RATING: 4.75One of the greatest joys of a reader is to find an author who can write a compelling series, with each new book anxiously awaited. For me, Barbara Seranella is one of those authors. The Munch Mancini series is one of my favorites, and Unpaid Dues, is the very best of them all.Six books ago, we were introduced to Munch Mancini in No Human Involved. At that time, she was in pretty bad shape, trying to break a serious drug addiction while dealing with some very dangerous people. Over the course of time, Munch has shown herself to be a survivor and a fighter. It's never been easy for her, but life has improved quite a bit. She's happily living with her adopted daughter, Asia, and working as a mechanic in a garage where she's respected. This good life hasn't turned her into Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farms. She's still got an edge, and she's extremely aware of anything that may threaten her newfound peace.Somehow, Munch can never escape the tendrils that reach out to her from the past. In this case, there is a bad and a good part of her history touching her life. Munch has known homicide detective Mace St. John for quite some time. When he runs the prints on a murdered woman, he finds a picture of Munch in her file. It turns out that many years earlier, Munch had used the other woman's identity so she could escape a drunk driving rap. The thing that Munch won't admit to is that she was an unknowing accessory to a murder. It seems like someone is trying to uncover her secret and bring her down. It's tough for her to know what to do, to trust the cops knowing that she will probably receive a prison sentence or to try to handle the situation on her own. But dealing with a man whose specialty is inflicting pain is not exactly a wise thing to do.On the positive side, someone she cared very much about many years earlier shows up on her doorstep. Many years earlier, she had cared for the son of one of her degenerate friends. "Boogie", now known as "Nathan", is a young man. He hasn't had an easy life, but he seems to be doing reasonably well. His mother is off in Paris with her latest man, and Nathan has fantasies about hooking up with her again. Munch offers him her home and her heart, but too much time has passed for her to overcome some of the influences of his youth.Seranella did a superb job in weaving together all the elements of the narrative. She skillfully pulled in pieces of Munch's history from the previous books in the series. For those readers who have read the earlier books, it was like a nostalgic trip through the ups and downs of Munch's life. For the reader who has not been exposed to the series before, these references to past events helped establish Munch's background quickly. Just enough time was spent on these areas so that both types of readers were satisfied.What really blew me away was the resolution of the book. It was perfectly done. There was an element of surprise, but it was totally fair play, no rabbits pulled out of any hats. And justice was truly served, as painful as it was to experience.Seranella has really raised the bar with Unpaid Dues. Superb characterization, excellent pacing, wonderful plotting—what more could you want? Highly recommended.
Munch Mancini thought she was finally getting her life together. After spending years addicted to alcohol and drugs she now works as a mechanic doing a job she loves. However, the years she spent strung out on drugs with people who cared little for themselves and less for others had left her many memories she would rather forget. She is raising a little girl now. Not hers, but the daughter of a “friend” who hadn’t made it though to the other side like Munch has been lucky enough to have done. She loves little Asia as if she were her own daughter. The past is the past and she plans to leave it that way.Then the police find a dead woman in a storm sewer not far from the garage where Munch works. Mace St. John is a policeman but he is also her friend. When he learns that the dead woman is someone from Munch’s past he begins to ask questions. Munch begins to question many things at this time, not just her connection to Jane, the dead woman, but all of her past and how it all somehow ties together. She and the police come to the conclusion that whoever killed Jane will likely come after Munch as well because of something that happened in the past.There is a lot of suspense and excitement in this book but there are also subtle questions that the main character must face and in the reading we come to understand that we also must face those same questions in our life. At some point, we must choose which way we will live our lives. The author did a great job of writing a fine crime novel but did an even better job of bringing out the choices that we face everyday. We see that where we are today (or where we are NOT today) is simply a result of the choices we make.
Do You like book Unpaid Dues (2003)?
UNPAID DUES – VGBarbara Seranella – 6th in seriesMechanic and mother, Munch Mancini hopes that she's finally left her checkered past behind, but when a murdered woman's fingerprints yields a mug shot of Munch, she is forced to confess she once posed as the dead woman, Jane Ferrar, to weasel out of a drunk-driving charge. What she doesn't say is that they were once involved in something much more serious which may destroy the new life she has built. This is a very good series. If you’ve not read the previous books, this one summarizes Munch’s history, but doesn’t drag down the present story for the rest of us. She is a strong, but vulnerable, character who must always deal with sins of the past.
—LJ
