Review - Catch Me If You Can

Things are looking up for Caesar Romano. The opening party for the new show at the gallery where he works is looking to be a huge success. With that under his belt, he can quit his low-paying job and apply for a much better paying job at a much more prestigious gallery uptown. The only fly in the ointment is the presence of his former boyfriend Shep, a closeted actor who can’t seem to stay away. On the plus side, there’s a hunky though apparently straight detective on the scene who seems more than a little interested in Caesar.

The picture isn’t quite as rosy the next morning, when Caesar arrives at the gallery to find Shep passed out, naked, in the bathroom, and one of the centerpiece busts from the show missing. The stolen artwork is just the tip of the iceberg, as Caesar and his friends are drawn into a web of strange alliances and blackmail. Along the way he finds out that Detective Dan isn’t what he seems.

“Catch Me If You Can” is a rather pleasant mystery story. There’s a bit of screwball comedy to the story line, which could have been played up more. The humor definitely comes through, but doesn’t quite hit the mark. The same could be said for the mystery itself. It didn’t quite gel, at least for me. Somewhat curiously, the issue here is that there’s a little too much going on. That’s usually not a problem for mysteries, but in this case there are a lot of scenes that actually pull you away from the plot to deliver a political or social commentary, which often buries clues and leads to the mystery.

On the plus side, the two main characters have great chemistry together. It’s not all sweetness and mushy romance; these two have to work a bit to make a real connection. Caesar and Dan are surrounded by a large cast of equally well-drawn characters. The characters alone make this an above average read, and with a tighter plot it would have been even better.

“Catch Me If You Can” is available from Amazon.