The Melting Clock (A Toby Peters Mystery) [Hardcover]

Stuart M. Kaminsky (Author)

Book Description

Series: A Toby Peters Mystery | Publication Date: December 1991

Tie into this month's Toby Peters mystery hardcover, The Devil Met a Lady, with his 16th adventure. Surrealist painter Salvador Dali enlists Toby's help in retrieving three stolen paintings--from thieves Dali hired as a publicity stunt.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Edgar Award winner Kaminsky ( Poor Butterfly ) pairs his 1940s L.A. private investigator Toby Peters with surrealist painter Salvador Dali in the series hero's 16th outrageous escapade. Dali and his wife, Gala, hire Peters to find three paintings and three ornate Russian clocks stolen from their house in Carmel. The only clue is an enigmatic note that, once deciphered with the help of his friend Jeremy Butler, ex-wrestler and poet, leads Peters to a murdered man, one clock and a painting defaced with another coded message. Aided again by Jeremy, Peters discovers another dead man, another clock and another work of art, on which is scrawled the message "Time is running out. "Dali confesses planning the theft and the notes as a publicity stunt, but he is horrified by the murders. Peters fears that the painter will be the third victim and enlists the aid of Jeremy and another friend, Gunther, for protection. Once again Kaminsky mixes the real--in this case the surreal--with the fictional for a quick-paced, clever revisionist Hollywood romp.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Any tale opening with Salvador Dali in a deerstalker and white-rabbit costume pursued by an axe-wielding monk while more consumed by his grasshopper phobia is bound to be considerable fun, and this Toby Peters mystery certainly is. Tom Parker gives each character a distinctive voice, with his French/Spanish accent for Dali a particular delight. Wartime Los Angeles detective Peters, previously on cases involving Fred Astaire, Albert Einstein, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, and other prominent 1940s figures (e.g., Poor Butterfly, Audio Reviews, LJ 1/97), has been hired by the immensely eccentric artist to recover three Dali paintings and three valuable Russian clocks. As with Lawrence Block's Bernie Rhodenbarr series, Kaminsky's book is more concerned with comic mood than with actual detection, and the plot weakens toward the end. Yet the period details about radio programs and dishes such as apples Eisenhower create a charming atmosphere. Highly recommended for public libraries.?Michael Adams, CUNY Graduate Ctr., New York
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 198 pages
• Publisher: Mysterious Pr; First Edition edition (December 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0892964359
• ISBN-13: 978-0892964352
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #641,133 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Clocks go Bong, October 5, 2010

By 

Nash Black "Troubadour" (Jamestown, KY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Melting Clock (Paperback)

Stuart M. Kaminsky takes the absurd to new heights with THE MELTING CLOCK. It is reading entertainment at its best.
A devious Salvador Dali hires Toby Peters to find three paintings, which he'd arranged to have stolen. The problem is he only arranged for two and three were taken. It is the third one which can destroy his career.
Step back to 1942 and enter the sleazy world of a private detective who can't seem to stop stumbling over bodies to complete his work for his clients.
Nash Black, author of SINS OF THE FATHERS.

5.0 out of 5 stars Fine Entry in Top Detective Series, May 29, 2010

By 

drkhimxz (Freehold, NJ, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Melting Clock (Audio Cassette)

Top Parker gives us a first rate performance of Toby Peters in this Los Angeles based detective series. Kaminsky has turned to more serious stories in his two more recent series, but it is these witty books centered on the problems faced by various celebrities of the 1940's on which his reputation for superior entertainment is based. The Melting Clock gives us Salvador Dali as Peters often bewildering and bewildered client in need of professional help to find stolen pictures and clocks. Murder inevitably dogs Peters in his quest for the elusive objects; just as inevitably it brings him to the attention of various and sundry law enforcement officials who would like nothing better than to pin some crime, any crime, on him. Of course, steady readers know that the law enforcement officer most offended by Toby's inability to stay out of trouble is his brother, who can barely control his hot temper whenever Toby stumbles into something that comes to his attention. Toby's landlady is on hand to spread her customary confusion over everything happening, as are his two chief volunteer assistants, a Gentle Giant, ex-wrestler, Poet and a short sized large brained neighbor. As usual, there is a puzzle to solve and the dilemma as to how Toby is going to avoid ending up in jail or in range of his brother's ready fists.
I feel comfortable in recommending the book to anyone who has a taste for a Sam Spade or Philip Marlowe, who doesn't have their talent, class or brains, but does provide more humor, a lighter touch, more human failings, than do the obvious prototypes. For those with a taste for Old Time Radio, Toby is a character along the lines of the late Dick Powell's Richard Rogue.