Book Review: On The Road With Dell & Louise

You know that old saying how two wrongs can make a right. How about two misfits making a genius? That is the basic premiss for On the Road with Dell & Lousie. Two small time crooks on the road trying to break free from crime to become an honest family.

This novel is actually a number of short stories. Each short story picks up just after the end of the previous story. Each story is set at a different phase in a cross county trip Dell & Lousie set out on.

The two love birds meet when Lousie is working late night at a gas station. Dell robs the gas station. During the robbery Lousie give him her phone number. A few days later he calls and they become inseparable.

After covering how the two meet and some early crimes the story shifts gears. Dell was thief by necessity, his crimes covered the cost of college. Armed with a new business degree he moves to Southern California to work for his sister a real estate agent.

When things don’t work out selling real estate Dell pulls a scam and the two move north to Napa Valley. Both Dell and Lousie find themselves working in the wine business. Again trouble pops up and they move on.

They end up in Vegas and later in a boomtown created by the shale oil in North Dakota. Each stop has some highs and lows. Every time something goes right for them something else will then go wrong. The way the book is written even though Dell and Lousie are criminals you are cheering for them to get away with it.

Eventually they end up at Lousie’s mothers home. The narrative takes a turn here when these small time crooks become the victims of crime. Now it is up to them to solve a crime and possible also clear their names.

This is not the kind of book I would normally pick up. I have read multiple books from the independent publisher, Henery Press. Their newsletter for reviewers recommended this title. After finishing it I am glad to have given it a try. Lately it seems everything I read is very similar, so I needed a break from my normal.

If you like to read mystery novels On the Road with Dell & Lousie. would be worth checking out. It has a few points where you are wondering who did it. At the same time it is not one big story that keeps plot twisting to dig the mystery deeper. The novel does not release till September 15, so pre order now.

A free review copy of this book was provided by NetGalley for this unbiased review.