Columbo: The Hoffa Connection [Mass Market Paperback]

William Harrington (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 1996 | Series: Columbo

When a racy, beautiful rock mega-star is found floating dead in her Beverly Hills swimming pool, Columbo, America's favorite TV detective launches an investigation that takes him all the way to the coast of Italy, to the birthplace of the mafia. But to solve this case, Columbo must first tackle on of the most publicized and puzzling mysteries to sweep the United States--the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa exactly twenty years ago.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Having solved the murder of JFK (The Grassy Knoll) and the Tate-LaBianca killings (The Helter Skelter Murders), Lt. Columbo now digs into the mysterious disappearance of Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa. As in the previous volumes, it's a present-day crime that sets the rumpled L.A. cop on the chase-here, the murder of Regina, a raunchy, Madonna-like rock star. The killing and the killers are shown, just as in the TV episodes; the intrigue comes from seeing how Columbo will solve the case. What might have been a perfect crime goes astray when Regina is accidentally cut as two members of her entourage, acting on orders from a mysterious superior, force the star to stay in her swimming pool at knifepoint until she becomes exhausted and drowns. What follows involves mob conspiracy and counter-conspiracy-and lots of padding and some ludicrous plot twists, with the Hoffa linkage adding next to nothing to the weak and pointless story. To cap it off, Columbo's tried-and-true TV shtick, from the omnipresent cigar to the old raincoat to the verbal mannerisms, just don't work in print. This is one of those books that's worth reading only if your TV set is on the blink.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Columbo, the rumpled, cigar-chomping L.A. homicide detective, continues his transition from television to print as he investigates the murder of a Madonna-like pop superstar discovered drowned in her pool the morning after a postconcert party. All Columbo initially has to go on is the discovery of a small cut under the victim's left eye. The reader knows the murderer's identity from the start, of course, and the fun is traipsing along as Columbo questions those present and finds answers to all the "one more little thing(s)" that always catch his subjects off guard. This is a fine mystery, marred only by the "Hoffa connection." The series' conceit has Columbo solving modern cases, which leads to answers regarding famous unsolved mysteries. Here it's unnecessary. The Hoffa angle is trotted out at the conclusion (the superstar's murder was Mob related) and seems tacked on only to maintain the gimmick. Otherwise, this is a solid entry in an always entertaining series. Wes Lukowsky --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books; Revised edition (August 15, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812550781
• ISBN-13: 978-0812550788
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,861,501 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars This here book; Columbo three; it badly disappointed me., April 17, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Columbo: The Hoffa Connection (Mass Market Paperback)

What happened? Columbo would be deeply saddened to read how his character has been so trivialized and packaged for sensational appeal. So much of this story is padded with solicitous sex and violence. What dose oral sex have to do with case? Do we need to read how some second-level victims are "blown apart" by a large caliber weapon? Who can't tell what the Hoffa connection is going to be from the very start? I was very disappointed in the handling of this. There is a very minimal story line to begin with and the superfluous verbiage just makes it more tedious. Mr. Harrington can do better than this. You don't have to print ANYTHING; wait until you have the kind of story line that was so evident in the original TV series. That's what brings in the interest. What we've been given is an overdose of rumpled fluff and all the references to semen, gore and peek-a-boo sex don't make this a hotter, more palatable bowl of chili.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars VERY disappointing..., August 11, 2002

By 

Paul Muscat (Maryville, TN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Columbo: The Hoffa Connection (Mass Market Paperback)

Compared to his other 'Columbo' works, this is by far Harrington's worst. I never thought I'd see the day when I couldn't wait to finish a Columbo mystery just to finish it and get it over with, rather than for the finale where our hero normally breaks down the case and explains all. As it is in this one he explains bugger all and the 'Hoffa connection' is both ludicrous AND unnecessary. Top that with the fact that the Columbo we see in this book is so far removed from our beloved Columbo on TV that it looks like an entirely different detective PLUS the fact that one of the main characters, Mickey, switches from a last name of Newcastle to Newhouse with irritating regularity and you've got yourself a pretty lame effort... sorry!

5.0 out of 5 stars misleading title?, May 7, 2011

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bookbuyer - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Columbo: The Hoffa Connection (Harrington's Series) (Hardcover)

this book is amazing although the title may be a little misleading. anyway, i found the book to be thoroughly entertaining. (i believe this is the first and only fictional account of jimmy hoffa, and it features our "dumb" cop columbo.) this may be the most "gangster-ish" case columbo has ever been involved in, and the story is definitely "gangster-land".

this series in NOT written as a historical who-done-it. 4 of the books use historical references, and it looks like 2 are pure fiction. but as always, whether reading or watching columbo... reading between the lines is good for your brain.

i hope somebody does a mrs. columbo series before she got divorced from mr. columbo.