Be Your Own Detective

Readers who are untroubled by fastidious concern for ethics but plagued with curiosity will take careful notes as Fallis, a licensed P.I., and Greenberg, a criminal defense lawyer, team up to coach the novice on the art of sleuthing. Practical tips on such venerable skills as tailing (use reflective surfaces, they suggest; look at shop windows, plexiglass bus shelters or even puddles rather than directly at the subject) and surveillance (put a cheap watch under a tire on a subject's car; if he drives off, the watch's broken face will reveal the time of departure) stand out from sections that appear mere padding (on the detective's ``sense of self,'' for example), from the authors' intrusively articulated mutual admiration, and from the numerous instances where the duo outlines formula lies designed to expedite information-gathering from civil servants. A lot of their advice is just common sense; much of the writing coyly hardboiled--but would-be Columbos will not mind in the least. (Jan.)