A terrorist at the Moscow Film Festival plots an international incidentBuilt in the twilight of the Tsarist state, Moscow's Metropole Hotel is a poignant reminder of the decadence of the last regime. But today its corridors are musty, its rooms are dank, and now its restaurant is the scene of a quadruple murder. Four men—one American, one Japanese, and two citizens of Mother Russia—share a meal of smoked salmon, caviar, and two bottles of vodka. In the morning, all are found dead, blood on their lips and faces contorted in pain.To keep the killings under wraps, the Kremlin hands the investigation over to famously discreet police investigator Porfiry Rostnikov. A terrorist is targeting foreigners to embarrass the Soviet state, and the killer will happily sacrifice any Russian who gets in the way.

From Publishers WeeklyIn the latest of Kaminsky's popular crime capers recreating lost times and glamorous figures, PI Toby Peters gets an assignment from Leopold Stokowski. The maestro's rehearsals for Madame Butterfly in 1942 incite anti-Japanese protests at the crumbling San Francisco Opera House while "Erik," this opera's phantom, kills performers inside. Although Toby's loyal if outlandish buddies arrive to help, Eric eludes them and the murders continue. The detective himself barely escapes death and arrest for killing while he investigates likely suspects: the fake evangelist leading the pickets damning the debasement of noble Lt. Pinkerton; the opera house's eccentric caretaker; a once-hopeful singer with a failing voice. Hardly a pause separate the frightful, madly comic and nostalgic incidents made believable and entertaining in Kaminsky's artful handling. Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. From AudioFileLA private eye Toby Peters is back, and opera is the stage for the threats and subsequent murders by the phantom Toby is hired to ferret out. George Guidall voices the witty, down-to-earth Toby with perfect dryness. He presents imperious Leopold Stokowski, famed conductor, with an accented, formal resonance, and characterizes Toby's ancient landlady and the delicate, young soprano with equal aplomb. Providing all of the roles, major and minor, with individual character, Guidall glides through the story's twists and turns while entertaining the listener with surprises. R.N. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

When a cop snaps, he threatens to take a building full of people with himBernie Shepard comes home with a shotgun. He opens the door to his bedroom, and sees what he expectedhis wife in bed with another cop. Two pumps of the shotgun take care of them, and Shepard carries out the rest of his plan. Accompanied by his nameless dog, this half-mad young detective goes to the roof of his apartment building, where he has built a small fortress stocked with food, water, and weapons. He loads his guns and awaits the police. Talking Shepard down falls to Abe Lieberman and Bill Hanrahan, the odd-couple partners in Chicago homicide. As soon as they make contact, Shepard names his demands: He wants to talk to a TV crew and to the new police captain. The building is rigged with explosives, he says, and he is ready to pull the trigger. To stop this renegade cop, Lieberman and Hanrahan will have to kill himor try to understand what made him snap.

A pair of cops hunt the killer of the most beautiful hooker on Chicago's North SideOn a blistering Chicago afternoon, the Cubs are winning and Abe Lieberman is waiting to meet a prostitute. This mild-mannered old police detective still has a few tricks up his sleevesand one of them is named Estralda Valdez. One of the city's loveliest women of the night, she is Lieberman's most prized confidential informant, and she needs help with a psychotic john. Though they suspect she's only paranoid, Lieberman and his partner, Bill Hanrahan, agree to watch Valdez's back. But Hanrahan's weakness for drinking will sabotage their plans. Hanrahan gets soused watching Valdez's front door, and by the time he realizes she is in danger, it's already too late. To save the partnership and find the hooker's killer, Lieberman and Hanrahan will have to make a journey into the darkest heart of the Windy City.

FIRST TRADE PAPERBACK EDITIONBY EDGAR AWARD-WINNING AUTHORSTUART KAMINSKY "I'm here," came a familiar voice. I turned and found myself looking at Bette Davis no more than a half a dozen feet in front of me. She strode forward around two couples and stood in front of me with a smile that could kill. The orchestra had picked up the theme and it was hard to hear her as she said: "Why are you following me?" Why has legendary actress Bette Davis been kidnapped not once, not twice, but three times? And what does her abduction have to do with the Third Reich's attempts to steal America's plans for a top-secret superbomber? In pursuit of answers, private eye Toby Peters must penetrate a hapless spy ring composed of third-rate Tinseltown tough guys, and delve into the bedroom peccadillos of America's glitter set. As bodies begin piling around him, he finds himself racing to the rescue of Miss Davis. But if he fails in his mission, who'll protect Peters from the wrath of the star...?From Kirkus ReviewsAnother pleasantly foolish outing for Toby Peters (The Melting Clock, 1991, etc.), shamus to Hollywood's Golden Age stars. The client this time (1943) is Bette Davis's husband Arthur Farnsworth, whose aeronautical research on a modified bombsight has brought him to the attention of a gang that wants to swap the plans for an old sound-recording that Toby would rather forget--a record of how Davis's first husband, Ham Nelson, blackmailed Howard Hughes over a little performance coaching she gave him--and threatens to kidnap the star if Farnsworth won't play ball. The byplay between Toby and Davis, who stops recycling dialogue from her movies only long enough to get snatched three times, is the high point here; better pass over the mystery in silence. Bright and insubstantial as a meringue. Not the best in this waggish, venerable series. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.ReviewSan Diego Union-Tribune Shades of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. If you think Stuart Kaminsky doesn't have a feeling for the best of both authors, you are in for a surprise. -- Review

Toby Peters is an unusual private eye. He's already cracked cases involving Humphrey Bogart, the Marx Brothers, John Wayne and Mae West, and now is gumshoeing for the celebrated screen star Charlie Chaplin. Welcome to Hollywood. Chaplin has cause for alarm. A sinister visitor wielding a large knife has not only rudely paid the movie legend a midnight call but also threatened him with death unless he stops production on his latest project, a film in which wealthy old women are married and then murdered for their money. Chaplin has been warned, too, that he'd better stay away from one Fiona Sullivan. Or else. Fiona, of course, is Toby's only lead.From Publishers WeeklyIt's a mystery how a rumpled, unprepossessing sort of private eye like Toby Peters has lasted long enough to save the hides of Hollywood stars such as the Marx Brothers and Bette Davis, literary luminaries William Faulkner and Dashiell Hammett and even political powerhouse Eleanor Roosevelt. Nonetheless, the intrepid sleuth returns for a 21st outing, his first since 1997's A Fatal Glass of Beer. It's 1943, and a beleaguered Charlie Chaplin is in need of Peters's services. A strange man has threatened Chaplin, whose latest movie project, about a serial killer who woos, marries and murders older women, seems to have offended a real-life counterpart. A familiar supporting cast is on hand to aid Peters: massive Jeremy Butler, ex-wrestler-turned-poet; Sheldon Minck, inept dentist and inventor; and Gunther Wherthman, suave, multilingual little person. With broad humor more likely to invite smiles than laughs and a substantial framework of nostalgia (Kaminsky doesn't just throw names around, he really evokes the era), Peters and friends pursue a crafty killer. Older readers will enjoy references that may be obscure to younger ones. For example, Peters drives a Crosley that "runs on washing machine and refrigerator parts," a reference to the defunct Crosley Co. that manufactured radios, refrigerators and appliances as well as cars. In sum, the author's facile competence has produced an amusing story full of suitable heroics. (Aug. 1)novels, including ongoing series about Russian policeman Porfiry Rostnikov, Chicago cop Abe Lieberman and Jim Rockford of TV's Rockford Files.Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.From BooklistIn December 1943, Charlie Chaplin is not the most popular man in America. He's never become an American citizen; he's a Communist sympathizer; and he has just married a much younger woman. When a man shows up at Chaplin's home wielding a knife, the actor hires private investigator Toby Peters. The trail leads to a serial killer who targets older women--which just happens to be the theme of a script Chaplin is hoping to film. Toby, with his crew of amateur assistants--among them a poetic ex-wrestler, a well-armed midget, and a dentist--finds himself drowning in false clues as the case becomes ever more muddled. Kaminsky is an Edgar-winning author of 60 mystery novels in four detective series. Toby Peters may be his best-known character and is arguably his most endearing. Peters is an everyman with bills, an ex-wife he still misses, a drab room in a cheap boardinghouse, and a surprisingly optimistic view of the future. He's a good guy with a sense of humor, and every appearance he makes is a welcome one. Wes LukowskyCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved