Toby Peters Series by Stuart M. Kaminsky
Toby Peters #1
Toby Peters #2
Toby Peters #3
Toby Peters #4
Toby Peters #5
Toby Peters #6
Toby Peters #7
Toby Peters #8
Toby Peters #9
Toby Peters #11
The Man Who Shot Lewis Vance
Stuart M. Kaminsky
A hotel murder involves Toby Peters with one of Hollywood’s toughest starsToby Peters wakes up with a headache, a gun in his face, and a body on the hotel-room bed. He is less surprised by the gun than by the man holding it: Marion Morrison, a.k.a John Wayne. Both of them were lured here by the dead man. The next arrival is a prostitute named Olivia, and hot on her heels is the house detective, who’s come to check on the commotion in Room 303. Reasoning that nobody knows all four of them besides the desk clerk, Teddy, the two detectives haul Teddy upstairs, where he confesses to the murder. Wayne, Peters, and Olivia all have careers to protect, so the house detective agrees to keep their names out of it. It all seems too simple. As he looks into the murder, Toby finds that powerful people want to stop him from learning what happened while he was sleeping in Room 303.
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Toby Peters #12
Smart Moves
Stuart M. Kaminsky
Only Toby Peters stands in the way of a plot to murder Albert EinsteinA dentist dangles from the window of a swanky Park Avenue hotel. Toby Peters, a Los Angeles detective who’s very far from home, clutches the man by his jacket, which tears slowly, stich by stich. A dead man lies on the bed, while his killer batters the room door, which is going to pieces as quickly as the dentist’s jacket. Somehow, this entire mess is Albert Einstein’s fault. Two nefarious groups have been threatening the great physicist. One, a ring of blackmailers who claim to have evidence that he has been passing nuclear secrets to Russia. The other, a gang of Nazi assassins intent on doing away one of the most famous opponents of Hitler’s rule. Einstein hires Toby Peters to nip both problems in the bud. But if Einstein can’t figure it out, what chance does Toby have?
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Toby Peters #13
Think Fast, Mr. Peters
Stuart M. Kaminsky
This book is a facsimile reprint and may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages.
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Toby Peters #15
Toby Peters #16
Toby Peters #17
The Devil Met a Lady
Stuart M. Kaminsky
FIRST TRADE PAPERBACK EDITIONBY EDGAR AWARD-WINNING AUTHORSTUART KAMINSKY "I'm here," came a familiar voice. I turned and found myself looking at Bette Davis no more than a half a dozen feet in front of me. She strode forward around two couples and stood in front of me with a smile that could kill. The orchestra had picked up the theme and it was hard to hear her as she said: "Why are you following me?" Why has legendary actress Bette Davis been kidnapped not once, not twice, but three times? And what does her abduction have to do with the Third Reich's attempts to steal America's plans for a top-secret superbomber? In pursuit of answers, private eye Toby Peters must penetrate a hapless spy ring composed of third-rate Tinseltown tough guys, and delve into the bedroom peccadillos of America's glitter set. As bodies begin piling around him, he finds himself racing to the rescue of Miss Davis. But if he fails in his mission, who'll protect Peters from the wrath of the star...?From Kirkus ReviewsAnother pleasantly foolish outing for Toby Peters (The Melting Clock, 1991, etc.), shamus to Hollywood's Golden Age stars. The client this time (1943) is Bette Davis's husband Arthur Farnsworth, whose aeronautical research on a modified bombsight has brought him to the attention of a gang that wants to swap the plans for an old sound-recording that Toby would rather forget--a record of how Davis's first husband, Ham Nelson, blackmailed Howard Hughes over a little performance coaching she gave him--and threatens to kidnap the star if Farnsworth won't play ball. The byplay between Toby and Davis, who stops recycling dialogue from her movies only long enough to get snatched three times, is the high point here; better pass over the mystery in silence. Bright and insubstantial as a meringue. Not the best in this waggish, venerable series. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.ReviewSan Diego Union-Tribune Shades of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. If you think Stuart Kaminsky doesn't have a feeling for the best of both authors, you are in for a surprise. -- Review
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Toby Peters #18
Toby Peters #19
Toby Peters #21
A Few Minutes Past Midnight
Stuart M. Kaminsky
Toby Peters is an unusual private eye. He's already cracked cases involving Humphrey Bogart, the Marx Brothers, John Wayne and Mae West, and now is gumshoeing for the celebrated screen star Charlie Chaplin. Welcome to Hollywood. Chaplin has cause for alarm. A sinister visitor wielding a large knife has not only rudely paid the movie legend a midnight call but also threatened him with death unless he stops production on his latest project, a film in which wealthy old women are married and then murdered for their money. Chaplin has been warned, too, that he'd better stay away from one Fiona Sullivan. Or else. Fiona, of course, is Toby's only lead.From Publishers WeeklyIt's a mystery how a rumpled, unprepossessing sort of private eye like Toby Peters has lasted long enough to save the hides of Hollywood stars such as the Marx Brothers and Bette Davis, literary luminaries William Faulkner and Dashiell Hammett and even political powerhouse Eleanor Roosevelt. Nonetheless, the intrepid sleuth returns for a 21st outing, his first since 1997's A Fatal Glass of Beer. It's 1943, and a beleaguered Charlie Chaplin is in need of Peters's services. A strange man has threatened Chaplin, whose latest movie project, about a serial killer who woos, marries and murders older women, seems to have offended a real-life counterpart. A familiar supporting cast is on hand to aid Peters: massive Jeremy Butler, ex-wrestler-turned-poet; Sheldon Minck, inept dentist and inventor; and Gunther Wherthman, suave, multilingual little person. With broad humor more likely to invite smiles than laughs and a substantial framework of nostalgia (Kaminsky doesn't just throw names around, he really evokes the era), Peters and friends pursue a crafty killer. Older readers will enjoy references that may be obscure to younger ones. For example, Peters drives a Crosley that "runs on washing machine and refrigerator parts," a reference to the defunct Crosley Co. that manufactured radios, refrigerators and appliances as well as cars. In sum, the author's facile competence has produced an amusing story full of suitable heroics. (Aug. 1)novels, including ongoing series about Russian policeman Porfiry Rostnikov, Chicago cop Abe Lieberman and Jim Rockford of TV's Rockford Files.Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.From BooklistIn December 1943, Charlie Chaplin is not the most popular man in America. He's never become an American citizen; he's a Communist sympathizer; and he has just married a much younger woman. When a man shows up at Chaplin's home wielding a knife, the actor hires private investigator Toby Peters. The trail leads to a serial killer who targets older women--which just happens to be the theme of a script Chaplin is hoping to film. Toby, with his crew of amateur assistants--among them a poetic ex-wrestler, a well-armed midget, and a dentist--finds himself drowning in false clues as the case becomes ever more muddled. Kaminsky is an Edgar-winning author of 60 mystery novels in four detective series. Toby Peters may be his best-known character and is arguably his most endearing. Peters is an everyman with bills, an ex-wife he still misses, a drab room in a cheap boardinghouse, and a surprisingly optimistic view of the future. He's a good guy with a sense of humor, and every appearance he makes is a welcome one. Wes LukowskyCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Toby Peters #24
