I got halfway and stopped reading this for a while. The upshot: I like Toby Peters, but not enough to want to read the next book in the series. And I must have missed something when he has his epiphany over who the killer is, since it's a clue that totally shot by me. Sigh. ( )

This was a lot of fun. I enjoyed the Hollywood setting as well as the famous characters such as Raymond Chandler, Judy Garland and Clark Gable who are all part of the story. Funny, with a hard-boiled flavour, which seems an unlikely combination. I'll definitely be reading more Kaminsky. ( )

Very light read but if you are looking for something fun and fast this is it. Double bonus that the Wizard of Oz plays a big part of the back story. ( )

Murder on the Yellow Brick Road by Stuart Kaminski is the second entry in his Toby Peters series about a Private Investigator set in Hollywood of the 1940’s. These books are fun to read as the author is not shy about dropping plenty of Hollywood references and names into the mix. Toby himself is a stereotypical wise-cracking homage to PI Phillip Marlowe, and in this outing we get an actual appearance by author Raymond Chandler and lots of nods in the direction of his book, The Big Sleep.

It is the autumn of 1940 and Toby gets a phone call from actress Judy Garland. She has found the body of a Munchkin lying face-up on the yellow brick road on the old Wizard of Oz set. As Toby begins to put the pieces together the situation gets even more complicated when someone tries to poison Miss Garland. Hired by Lewis B. Mayer to solve the crime, protect his stars and, most importantly, keep the publicity to a minimum, it isn’t long before someone is taking potshots at Toby as well. Luckily he is able to rely on Judy Garland, Clark Gable and the aforementioned Raymond Chandler to help him solve the case.

Lighthearted dialogue, funny situations and a noirish feel make these books great reads. I am a huge fan of vintage movies so the Hollywood setting is fascinating to me. The celebrities I have met through these books have come across very much as how I have pictured them to be. While the mysteries themselves are fairly easy to figure out (hint: the killer is always going to be one of the fictional characters) the classical Hollywood atmosphere captivates me. I am already looking forward to my next Toby Peters book. ( )

a recommended author. great read thus far ( )