Murder on the Yellow Brick Road [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Stuart M. Kaminsky (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1979

The year is 1940 and Los Angeles-based private eye Toby Peters has been asked to track down a murderer stalking the back lots of one of Hollywood's most powerful movie companies. This is the first paperback publication of a noir classic which has been out of print for over 12 years.

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

Editorial Reviews

From AudioFile

Toby Peters, private investigator, is called to the set of The Wizard of Oz, where a munchkin has been found murdered a year after the movie's release. Lane's baritone voice withstands the challenge of providing voices for the many characters in the story, and listeners can easily distinguish each one. While Lane's strong talent cannot convincingly mimic such well-known voices as Clark Gable and Judy Garland, this does not detract from the reading. Mysterious clues and Lane's delivery of the cynical humor entice the listener along the Yellow Brick Road to a surprise ending not in Kansas. P.A.J. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 280 pages
• Publisher: John Curley & Associates; Large type edition edition (April 1979)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0893401676
• ISBN-13: 978-0893401672
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,580,704 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good storytelling, predictable plot..., March 27, 2001

By 

Erik J. Larsen (st. paul, mn) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Murder On The Yellow Brick Road (Toby Peters Mysteries) (Paperback)

Kaminsky's Toby Peters is a classic hard boiled detective and lives up to the title in this book. It has all the elements of a good L.A. noir story and is handled well. The extra(s) are the inclusion of many historically famous personalities (Raymond Chandler, Judy Garland, Louis B. Mayer, etc.)

That being said this book suffers from the same thing all books written about pre-war L.A. by people who weren't really there. The descriptions and directions tend to sound like someone reading off of a 1940's California map along with pictures from an old Life magazine.

Its fast-paced, short, and to the point. Its worth the time, however you won't remember much of it after you're done.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic leisure reading., May 30, 2002

By 

C. L. Stone (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Murder On The Yellow Brick Road (Toby Peters Mysteries) (Paperback)

This book is one of the first mystery novels that I've ever picked up, started, and felt compelled to keep reading until I finished it. Stuart Kaminsky blends the familiar elements of a murder mystery with a good dose of humor and eroticism (don't worry, it's not obscene). The whole book is tied together with the completely unpredictable, sick, yet hilarious conclusion. I'm not a person who reads a lot of mystery novels (or a lot of books in general), but Stuart Kaminsky is the most fun author I have ever read. Murder on the Yellow Brick Road was the first Kaminsky book I read, and it led me to buy 2 more of his books (Dancing in the Dark and The Devil Met a Lady), both of which are similarly fun but not quite as good from a mystery reader standpoint. If you're just looking for a good mystery novel that is also very fun, go ahead and pick up a copy of Murder on the Yellow Brick Road. Oh, and don't let your kids read it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Murder Mystery in Oz, January 30, 2000

By 

Robert E. Gold (Whitestone, NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Murder on the Yellow Brick Road (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a charming story all about the discovery of a murdered munchkin one year after the film had been completed.The corpse is discovered on the set of Munchkinland, and Judy Garland, nervous and frightened, hires a detective to find the killer. It's short, creative, and a nice look at the 1930's era of Hollywood.