The Toby Peters mystery series is set primarily in Hollywood, California. Each book in the series is centered around a celebrity. Toby is a perpetually down-on-his-luck private eye; the books are humorous and clever. There are 24 books in the series.
Murder on the Yellow Brick Road is set in 1940, and Judy Garland is one of the primary characters. Toby gets a call from Warren Hoff at M.G.M., who requests that he look into the death of a little person dressed up as a Munchkin. The body was found on an old set of The Wizard of Oz, which had come out the previous year. Toby soon meets Judy Garland, who had heard his name at a party recently and wants him to work on the case. In addition to the humor and the intricate mystery plot, this book also features cameos of Clark Gable and Raymond Chandler.
About the author:
Stuart M. Kaminsky (September 29, 1934 – October 9, 2009) was an American mystery writer and film professor. He is best known for the Toby Peters mysteries and the Inspector Rostnikov series set in Russia, consisting of 16 books. He received the 1989 Edgar Award for Best Novel for A Cold Red Sunrise, a novel in the Inspector Rostnikov series. He was a past president of the Mystery Writers of America and in 2006 received the Grand Master Award from that organization.
Kaminsky also published two shorter series. The Abe Lieberman series of ten books is set in Chicago; Lieberman is a sixty-year-old Chicago police detective. The Lew Fonesca series is set in Sarasota, Florida. Fonesca is a process server who ends up investigating crimes. There are 6 books in the series.
I am a big fan of Kaminsky's mysteries. I have read all but the last book in the Inspector Rostnikov series. I would like to read all of the Toby Peters books, but I have to find out how many books I already own. I have read the first book in both of the other two series and I thought they were excellent. The series are all different.
4 comments:
Oh, I like this series an awful lot, too, Tracy. Toby Peters is a great character, and I like Kaminsky's wit. I also like the look it gives at the Hollywood of those times. I'm very glad you enjoyed this one, and it's good to be reminded of thsee books...
I have done the opposite, Tracy. I've read all the Toby Peters series and only one of the inspector Rostnikov series. I'm a big fan of Toby and hope to get to more Rastnikov soon. In addition to his mystery novels, Kaminsky was a film professor and historian; he was noted for writing the English dialogue for Sergio Leone's 1984 film ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA.
I'm not usually drawn to stories set in Hollywood, but this sounds like a great series! I think it's fun when authors include real people in their fiction. I'll have to see if I can find any of these. Do they need to be read in order?
I must read Stuart Kaminsky because old Hollywood a great place to set a mystery. And Toby sounds interesting. Im curious if Toby will be asked to sove a crime involving the Maltese Falcon production. What a great cast Bogart, Lorre, Astor and Greenstreet
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