Masao Masuto Series by Howard Fast
Masao Masuto #1
The Case of the Angry Actress
Howard Fast
Detective Masuto investigates a Hollywood mogul’s sudden death. The residents of Beverly Hills tend to underestimate a Buddhist homicide detective, and Masao Masuto is happy to let them make that mistake. A second-generation Japanese-American, he relishes the thrill of a puzzling murder case. And Masuto will need all his powers of deduction to understand the murder of Al Greenberg. The producer was giving a party when his heart stopped. After years of bad health, Greenberg’s abrupt death is no surprise. But one of the dead man’s producing partners claims to have overheard an unknown woman taunting Greenberg, while he pleaded, “put that gun away and give me my medicine.” It appears Greenberg was frightened to death. To find the killer, Masuto must dig into the darkest secrets of the mogul’s past. Greenberg will not be the last to die.
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Masao Masuto #2
The Case of the One-Penny Orange
Howard Fast
Detective Masuto investigates a string of strange Southern California crimes that lead all the way back to Nazi Germany. Returning from a funeral, Mr. and Mrs. Jack Briggs find their Beverly Hills mansion ransacked. As they wait for the police, they discover something unusual: Despite the chaos, nothing appears to be missing—a fact that greatly interests Beverly Hills police detective Masao Masuto. But the Zen detective only has a few minutes to ponder the strange break-in before a murder intervenes. The victim is Ivan Gaycheck, a stamp dealer whom Masuto remembers for his stout frame and unplaceable accent. A .22-caliber bullet killed Gaycheck, but—just like the Briggs’s home invasion—nothing in the shop has been disturbed. Suspecting a connection between the two crimes, Masuto dives into the case, uncovering a strange conspiracy that stretches back to the darkest days of World War II.
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Masao Masuto #3
Masao Masuto #3
The Case of the Russian Diplomat
Howard Fast
A murder investigation at a high-priced hotel reveals a deadly plot reaching the highest seats of power!
They call the pool at the Beverly Glen Hotel “the naked hooker.” To the frustration of the Beverly Hills police department, the women there are so high class that it’s impossible to distinguish guests and girlfriends from professionals. Women flock to the lavish hotel because it teems with film stars, businessmen—and America’s richest criminals. Tonight, to detective Masao Masuto’s chagrin, there is the body of a naked man in the pool. Though the management insists the death was accidental, Masuto doubts that any man would hide his own clothes before taking a midnight swim. The woman who reported the body is gone by the time the police reach her room, and the man they find there, Jack Stillman, insists there was nobody staying with him. The next day Stillman is dead, and Masao Masuto has a killing spree to deal with—one that leads to a tangled web of espionage and international conspiracy.
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Masao Masuto #4
The Case of the Poisoned Eclairs
Howard Fast
A dog’s murder leads detective Masuto to a most unusual poisoning case!
In Beverly Hills, murder has suddenly gone out of style. For five weeks, the head of the city’s tiny homicide squad, Zen detective Masao Masuto, has worked only robbery investigations. But after more than a month without a corpse, this dry spell is about to end.
The dead woman is Ana Fortez, a Chicana whose death was originally classified as terminal food poisoning brought on by a feast of botulism-infested éclairs. But because botulism can only grow in an airtight space, the medical examiner warns Masuto that the fatal bacteria must have been purposefully injected into the pastry. When a wealthy housewife’s dog drops dead after munching on premium chocolates, Masuto finds that her bonbons have been laced with the same toxin. He begins a search for a killer targeting the sweet tooth of Beverly Hills—proof that crime in Southern California never stays boring for long.
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Masao Masuto #5
The Case of the Sliding Pool
Howard Fast
A rare California deluge unearths a hidden body—and a decades-old crime. Rain has spoiled Masao Masuto's vacation. For six days the storm has trapped the Zen Buddhist detective and his family inside their Los Angeles cottage. By the morning of his vacation's final day, he is so stir crazy that the call to come to work is a relief. Detective Masuto knows no better cure for boredom than a puzzling murder. Nothing remains of the deceased man but his bones. A mudslide caused by the long, punishing storm destroyed the terrace of a Beverly Hills mansion, dislodging the swimming pool and opening a grave which had been covered for three decades. The skeleton's deep stab wound suggests a professional's hand—possibly a World War II veteran with commando training. As Masuto pries into the past, the aged murderer takes deadly steps to cover up his long-forgotten crime. The detective finds himself locked in a game of cat and mouse with a brilliant and ruthless killer.
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Masao Masuto #6
The Case of the Kidnapped Angel
Howard Fast
Detective Masuto investigates a Hollywood kidnapping that leads to a shocking conspiracy!
Angel is Hollywood royalty. Her husband, Mike Barton, is one of the silver screen’s most bankable stars, and their marriage has all the hallmarks of a Beverly Hills fairy tale. But everything about Angel’s past is kept secret, including her real name. When reporters ask why Mike dubbed her Angel, she says that she must have fallen from heaven. No one knows where Angel Barton is from, and now no one knows where she has gone. When his wife disappears, Barton readily agrees to a million dollar ransom demanded by her kidnappers, but Zen detective Masao Masuto doesn’t buy his performance. As Masuto pries into the strange kidnapping case, he finds that Barton might be much more likely to pay to get rid of his wife than to keep her.
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Masao Masuto #6
Masao Masuto #7
The Case of the Murdered MacKenzie
Howard Fast
Detective Masuto reopens an investigation into a murderous film star—with deadly consequences!
On the day that Eve Mackenzie murders her husband, Masao Masuto is on a plane to Japan. For years he and his wife, both American-born Japanese, have dreamed of visiting their homeland, and though the trip is a delight, the Zen Buddhist detective cannot help but check the international papers for news of murder on his home turf of Beverly Hills. Part of him regrets missing the sensational Mackenzie killing. Once a high-profile film star, Eve faded from the public eye after wedding a wealthy Scotsman—an unhappy marriage that ended in bloodshed. When Masuto returns home, Eve is headed toward an inevitable conviction. Why, then, does he reopen the case? The evidence against the Hollywood starlet is so airtight that Masuto suspects a frame-up. As he pries into the closed case, more blood spills. Eve Mackenzie may not have murdered her husband, but she is far from innocent.
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