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Murder on the Yellow Brick Road
 
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Murder on the Yellow Brick Road [Audio CD]

Simon Brett (Author, Narrator)
3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

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Formats

 Amazon Price New from Used from
Hardcover --   -- --
Paperback --   -- --
Mass Market Paperback --   -- --
Audio, CD CDN $18.30   -- --
Audio, CD, December 2000 --   -- --

Product Details

Product Description

Book Description

FIRST TRADE PAPERBACK EDITION BY EDGAR AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR STUART KAMINSKY

³Someone had murdered a Munchkin. The little man was lying on his back in the middle of the yellow brick road with his startled eyes looking into the overhead lights of an M.G.M. sound stage. He might have looked kind of cute in a tinsel-town way if it hadn¹t been for the knife sticking out of his chest.²

The year is 1940, and Los Angeles-based private eye Toby Peters has been called before the real-life Wizard of Oz himself‹Louis B. Mayer, legendary studio head of Metro-Goldwyn Mayer. His job: to track down a murderer stalking the back lots of one of Hollywood¹s most powerful movie companies.

Peters sets to work, plumbing the depths of a world of dreamers, child stars, and half-sized philosophers, helped by none other than Clark Gable, Raymond Chandler, and Judy Garland. It¹s a treacherous trail of clues that Peters must follow‹one as winding as the Yellow Brick Road, and deadlier than a field of poppies.

But does Toby Peters possess enough brains, heart, and courage to solve this bizarre case before he becomes the latest victim of Hollywood¹s new Wicked Witch of the West . . . ?

³Spade and Marlowe have had plenty of imitators, but I think Stuart Kaminsky has come up with a true heir . . . Kaminsky adroitly blends imaginative fiction with real Hollywood characters.² St. Louis Post-Dispatch

³Shades of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. If you think Stuart Kaminsky doesn¹t have a feeling for the best of both authors, you are in for a surprise.² San Diego Union-Tribune

You can share your thoughts about Stuart Kaminsky's Murder on the Yellow Brick Road in the new ibooks virtual readers' group at www.ibooksinc.com. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From AudioFile

Toby Peters, private investigator, is called to the set of The Wizard of Oz, where a munchkin has been found murdered a year after the movie's release. Lane's baritone voice withstands the challenge of providing voices for the many characters in the story, and listeners can easily distinguish each one. While Lane's strong talent cannot convincingly mimic such well-known voices as Clark Gable and Judy Garland, this does not detract from the reading. Mysterious clues and Lane's delivery of the cynical humor entice the listener along the Yellow Brick Road to a surprise ending not in Kansas. P.A.J. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

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Customer Reviews

7 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.3 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic leisure reading., May 30 2002
By 
C. L. Stone (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Murder On The Yellow Brick Road (Toby Peters Mysteries) (Paperback)
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.
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3.0 out of 5 stars Good storytelling, predictable plot..., Mar 27 2001
By 
Erik J. Larsen (st. paul, mn) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Murder On The Yellow Brick Road (Toby Peters Mysteries) (Paperback)
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.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Pay no attention to the picture up there!, Jan 23 2001
By 
TundraVision (o/~ from the Land of Sky Blue Waters o/~) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Murder On The Yellow Brick Road (Toby Peters Mysteries) (Paperback)
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.

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