Columbo: The Game Show Killer [Mass Market Paperback]

William Harrington (Author)

Book Description

Series: Columbo | Publication Date: July 15, 1997

For over twenty-five years, Columbo has been the most popular , and persistent, detective on television, drawing millions of viewers a week. William Harrington's compelling new novel pits the famous TV detectives against one of the most brilliant and flamboyant lawyers in the country. It may seem like the perfect murder, but if there's the tiniest flaw, the famous Lieutenant Columbo will find it.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Everyman's detective is just as dogged as ever in his pursuit of justice. Grant Kellogg, the most successful defense attorney in L.A., comes to the annoying realization that a million dollars doesn't go as far as it used to. In fact, after his last acquittal, it's the defendant who inks a book contract and makes out like a bandit. So Kellogg decides to build his own trial of the century?but this time, he'll have a piece of the action. Six years earlier, game-show hostess Erika Bjorling's daughter, Tammy, was kidnapped and murdered and the culprit was never found. The glamorous Bjorling is now hurting for money. Sharklike, Kellogg tells her the killer was Tammy's father, beloved western star Tim Wylie, whose indiscretions have been one of Hollywood's best-kept secrets. Next, Kellogg tells her his plan: she kills Wylie, gets caught, goes to trial, is defended by Kellogg and acquitted, after which the two of them clean up on a book deal and some pay-per-view. As it turns out, Columbo is the steepest slope of all in this lightning-fast read. Still clad in his rumpled raincoat, still endearing and untroubled, he takes on greed and cynicism in his droopy, inimitable way. The prose is thin?Harrington doesn't waste time on complex characterizations?and there's barely a whiff of suspense, but readers will come away as satisfied as the tourists who gather to watch Old Faithful spout.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

True to the format of the television series, this latest Columbo novel begins with the perfect murder and then follows the self-effacing LAPD detective around as he pieces together motive and method. Revered elder statesman of the screen Tim Wylie is murdered in his home with no sign of forced entry. A note seems to implicate Erika Bj" rling, a former game-show hostess with whom Wylie had an illegitimate child two decades earlier. There's also some evidence of blackmail on Bj" rling's part or even revenge: Bj" rling and Wylie's love child was murdered years ago, and many felt Wylie may have been responsible. Perplexed as always, Columbo is confused further when Grant Kellog, Bj" rling's highly regarded defense attorney, begins selling her story before the trial begins. The fun in this profit-by-murder caper comes in watching Columbo, clearly a man of simple tastes, try to understand the machinations of the profoundly greedy. Wes Lukowsky --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books (July 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812550803
• ISBN-13: 978-0812550801
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #899,588 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Another Poor Attempt to Capture the Spirit of Columbo, March 28, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Columbo: The Game Show Killer (Mass Market Paperback)

For those of you who have watched the Columbo show for many years, you will be sorely disappointed by this book, as well as the entire Columbo series. The brilliance of the old show was the subtlety in which Columbo got things done. Here, all the subtlety is pushed to the front as the reader can barely go 5 pages without a reference to Mrs. Columbo. There is no panache in which the murder is solved. No, hard-hitting Columbo. Just boring, diffuse, loose ends, that when they come together, you wish you would have sat down and watched on of the episodes that you've already seen 20 times.

4.0 out of 5 stars Not the Best of Columbo, January 18, 2012

By 

jiffy - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Columbo: The Game Show Killer (Mass Market Paperback)

I am a big fan of Lieutenant Columbo. I loved the TV shows and this is the fourth book I have read in the series by William Harrington. It is not the best. The plot is complex and not very believable. A famous defense attorney made up a story to convince a former game show star to commit a murder so he could get her acquitted and they could both make millions on books, movie rights, and TV appearances. He told her that her teenage daughter, who had been murdered many years earlier, was killed by the girl's father, an aging superstar. In her anger, she agreed to the plan and killed the actor. Lieutenant Columbo was able to arrest her quickly but figuring out the lawyer's role was more difficult. I was never convinced that a brilliant attorney would concoct such a harebrained scheme or that another person would actually go along with it. I also felt that the character of Lieutenant Columbo was not as well developed as in the earlier books and his speech patterns won't ring true to anyone who knows him from TV. So why give the book four stars? Because I couldn't put it down. It's got a lot of faults but it's still a good read.