Keith Moody's life is coming together nicely: happily married to Myra, his first novel published (to good reviews, though the sales left something to be desired), his second in the hands of his agent, and now, here on the beach, someone is reading his book. When he goes over to the young man to find out if he likes it, to offer to autograph it for him, Moody finds himself staring down the barrel of a gun and into the eyes of a madman.... Getting away is relatively easy, a matter of some fast talk and promises. But nothing seems to help when Moody discovers that someone has made him a target. He has nothing of value, though he does have his old job as a screenwriter for Empire Productions back - and under conditions he finds more than acceptable after the horrible events that led to his being fired. But then the man living in his old apartment is murdered and while the cops drag Moody to the scene, someone breaks into his new home, ransacking it. Fortunately, Myra wasn't there at the time; unfortunately, she's about to be kidnapped....
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
This adventure is notable more for its atmospheric authenticity than its puzzle. It's 1944 in Hollywood, and three years have passed since screenwriter and novelist Keith Moody was introduced in Far from Heaven. While his wife is away for the reading of her uncle's will, Moody meets a man reading his book--a rare event in the not-too-successful scribe's life--but when he strikes up a conversation, the fan pulls a gun and asks for his wallet instead of his signature. Moody saves his cash, but further efforts to elude the wacky reader draw him into the grisly murder of the current tenant at his former home. Moody's fortunes seem to turn when he is rehired at Empire Productions to write a script for English heartthrob Nigel Lawson. Another turn of the wheel, however, sets Nazi agents, FBI men, the local cops and some weird nursing-home operators in apparent pursuit of Moody and his wife. It's all plenty convoluted, but Matthews keeps the trip enjoyable with the 1940s ambiance, the beleaguered Moody family and a final odd caper that involves smuggling a coffin into Mexico.
Copyright 1998 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Reading Under the Dust,
By
This review is from: Come to Dust (Keith Moody Mystery) (Hardcover)
In need of something to read and only a few choices on my shelves, I finally settled for this little book I bought about a year ago in the bargain section of a local bookstore. After blowing the dust off the rather nondescript jacket, I settled down to my usual hour or two of reading after going to bed. Suddenly it was four hours later and I was halfway through the novel!This quirky little mystery is like watching a Nick and Nora Charles Thin Man movie from the `40s. I pictured Keith (the protagonist) and Myra Moody as William Powell and Myrna Loy. The dialogue is full of that elegant, sophisticated banter they spoke so well. Keith, a failed novelist/former screenwriter, just can't keep trouble from finding him. Thus, his escapades, like having an imbecile threaten him with a gun on the beach in broad daylight to stealing a body from a nursing home, make this a laugh-a-minute twists-and-turns kind of novel that you can't put down. And there is a plethora of wacko characters, one of my favorites being the daffy desk clerk at the hotel Keith and Myra reside after their house is trashed. This fragile-egoed schizoid definitely deserves an award for best supporting character in a novel! The novel goes through many twists and turns with several seemingly unrelated events suddenly coming together and making sense. And after you cut through the humor, there is a seriousness that raises the question of where the dividing line is between obligation to a friend and integrity to oneself. All in all, this was a most enjoyable read. This is a sequel to Greg Matthews' FAR FROM HEAVEN, which I intend to read soon. Let's hope this isn't the end of the series.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
No dust settles on this plot,
By A Customer
This review is from: Come to Dust (Keith Moody Mystery) (Hardcover)
Another great Keith Moody mystery by Mr. Matthews.Moody is the ulitmate anti-hero. Although he has become more sophisticated than he was when we first met him in "Far from Heaven," his sense of humor had me laughing out loud at several points. But this is not solely a comic novel. It has moments of beauty,sorrow, and clarity that are uncommon in the mystery genre. I certainly hope there is a third installment, although the novel's ending has me guessing there will not be. That is a shame. Keith Moody and his smart-ass wife Myra are two of the most likeable charactors I've ever encountered in fiction.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A surprisingly substantial comic mystery,
By A Customer
This review is from: Come to Dust (Keith Moody Mystery) (Hardcover)
Walker is not known for publishing the best mystery novels, so the quality of COME TO DUST comes as a surprise. The opening chapters, in which a 4-F novelist comes across an equally 4-F thug while walking along the beach during WWII, are among the funniest I've read. The comedy slacks off a bit in later chapters, which begin to read a bit more like your average mid-list mystery (protag butts heads with a pair of sarcastic cops; protag comes across an injustice and rights the wrong; obligatory climactic twist, in this case ripped off shamelessly from the film "The Usual Suspects"), but even then the writing remains unusually strong (especially the crackling dialogue) and the novel sports an atmosphere of seriousness the average mystery lacks. The main character is a failure, and his sense of being a failure pervades the book. Far from being the turn-off this sounds like, it infuses the story with a richness not often found in its peers. A funnier and more sober mystery than the average, and well worth reading.
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