Part of Series
Someone 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 hadn't been for the knife sticking out of his chest. The year is 1940, and Los Angeles-based private eye Toby Peters has been called before the real-life Wizard of Oz himselfLouis B. Mayer, legendary studio head of Metro-Goldwyn Mayer. His job: to track down a murderer stalking the back lots of one of Hollywood's 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. It's 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 Hollywood's new Wicked Witch of the West . .?
Author
Stuart M. Kaminsky wrote 50 published novels, 5 biographies, 4 textbooks and 35 short stories. He also has screenwriting credits on four produced films including ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA, ENEMY TERRITORY, A WOMAN IN THE WIND and HIDDEN FEARS. He was a past president of the Mystery Writers of America and was nominated for six prestigious Edgar Allen Poe Awards including one for his short story “Snow” in 1999. He won an Edgar for his novel A COLD RED SUNRISE, which was also awarded the Prix De Roman D’Aventure of France. He was nominated for both a Shamus Award and a McCavity Readers Choice Award. Kaminsky wrote several popular series including those featuring Lew Fonesca, Abraham Lieberman, Inspector Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov, and Toby Peters. He also wrote two original "Rockford Files " novels. He was the 50th annual recipient of the Grandmaster 2006 for Lifetime Achievement from the Mystery Writers of America. Received the Shamus Award, "The Eye" (Lifetime achievement award) in 2007. His nonfiction books including BASIC FILMMAKING, WRITING FOR TELEVISION, AMERICAN FILM GENRES, and biographies of GARY COOPER, CLINT EASTWOOD, JOHN HUSTON and DON SIEGEL. BEHIND THE MYSTERY was published by Hot House Press in 2005 and nominated by Mystery Writers of America for Best Critical/Biographical book in 2006. Kaminsky held a B.S. in Journalism and an M.A. in English from The University of Illinois and a Ph.D. in Speech from Northwestern University where he taught for 16 years before becoming a Professor at Florida State. where he headed the Graduate Conservatory in Film and Television Production. He left Florida State in 1994 to pursue full-time writing. Kaminsky and his wife, Enid Perll, moved to St. Louis, Missouri in March 2009 to await a liver transplant to treat the hepatitis he contracted as an army medic in the late 1950s in France. He suffered a stroke two days after their arrival in St. Louis, which made him ineligible for a transplant. He died on October 9, 2009.
