The Straight Man — Roger L. Simon

It's not a good time to be Moses Wine. After the events of California Roll, his life seems to have taken a turn for the worse-he's lost his high-paying security job at the Tulip Computer Corporation, his kids don't pay any attention to him, his love life's a mess, and his career as a top gumshoe is on the downslide. He's bored and depressed. So what else would a neurotic private eye do but see a shrink?

Unfortunately, his psychiatrist's idea of helping is to get him involved in a case. A comic-the straight man in the country's most popular comedy team-has jumped off a building to his death. But was it suicide? His wife thinks not, and the trail of clues soon leads Moses from the swank beaches of Los Angeles to the mean streets of the South Bronx, bringing him into contact with some of the toughest, sexiest, weirdest characters he's ever encountered. Well, if anything is guaranteed to end Moses' depression, it's this case. There's only one problem: it might also end his life...