Hard Line

Lt. Leroy Powder #2

by Michael Z. Lewin

Lieutenant Leroy Powder, in charge of the Indianapolis Police Missing Persons Bureau, investigates several mysterious disappearances while breaking in a new sergeant, Carollee Fleetwood, who is temporarily confined to a wheelchair

Genres: Mystery

219 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Michael Zinn Lewin is an American writer of mystery fiction perhaps best known for his series about Albert Samson, a distinctly low-keyed, non-hardboiled private detective who plies his trade in Indianapolis, Indiana. Lewin himself grew up in Indianapolis, but after graduating from Harvard and living for a few years in New York City, has lived in England for the last 40 years. Much of his fiction continues to be set in Indianapolis, including a secondary series about Leroy Powder, a policeman who frequently appears in the Samson novels, generally in a semi-confrontational manner.

Another series, however, is set in Bath, England, where Lewin now lives. This features the Lunghis who run their detective agency as a family business. So far there are three novels and nine short stories about them.

Lewin has also written a number of stand-alone novels. Some have been set in Indianapolis and others elsewhere. His latest novel, Confessions of a Discontented Deity, is even set partly in Heaven. A satire, it breaks from Lewin's history of genre fiction.

Lewin is the son of Leonard C. Lewin, author of the 1967 bestselling satire The Report from Iron Mountain: On the Possibility and Desirability of Peace.

Reviews

[Maddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

RATING: 4.5
PROTAGONIST: Lieutenant Leroy Powder
OCCUPATION: Cop, Missing Persons Bureau
SETTING: Indianapolis, Indiana
SERIES: #2 of 3

After 19 years of running the Night Cover operation, Lieutenant Leroy Powder has moved into another division in the Indianapolis Police Department, the Missing Persons Bureau. Since he has a lot of work to accomplish and only a half-time secretary to assist him, he has permission to bring in another member to the team. Sergeant Carollee Fleetwood took a bullet for a fellow officer and is ready to return to duty. Or at least she says she's ready to return, despite the fact that she's still in a wheelchair and has very little stamina. Powder is quick to point out all the negative aspects of Fleetwood at every convenient moment. Much to her credit, she doesn't snap his head off and somehow even manages to earn his respect.

Missing Persons is the kind of place that receives a potpourri of cases to investigate. There's the young woman who was coming to live with her aunt who never showed up. There's the wife that disappeared, and the husband who is much too dispassionate about it. Some of the cases are legitimate; others belong in other parts of the police department, and Powder passes them along, much to his frustration as most of them get ignored.

Powder has an intuitive sense about who's telling the truth and who is not; he also has a rather unorthodox investigative technique, often hounding someone he doesn't trust or interrogating folks at all hours of the day and night. He never really considers other's needs; frequently, he stops at Fleetwood's apartment during the evening to give her another assignment.

HARD LINE is a superb book. Its lead character is cranky and even mean, but against all odds, he is immensely likeable. His insults to Fleetwood about her being crippled and jokes at her expense seem offensive at first take but more often than not come across as humorous. Much of the dialogue caused me to laugh out loud. After they work together for a while, Powder's façade begins to crack just a little, and he even comes to Carollee's defense and puts her in the spotlight, after denying her many a public relations opportunity when she returned to the force.

Powder's persona is established in the first book in the series, NIGHT COVER, but it is HARD LINE that he really comes to life. I enjoyed this book enormously and am planning to begin the third, LATE PAYMENTS, momentarily. Normally, I like to spread out the books in a series, but I find that I can't get enough Powder. I only wish that there were more than 3 books in this series. However, I do know that Powder appears in Lewin's other series about PI Albert Samson and a standalone called UNDERDOG.

[Nik Maack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Boom. Read this in two days, over Christmas holidays. At first it seemed like a stereotypical police novel and would be dull. But as the novel progressed, the character of Powder grew on me. He is a jerk with a heart of gold, and a cop working the illrespected missing persons department.

High on dialogue, short little sentences, lots of little plots going on. A busy and fun little book. Just the thing to read while on holidays. Reminds me of the writing in 87th Precinct novels. Pithy, witty, light reading. With some good character work.

I never would have picked this up if it hadn't appeared in a neighborhood free book bin. God bless those book box "take a book, leave a book" bins everyone is putting up everywhere.

[Hugh Heinsohn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok but not up to standard of the Albert Samson stories by the same author. Still a fun read, especially if you’re familiar with South Central Indiana.

[Dolores Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

good read

Fast moving easy read. No boring dead spots and likable characters. Only available through a purchase and not through kindle or library

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had read three Micheal Z. Lewin "Albert Samson" books and thought I'd try one of his "Leroy Powder" series. This is more of a "police procedural" than the Samson series and I prefer Samson, but this is good. Powder is teamed with a female cop in a wheelchair, which wouldn't be his choice, but they learn to dance, so to speak, and tackle a series of cases -- a woman who wants to die, and man who kills his wife and lover, etc.

[Grey853 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second in the Lt. Leroy Powder books. I don't like this series as well as the Albert Samson books, but they're still a very good read. Lewin has a very easy to read style of writing and while Powder's more cynical than Sampson, he's still worth checking out.

[Toesnorth's mom]

fair