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What are your favorite TV shows?

I really enjoyed the series, Severance. A wild and wacky ride in an alternative reality. I love good comedies so Resident Alien is another winner. Of course, as a fan of mysteries, I enjoy the tons of shows available on BritBox. My spouse and I have been binge-watching for months, now. The Brits really know how to do crime and mystery.

What is your favorite meal?

Well, mostly the ones you’re supposed to avoid: pizza, hot dogs and potato chips, cheeseburgers and fries. I enjoy those but try not to overdo. A nicely dressed Cesar Salad with grilled chicken is a favorite that carries less guilt, carbs and fats. (And then I’ll sneak a fry or two from my spouse’s plate.)

If you were to write a series of novels, what would it be about?

I enjoyed writing the characters in my second novel, Clonk! which features Baltimore City Police Detective Kev Dixit and his coterie of old high school friends. My fourth, as yet unpublished novel, Sunscreen Shower, is a standalone that reprises many of the characters from Clonk! including Dixit. But I’ve considered moving that gang forward, and my fifth novel (under construction) may take Dixit and the gang into series mode.

Is there a writer you idolize? If so who?

I’m a big fan of the crime writer, Charles Willeford. He passed away in the late 1980’s but not before gifting us with his four-book series featuring Miami Police Detective Hoke Mosely. Willeford’s darkly existential humor brings the characters to life. He writes in an unsentimental fashion and always includes a sociopath or two in each novel.

How did you come up for the title of this book?

The reader will quickly learn that the character of Roland, a mildly hypochondriacal actor and one of the three uncles, is obsessed with his hair. He’s going bald and is desperately trying anything/everything to enhance his hair. The comb over is one of his “go to” hair compromises, but not one he particularly wants to employ. (Yes, I comb over myself, daily.)

Three nephews and three eccentric uncles.
———
It’s 2050 and Robbie Elders has all but forgotten about his oddball, religious fanatic uncle, tim tim. He’s taken up the latest fad, genealogical research based solely on DNA. But Robbie’s “inconclusive” DNA results are unsettling. He crashes back to his childhood, back to his world of comic books and tim tim.

“I opt for posh and London” declares Lady Florence Stour. It’s 2019 and time for a Royal Wedding. Robbie’s uncle, Stef, is engaged to Lady Florence, a distant member of the British royal family. Stef’s Baltimore clan have been invited, but Robbie’s mom and dad can’t attend. They’ve entrusted Robbie and big brother, Doyle, to their mom’s two eccentric brothers, uncles Roy and Roland. Roy, a weathered waterman with a severe Baltimore accent, lives for Maryland blue crabs. Roland, a mildly hypochondriacal actor, lives to survive the Karens he unavoidably encounters. And then there’s Desales, Roy’s smart aleck, teenage son. He lives to prank. They’ve descended upon London. What could possibly go wrong?

Meanwhile, tim tim has been coaching Robbie on “the mission.” A silly religious fantasy according to Robbie’s atheist parents and the therapists. Or perhaps not? Things are not always as they appear in The Big Comb Over.

Enjoy an Excerpt

Roland looked at the bottle in awe. “Fletcher’s Dry Shampoo – Hint of Almond.” He looked over the directions and ingredients on the back. “Wow! It’s gluten-free and approved by PETA, too!” He handed back the bottle, gingerly, as though it were an egg.

“Yes! So, I’ll get things started, today, but when you use it, remember to follow the instructions carefully. You have to shake the thing like a bastard.”

He pulled off the top cap and shook the bottle frantically.

“Okay, shield your eyes with your hands, Roland.”

Morris began carefully spraying the bald spot. The bottle produced several quick spurts—the initial “targeting” move. He then pulled the can back several inches and sprayed in a wider arc, slowly filling in the surrounding areas. Excess brown powder fell gently onto the cape; iron filings mixed with cinnamon.

“Yes, there we go! Success! Let me give it a brush-through and a good zhuzh!”

Morris began to carefully run the boar’s hairbrush through the mixture of hair and powdered shampoo. There was that one tricky area, so he gave it another quick blast with the aerosol can. He completed brushing and found the most optimal place for the all-important part. Something natural. Avoiding the comb-over effect was difficult. Balance . . . balance . . .

He then gave Roland’s hair a quick blast with the hair dryer. Not too much, as there was not much to dry. The shampoo had absorbed most of the hemp oil treatment. He put the dryer aside and gave Roland’s hair a two-handed, final zhuzh. He spun the chair around, dramatically, and placed a hand mirror in front of Roland’s face so that he could check out the back.

“Looky loo, Sir Roland! Nary a hint of . . . deficiency!”

Roland looked with disbelief. He no longer had that bald spot! It was gone!

“Oh dear Lord, Morris! You are a genius! Look at this! Michelangelo!” He handed back the mirror, stunned.

“Thank you, thank you!” Morris took a quick bow and rapidly turned the chair back around, causing Roland some dizziness. “Now, let me hit you with a finishing spray to hold everything in place!”

He dramatically removed the top of the hairspray aerosol and shook the can furiously. He sprayed the mist in a near random fashion near the scalp and then away from the scalp and then back toward and quickly away again—a symphony conductor of a twelve-tone sound poem.

He spun Roland around again and thrust the mirror before his face. “What do you think?!”

“Yes, yes, Morris, this is perfect! This is what I’ve been waiting for . . . dreaming about!”

About the Author: J. Paul (J.P.) Rieger is a born and bred Baltimorean and mostly retired Maryland attorney. As such, he’s well acquainted with the quirkiness and charm of Baltimore’s unique citizens. He’s author of Clonk!, a police farce set in Baltimore and published in 2023 by Apprentice House Press (Loyola University-Baltimore). He’s also author of The Case Files of Roderick Misely, Consultant, a mystery novel featuring a wannabe lawyer anti-hero. The Big Comb Over, a slipstream comedy of manners featuring three nephews and their three eccentric uncles, is Paul’s third novel. Paul is married and lives in Towson, Maryland.

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