Think Fast, Mr. Peters (A Toby Peters Mystery)

Rating:
Summary: Nice work, Mr. Kaminsky!
Review: As a Peter Lorre fan who was very disappointed with Leslie Epstein's offensively inaccurate portrayal of my favorite actor in his novel "Pandaemonium," I was delighted when a friend tipped me off to this little-known mystery novel belonging to the "Hollywood movie star helps solve a crime" subgenre. Kaminsky cleverly uses the conceit of a Peter Lorre impersonator (at a time when Hollywood was swarming with them) as a device to draw both the real Lorre and series sleuth Toby Peters into a Macguffin chase that provides an excuse for an entertaining excursion into wartime Los Angeles society, in and out of the movie industry. The mystery angle doesn't really amount to much, but for a movie buff it's a pleasurable ride.

Rating:
Summary: Nice work, Mr. Kaminsky!
Review: As a Peter Lorre fan who was very disappointed with Leslie Epstein's offensively inaccurate portrayal of my favorite actor in his novel "Pandaemonium," I was delighted when a friend tipped me off to this little-known mystery novel belonging to the "Hollywood movie star helps solve a crime" subgenre. Kaminsky cleverly uses the conceit of a Peter Lorre impersonator (at a time when Hollywood was swarming with them) as a device to draw both the real Lorre and series sleuth Toby Peters into a Macguffin chase that provides an excuse for an entertaining excursion into wartime Los Angeles society, in and out of the movie industry. The mystery angle doesn't really amount to much, but for a movie buff it's a pleasurable ride.