From Publishers Weekly
Edgar Award winner Kaminsky ( Poor Butterfly ) pairs his 1940s L.A. private investigator Toby Peters with surrealist painter Salvador Dali in the series hero's 16th outrageous escapade. Dali and his wife, Gala, hire Peters to find three paintings and three ornate Russian clocks stolen from their house in Carmel. The only clue is an enigmatic note that, once deciphered with the help of his friend Jeremy Butler, ex-wrestler and poet, leads Peters to a murdered man, one clock and a painting defaced with another coded message. Aided again by Jeremy, Peters discovers another dead man, another clock and another work of art, on which is scrawled the message "Time is running out. "Dali confesses planning the theft and the notes as a publicity stunt, but he is horrified by the murders. Peters fears that the painter will be the third victim and enlists the aid of Jeremy and another friend, Gunther, for protection. Once again Kaminsky mixes the real--in this case the surreal--with the fictional for a quick-paced, clever revisionist Hollywood romp.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
Hollywood-40's p.i. Toby Peters agrees to recover three paintings and three clocks stolen from the house of Salvador Dali and his wife Gala. The first two paintings and clocks turn up at places indicated by tricky messages (``Look for the second PLACE in Los Angeles'') that don't mention the dead men who turn up with them; the third is promised for a fatal denouement already forecast by the flashforward opening chapter. Dali's pretentiously determined clowning--he first appears in bunny suit and deerstalker--makes him a natural for Toby's beat, but he's practically the only character of any interest or consequence, as the solution will reveal. Above average for this uneven series (Poor Butterfly, 1970, etc.), though not in the same league as Kaminsky's stories about Inspector Rostnikov. --
Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
