As the record temperatures of summer 2018 scorched California, infernos blossomed up and down the state.
Route 243 was closed on both sides, leaving Waldo and all the other residents cut off and fearing the worst. Surrounded by forest, nearly all its structures made of wood, his mountain town of Idyllwild had already seen five homes destroyed, the remainder evacuated. It wasn’t the sex that set Waldo’s woods on fire, it was the afterglow. Except where actual historical events and characters are being described for the storyline of this novel, all situations in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is purely coincidental. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The right of Howard Michael Gould to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988.īritish Library Cataloguing-in-Publication DataĪ CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library. This eBook edition first published in 2021 by Severn House,Īll rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. Trade paperback edition first published in Great Britain and the USA in 2022īy Severn House, an imprint of Canongate Books Ltd. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.įirst world edition published in Great Britain and the USA in 2021īy Severn House, an imprint of Canongate Books Ltd, This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Last Looks was turned into a major motion picture, starring Charlie Hunnam as the offbeat private investigator. Pay or Play is the third in the Charlie Waldo series, following Last Looks and Below the Line. Reopening the coldest of cases, a decades-old fraternity death, Waldo begins to wonder if the judge is, in fact, a murderer - and if he'll stay alive long enough to find out.
When old adversary Don Q strongarms him into investigating the seemingly mundane death of a vagrant, Lorena agrees he can work under her PI license on one condition: he help with a high-maintenance celebrity client, wildly popular courtroom TV star Judge Ida Mudge, whose new mega-deal makes her a perfect target for blackmail. His PI girlfriend Lorena keeps drawing him back to civilization - even though every time he compromises on his principles, something goes wrong.Īnd unfortunately for Waldo, all roads lead straight back to LA. Paying a harsh self-imposed penance for a terrible misstep on a case, former LAPD superstar detective Charlie Waldo lives a life of punishing minimalism deep within the woods, making a near religion of his commitment to owning no more than One Hundred Things.Īt least, he's trying to. and a missing dog: eccentric, eco-obsessed LA private eye Charlie Waldo is on the case in this quirky, fast-paced mystery.