Murder on the Yellow Brick Road

Rating:
Summary: witty, period mystery for oz and noir fans
Review: clever mystery writing from one of the best contemplorary mystery writeres--evocative of the 40s and with a cool cover!

Rating:
Summary: Good storytelling, predictable plot...
Review: Kaminsky's Toby Peters is a classic hard boiled detective and lives up to the title in this book. It has all the elements of a good L.A. noir story and is handled well. The extra(s) are the inclusion of many historically famous personalities (Raymond Chandler, Judy Garland, Louis B. Mayer, etc.)

That being said this book suffers from the same thing all books written about pre-war L.A. by people who weren't really there. The descriptions and directions tend to sound like someone reading off of a 1940's California map along with pictures from an old Life magazine.

Its fast-paced, short, and to the point. Its worth the time, however you won't remember much of it after you're done.

Rating:
Summary: Good storytelling, predictable plot...
Review: Kaminsky's Toby Peters is a classic hard boiled detective and lives up to the title in this book. It has all the elements of a good L.A. noir story and is handled well. The extra(s) are the inclusion of many historically famous personalities (Raymond Chandler, Judy Garland, Louis B. Mayer, etc.)

That being said this book suffers from the same thing all books written about pre-war L.A. by people who weren't really there. The descriptions and directions tend to sound like someone reading off of a 1940's California map along with pictures from an old Life magazine.

Its fast-paced, short, and to the point. Its worth the time, however you won't remember much of it after you're done.

Rating:
Summary: Pay no attention to the picture up there!
Review: The dust jacket on the hardcover is apropos. It has a picture of a bleeding Munchkin with a dagger through his heart lying on the Yellow Brick Road.

It's November 1, 1940. The Wizard of OZ premiered last year. FDR is running for a 3rd term. Who is killing former Munchkins? Is Judy Garland in danger? Tobias Leo Pevsner, (a/k/a Toby Peters) P.I. is on the case for MGM. (MGM wants to control publicity spin and avoid official police "blue tape.)

The book, written by a Northwestern University film professor, is a take-off on the "hard-boiled" detective sagas of an earlier age. In a hilarious plot twist, Toby stumbles on some guy he's never heard of who claims to be a writer of detective stories. The guy's name? "Chandler, Raymond Chandler" who tells our hero he has written a couple of books: "The Big Sleep" and "Farewell, My Lovely" - neither of which our hero has ever heard of either. Nonetheless, Mr. Chandler becomes his sometime partner on the case. If you like things Oz, I recommend this book and also the movie "Under the Rainbow" - a spoof of the making of the Wizard of Oz, with Chevy Chase and Carrie Fisher trying to manage the mischievous Munchkins.

Rating:
Summary: Pay no attention to the picture up there!
Review: The dust jacket on the hardcover is apropos. It has a picture of a bleeding Munchkin with a dagger through his heart lying on the Yellow Brick Road.

It's November 1, 1940. The Wizard of OZ premiered last year. FDR is running for a 3rd term. Who is killing former Munchkins? Is Judy Garland in danger? Tobias Leo Pevsner, (a/k/a Toby Peters) P.I. is on the case for MGM. (MGM wants to control publicity spin and avoid official police "blue tape.)

The book, written by a Northwestern University film professor, is a take-off on the "hard-boiled" detective sagas of an earlier age. In a hilarious plot twist, Toby stumbles on some guy he's never heard of who claims to be a writer of detective stories. The guy's name? "Chandler, Raymond Chandler" who tells our hero he has written a couple of books: "The Big Sleep" and "Farewell, My Lovely" - neither of which our hero has ever heard of either. Nonetheless, Mr. Chandler becomes his sometime partner on the case. If you like things Oz, I recommend this book and also the movie "Under the Rainbow" - a spoof of the making of the Wizard of Oz, with Chevy Chase and Carrie Fisher trying to manage the mischievous Munchkins.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic leisure reading.
Review: This book is one of the first mystery novels that I've ever picked up, started, and felt compelled to keep reading until I finished it. Stuart Kaminsky blends the familiar elements of a murder mystery with a good dose of humor and eroticism (don't worry, it's not obscene). The whole book is tied together with the completely unpredictable, sick, yet hilarious conclusion. I'm not a person who reads a lot of mystery novels (or a lot of books in general), but Stuart Kaminsky is the most fun author I have ever read. Murder on the Yellow Brick Road was the first Kaminsky book I read, and it led me to buy 2 more of his books (Dancing in the Dark and The Devil Met a Lady), both of which are similarly fun but not quite as good from a mystery reader standpoint. If you're just looking for a good mystery novel that is also very fun, go ahead and pick up a copy of Murder on the Yellow Brick Road. Oh, and don't let your kids read it.

Rating:
Summary: Take Me Back to Kansas
Review: This book has unique hook in its setting and peripheral characters and its surface details will most likely please classic film fans, but if you're in the market for even a remotely intriguing or original story, this is not the book for you. Kaminsky trys to mask the fact that the plot of the book is mundane and predictable by dropping names like Judy Garland and Clark Gable. But just as I knew the outcome by page 20 of the book, I could see through the nostalgic veneer.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic leisure reading.
Review: This book is one of the first mystery novels that I've ever picked up, started, and felt compelled to keep reading until I finished it. Stuart Kaminsky blends the familiar elements of a murder mystery with a good dose of humor and eroticism (don't worry, it's not obscene). The whole book is tied together with the completely unpredictable, sick, yet hilarious conclusion. I'm not a person who reads a lot of mystery novels (or a lot of books in general), but Stuart Kaminsky is the most fun author I have ever read. Murder on the Yellow Brick Road was the first Kaminsky book I read, and it led me to buy 2 more of his books (Dancing in the Dark and The Devil Met a Lady), both of which are similarly fun but not quite as good from a mystery reader standpoint. If you're just looking for a good mystery novel that is also very fun, go ahead and pick up a copy of Murder on the Yellow Brick Road. Oh, and don't let your kids read it.

Rating:
Summary: A Murder Mystery in Oz
Review: This is a charming story all about the discovery of a murdered munchkin one year after the film had been completed.The corpse is discovered on the set of Munchkinland, and Judy Garland, nervous and frightened, hires a detective to find the killer. It's short, creative, and a nice look at the 1930's era of Hollywood.

Rating:
Summary: Too predictable
Review: This is the first Kaminsky book I've read, and I can't say that I'm impressed. A midget who played a munchkin in the Wizard of Oz is found dead on the set of the movie and Toby Peters must find the killer. Although it sounds semi-interesting, I found it hard to get into. The characters were very dull, and it was hard to envision such a blockhead as Toby Peters interviewing the likes of Judy Garland and Clark Gable. And most annoying of all, to me it was much too obvious who the killer was. I think the only good thing about this book is that it is only 171 pages long!