of fiction. She came from an upper middle class family, fell into a terrible life of drugs, sex, and mayhem, and then pulled herself out of it. A simple summary of the novels is that Munch-day by day- struggles to hold onto her new life. And there are plenty of people and events cropping up to pull her back into her old, bad ways. But the books offer so much more than that. Munch's insights into both worlds are sometimes shocking, sometimes funny, and always heart wrenching. I love this character because she takes the very hard lessons of her life and puts them into practice as she deals with the challenges of a sober life. She is so damned decent and so damned brave! As a character representing her time and place, Munch Mancini deserves to stand next to Anita Brookner's "Excellent Women" of post WWII England, in the literary (MAIN STREAM) hall of fame. I can only hope literary snobs - those who don't read genre- will somehow discover the Munch Mancini novels. Their lives will be greatly enriched for it.

Rating:
Summary: Smart and gritty
Review: What a great read. The story is at turns violent, insightful, clever, and funny. The characters are thoroughly believable -- from the series' regular cops to the minor characters(especially Doleen). And ever since I read 'No Human Involved' I've believed that Munch is a very real person. This ain't no cozy. And I highly recommend it.