The Straight Man [Paperback]

Roger L. Simon (Author)

Book Description

Series: Moses Wine Mysteries | Publication Date: June 1, 2001

Moses Wine is bored and depressed. Unfortunately, his shrink's idea of helping him is to get him involved in a case. One member of the country's most popular comedy team has jumped off a roof to his death. His wife denies it was suicide, and Moses must follow the clues from LA to the South Bronx.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Simon's own experiences in therapy, as a writer for Richard Pryor and as a freelance prober of charity campaigns, furnish the plot in the new detective Moses Wine saga. Taking his psychiatrist's advice, Moses attacks depression by investigating Mike Ptak's death, on behalf of his widow Emily. Mike was the straight man for the famous, manic black comic Otis King, now a virtual prisoner in Dr. Bannister's clinic for drug addicts. With permission from the doctor, Moses questions Otis but the meeting is brief, wild and unproductive. The detective begins to share Emily's doubts that her husband was a suicidethe official verdictand follows other clues to the case. When Otis escapes and flies from Los Angeles to New York City, Moses follows him into frightening territory. The comic's brother is King King, powerful drug lord, and his soldiers send the sleuth posthaste out of town. Back home, he attends a benefit for Cosmic Aid, to feed the world's starving, the climax to the chilling, disturbingly realistic events that Simon spikes with earthy humor. Paperback rights to this and four previous Wine novels to Warner's.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Roger L. Simon is the author of the Moses Wine mystery novels, including THE BIG FIX (0671039067) and THE LOST COAST (0671039040) both published by ibooks.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: I Books (June 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743413202
• ISBN-13: 978-0743413206
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,863,365 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Moses Wine gets his case from his shrink, March 1, 2002

By 

Nicholas Waldman (Santa Cruz, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Straight Man (Paperback)

As far as I know, the only detective novel in which the [P.I.] gets his cae from his shrink. Highly amusing with a brilliant parody of Richard Pryor.Santa C

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sexy and Smart, May 29, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Straight Man: A Moses Wine Mystery (Paperback)

My ex gave me this book and it was one of the few things she was right about. Really funny and really clever. A brilliant mystery. Moses Wine rocks!

0 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars awful, October 29, 2004

By 

T. Tucker (Rochester, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Straight Man (Paperback)

I should have known this book would be bad from the first page. But the reviews were quite good so I gave it a chance. I now regret that decision as this is probably the worst book I have ever read. The plot is predictable, the style reminds me of a junior high-school essay, the characters are straight out of a bad episode of Law and Order Special Victims Unit.