Murder on the Yellow Brick Road

By Stuart M. Kaminsky

Toby Peters investigates threats to Judy Garland and a body on the MGM lot.

A year after The Wizard of Oz's smash success, the yellow brick road is crumbling. The famous sets are stashed on a soundstage in the depths of the MGM back lot while the studio plans a sequel, and a strange addition has just been made to the scene: a munchkin in full costume lying facedown with a knife buried in his back.

The studio boss calls Toby Peters, a Hollywood detective with a reputation for discretion, and asks for help keeping the murder quiet. MGM is a family company, and Judy Garland, who found the body, is a wholesome actress whose rising star cannot risk a whiff of scandal. But as Peters quickly learns, the threat to Miss Garland isn't the tabloids: It's the psychopathic killer whose turf is the back lot, and whose crime of choice is the murder of the silver screen's finest.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Head of Zeus
• Release date: Jun 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781784086145

Stuart M. Kaminsky

Stuart M. Kaminsky (1934-2009) was the author of fifty novels, including the Lew Fonesca mystery series and the Toby Peters mystery series. A former president of Mystery Writers of America, Kaminsky was a recipient of the Edgar Award and the Prix de Roman D’Aventure of France. He was also nominated for the Shamus and McCavity Awards. His previous tie-in work includes two original Rockford Files novels.

Reviews for Murder on the Yellow Brick Road

[vivienner_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a lot of fun. I enjoyed the Hollywood setting as well as the famous characters such as Raymond Chandler, Judy Garland and Clark Gable who are all part of the story. Funny, with a hard-boiled flavour, which seems an unlikely combination. I'll definitely be reading more Kaminsky.

[csdaley-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very light read but if you are looking for something fun and fast this is it. Double bonus that the Wizard of Oz plays a big part of the back story.

[deltaqueen50 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Murder on the Yellow Brick Road by Stuart Kaminski is the second entry in his Toby Peters series about a Private Investigator set in Hollywood of the 1940’s. These books are fun to read as the author is not shy about dropping plenty of Hollywood references and names into the mix. Toby himself is a stereotypical wise-cracking homage to PI Phillip Marlowe, and in this outing we get an actual appearance by author Raymond Chandler and lots of nods in the direction of his book, The Big Sleep.It is the autumn of 1940 and Toby gets a phone call from actress Judy Garland. She has found the body of a Munchkin lying face-up on the yellow brick road on the old Wizard of Oz set. As Toby begins to put the pieces together the situation gets even more complicated when someone tries to poison Miss Garland. Hired by Lewis B. Mayer to solve the crime, protect his stars and, most importantly, keep the publicity to a minimum, it isn’t long before someone is taking potshots at Toby as well. Luckily he is able to rely on Judy Garland, Clark Gable and the aforementioned Raymond Chandler to help him solve the case.Lighthearted dialogue, funny situations and a noirish feel make these books great reads. I am a huge fan of vintage movies so the Hollywood setting is fascinating to me. The celebrities I have met through these books have come across very much as how I have pictured them to be. While the mysteries themselves are fairly easy to figure out (hint: the killer is always going to be one of the fictional characters) the classical Hollywood atmosphere captivates me. I am already looking forward to my next Toby Peters book.

[anglophile65 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

a recommended author. great read thus far