Watch Me Die by Lee Goldberg
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was a fun book for mystery fans like me. The protagonist, Harvey Mapes, has a tedious job, working as a security guard in a super exclusive subdivision. The only thing that makes the job bearable is that he can lose himself in his favorite paperback mysteries. He's obsessed with Jim Rockford.
One of the rich residents hires Harvey to follow his wife, which seems like the beginning of his new and exciting Private Investigator career. It doesn't take much for Harvey to come up with an answer. He gave his employer some pictures he took, and that was it. The assignment was over: "Here's a $1000 bonus. The assignment is over."
The wife ends up dying, and Harvey is still curious. He investigates on his own. Things happen, and people die.
I enjoyed "Watch Me Die," mainly because of all the references to other books. It was amusing to have him invoke Sue Grafton, Kathy Reichs, and especially, John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee series. It would be tedious for a whole series, but for one novel, it was lots of fun.
