The Stewart Hoag Mysteries Series
3.5/5
()
About this series
Matthew Wax is an overgrown kid with a taste for sweets, go-kart racing, and wholesome family comedy. He’s also the most successful director in Hollywood, a golden boy whose films are toothache sweet and spit-shine clean. But when his wife, leading lady Pennyroyal Brim, tires of life in a G-rated wonderland, she brings in the most ruthless lawyer on the West Coast: the notorious Abel Zorch. To win the divorce settlement, Zorch drags Wax through the mud, accusing him of perversion, misogyny, and abuse. So when Pennyroyal announces a tell-all memoir, Wax has only one choice: to call in Stewart “Hoagy” Hoag, ghostwriter to the stars.
Working with Wax, Hoagy and his basset hound, Lulu, get closer to the boy wonder than anyone else ever has. But when Zorch turns up dead, Wax is the prime suspect—followed closely by every spurned husband in Beverly Hills—and to clear their client’s name, the amateur sleuth and his canine companion will have to leave La-La Land behind and cross over to the dark side of Los Angeles.
From Edgar Award–winning author David Handler, The Boy Who Never Grew Up is a razor-sharp entry in the beloved Stewart Hoag Mysteries, called an “all-time favorite series” by Harlan Coben. The funniest sleuth around, Hoagy knows that quick wit can overcome any obstacle—even murder.
The Boy Who Never Grew Up is the 5th book in the Stewart Hoag Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.
Titles in the series (11)
- The Boy Who Never Grew Up
A Hollywood ghostwriter and his basset hound explore the deadly world of high-stakes divorce in this hilarious mystery from an Edgar Award–winning author. Matthew Wax is an overgrown kid with a taste for sweets, go-kart racing, and wholesome family comedy. He’s also the most successful director in Hollywood, a golden boy whose films are toothache sweet and spit-shine clean. But when his wife, leading lady Pennyroyal Brim, tires of life in a G-rated wonderland, she brings in the most ruthless lawyer on the West Coast: the notorious Abel Zorch. To win the divorce settlement, Zorch drags Wax through the mud, accusing him of perversion, misogyny, and abuse. So when Pennyroyal announces a tell-all memoir, Wax has only one choice: to call in Stewart “Hoagy” Hoag, ghostwriter to the stars. Working with Wax, Hoagy and his basset hound, Lulu, get closer to the boy wonder than anyone else ever has. But when Zorch turns up dead, Wax is the prime suspect—followed closely by every spurned husband in Beverly Hills—and to clear their client’s name, the amateur sleuth and his canine companion will have to leave La-La Land behind and cross over to the dark side of Los Angeles. From Edgar Award–winning author David Handler, The Boy Who Never Grew Up is a razor-sharp entry in the beloved Stewart Hoag Mysteries, called an “all-time favorite series” by Harlan Coben. The funniest sleuth around, Hoagy knows that quick wit can overcome any obstacle—even murder. The Boy Who Never Grew Up is the 5th book in the Stewart Hoag Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.
- The Girl Who Ran Off with Daddy
A scandal-plagued author is killed in a mystery with “domestic repartee worthy of Nick and Nora Charles [and a] thoroughly entertaining cast of characters” (Publishers Weekly). Stewart Hoag has quit ghostwriting. Living in Connecticut with his ex-wife, Hoagy works on a novel and tends to Tracy, his brand-new daughter, who’s more beautiful than anything he’s ever written and only took nine months to make. Life is peaceful, until Thor Gibbs arrives to tear it apart. An unapologetically swaggering author, Thor is past seventy but still looks like the brash young man who befriended an aging Hemingway and inspired the first of the Beat poets. Once he was Hoagy’s mentor, but now he needs his help. Thor is in the middle of a tryst with his eighteen-year-old stepdaughter, and every newspaper, lawyer, and cop in the country wants him strung up from the highest tree. He hires Hoagy to help the beautiful young woman tell their side of the story. But trouble is following the controversial couple, and death is about to visit the cottage.
- The Man Who Died Laughing
First in the Edgar Award–winning series from “a novelist whose champagne-fizzy mysteries tickle the brain, heart, and funny bone in equal measure” (A. J. Finn, #1 New York Times–bestselling author). Stewart Hoag’s first novel made him the toast of New York. Everyone in Manhattan wanted to be his friend, and he traveled the cocktail circuit supported by Merilee, his wife, and Lulu, his basset hound. But when writer’s block sunk his second novel, his friends, money, and wife all disappeared. Only Lulu stuck by him. The only opportunity left is ghostwriting—an undignified profession that still beats dental school. His first client is Sonny Day, an aging comic who was the king of slapstick three decades ago. Since he and his partner had a falling out in the late 1950s, Day has grown embittered and poor, until the only thing left for him to do is write a memoir. Hoagy and Lulu fly to Hollywood expecting a few months of sunshine and easy living. Instead they find Day’s corpse, and a murder rap with Hoagy’s name on it.
- The Man Who Lived by Night
The ghostwriting sleuth discovers a rock star’s deadly side in “one of my all-time favorite series” (Harlan Coben). From the first time they played on the Ed Sullivan Show, Us was the hottest band on earth. For more than a decade, the group tore through the charts and indulged in an endless cycle of drugs, women, and violence, until two musicians died—the drummer by drugs, the guitarist by a crazed gunman. Once the band was finished, lead singer Tristam Scarr retreated to the English countryside, hiding from the world until the day he hires an American to ghostwrite his memoirs. Stewart Hoag arrives in London in the company of Lulu, his ever-hungry basset hound, to find the rock idol of his youth reduced to a wheezing, frail fortysomething. The first thing Starr tells him is that their drummer never overdosed—he was murdered. And as their interviews progress, Hoagy learns that working for a rock star is almost as dangerous as being one.
- The Woman Who Fell from Grace
In this mystery by an Edgar Award–winning author, a “breezy, unpretentious and warm-hearted hero” gets mixed up with an eccentric socialite—and murder (Publishers Weekly). Few American novels are as beloved as Alma Glaze’s Revolutionary War epic, Oh, Shenandoah. Although Glaze died before she could write a sequel, she left behind an outline for one, along with instructions that it not be written until fifty years after her death. The deadline has passed, and the American public clamors for the long-promised Sweet Land of Liberty. Only one thing stands in its way: Glaze’s heirs. Her daughter, socialite Mavis Glaze, is writing the novel under guidance from her mother, who she claims has been appearing in her dreams. As Mavis’s writing spirals farther into madness, her brothers hire Stewart Hoag, a ghostwriter famous for dealing with troublesome celebrities. When he arrives at the family’s Virginia manor, he finds that Alma’s is not the only unsettled spirit. Blood was spilt for Oh, Shenandoah, and more will die before the sequel hits the bestseller list.
- The Man Who Cancelled Himself
A witty amateur sleuth deals with a disgraced sitcom star and a deadly mystery: “Great fun” (Publishers Weekly). Lyle Hednut, known to America as Uncle Chubby, has been the top draw in television comedy for three seasons straight. He is three hundred pounds of good humor and wholesome charm, beloved by children and adults alike until the day the police find him enjoying the show at the wrong kind of movie theater in Times Square. The arrest destroys his image, but his sitcom is too popular for the network to shut down. About to start production on the fourth season, he decides to tell his side of the story, and hires Stewart Hoag—failed novelist and ghostwriter for the disgraced—to do the writing. Hoagy quickly sees that Uncle Chubby’s cheer is no more than an act. The comedy icon is thin-skinned, irrational, and prone to rage. With a man like that in charge of a TV show, it won’t be long before comedy violence turns into the real thing.
- The Man Who Loved Women to Death
Truth is deadlier than fiction in this “sleek, sophisticated, over-the-top story that’s filled with red herrings, laugh-aloud humor, and plenty of suspense” (Booklist). The author calls himself the Answer Man. He introduces himself to Stewart Hoag—onetime literary darling of the New York scene—with a letter begging for help with his first novel. Hoagy usually ignores such requests, but the Answer Man’s sample chapter grabs his attention. It is a chilling, first-person story about a man who picks up a girl in a pet shop, takes her home, and savagely murders her. The imagery is clear, the prose strong, and the storytelling as truthful as though the author had actually lived it. When he opens the next morning’s paper, Hoagy realizes he was reading nonfiction. A young pet shop employee has been bludgeoned to death, and the crime’s details match those in the manuscript. As the Answer Man keeps killing, he continues writing letters asking Hoagy to collaborate with him. If Hoagy can’t stop him soon, he may find himself starring in the book’s next chapter.
- The Man Who Would Be F. Scott Fitzgerald
The “wickedly amusing” Edgar Award–winning mystery starring ghostwriter/sleuth Stewart Hoag and his “delightful” basset hound sidekick Lulu (Publishers Weekly). Stewart Hoag knows how quickly fame can fade. The same critics who adored his first novel used his second for target practice, ending his literary career once and for all. To keep his basset hound fed, Hoagy ghostwrites memoirs for the rich, famous, and self-destructive. His newest subject reminds him all too much of himself. By the age of twenty, Cam Noyes is already being hailed as the next F. Scott Fitzgerald. Though he’s only published one book, Cam runs with the big boys: dating artists, trashing restaurants, and ending every night in a haze of tequila and cocaine. So glamorous is his lifestyle that he’s having trouble starting his second novel, forcing his agent to hire Hoagy to get the little genius working on a memoir instead. As Hoagy digs into the kid’s life story, he learns that New York publishing is even more cutthroat than he thought.
- The Man Who Loved Women to Death
Truth is deadlier than fiction in this “sleek, sophisticated, over-the-top story that’s filled with red herrings, laugh-aloud humor, and plenty of suspense” (Booklist). The author calls himself the Answer Man. He introduces himself to Stewart Hoag—onetime literary darling of the New York scene—with a letter begging for help with his first novel. Hoagy usually ignores such requests, but the Answer Man’s sample chapter grabs his attention. It is a chilling, first-person story about a man who picks up a girl in a pet shop, takes her home, and savagely murders her. The imagery is clear, the prose strong, and the storytelling as truthful as though the author had actually lived it. When he opens the next morning’s paper, Hoagy realizes he was reading nonfiction. A young pet shop employee has been bludgeoned to death, and the crime’s details match those in the manuscript. As the Answer Man keeps killing, he continues writing letters asking Hoagy to collaborate with him. If Hoagy can’t stop him soon, he may find himself starring in the book’s next chapter.
- The Man Who Lived by Night
The ghostwriting sleuth discovers a rock star’s deadly side in “one of my all-time favorite series” (Harlan Coben). From the first time they played on the Ed Sullivan Show, Us was the hottest band on earth. For more than a decade, the group tore through the charts and indulged in an endless cycle of drugs, women, and violence, until two musicians died—the drummer by drugs, the guitarist by a crazed gunman. Once the band was finished, lead singer Tristam Scarr retreated to the English countryside, hiding from the world until the day he hires an American to ghostwrite his memoirs. Stewart Hoag arrives in London in the company of Lulu, his ever-hungry basset hound, to find the rock idol of his youth reduced to a wheezing, frail fortysomething. The first thing Starr tells him is that their drummer never overdosed—he was murdered. And as their interviews progress, Hoagy learns that working for a rock star is almost as dangerous as being one.
- The Boy Who Never Grew Up
A Hollywood ghostwriter and his basset hound explore the deadly world of high-stakes divorce in this hilarious mystery from an Edgar Award–winning author. Matthew Wax is an overgrown kid with a taste for sweets, go-kart racing, and wholesome family comedy. He’s also the most successful director in Hollywood, a golden boy whose films are toothache sweet and spit-shine clean. But when his wife, leading lady Pennyroyal Brim, tires of life in a G-rated wonderland, she brings in the most ruthless lawyer on the West Coast: the notorious Abel Zorch. To win the divorce settlement, Zorch drags Wax through the mud, accusing him of perversion, misogyny, and abuse. So when Pennyroyal announces a tell-all memoir, Wax has only one choice: to call in Stewart “Hoagy” Hoag, ghostwriter to the stars. Working with Wax, Hoagy and his basset hound, Lulu, get closer to the boy wonder than anyone else ever has. But when Zorch turns up dead, Wax is the prime suspect—followed closely by every spurned husband in Beverly Hills—and to clear their client’s name, the amateur sleuth and his canine companion will have to leave La-La Land behind and cross over to the dark side of Los Angeles. From Edgar Award–winning author David Handler, The Boy Who Never Grew Up is a razor-sharp entry in the beloved Stewart Hoag Mysteries, called an “all-time favorite series” by Harlan Coben. The funniest sleuth around, Hoagy knows that quick wit can overcome any obstacle—even murder. The Boy Who Never Grew Up is the 5th book in the Stewart Hoag Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.
David Handler
David Handler was born and raised in Los Angeles. He began his career in New York as a journalist, and has since written thirteen novels about the witty and dapper celebrity ghostwriter Stewart Hoag, including the Edgar and American Mystery Award-winning The Man Who Would Be F. Scott Fitzgerald and the newest entry The Man in the White Linen Suit. David's short stories have earned him a Derringer Award nomination and other honours. He was a member of the original writing staff that created the Emmy Award-winning sitcom Kate and Allie and has continued to write extensively for television and films. He lives in a 200-year-old carriage house in Old Lyme, Connecticut.
Read more from David Handler
Fight of the Century: Writers Reflect on 100 Years of Landmark ACLU Cases Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Girl with Kaleidoscope Eyes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Man Who Couldn't Miss Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Man in the White Linen Suit Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Click to Play Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhy It's Okay for an Old Man to be a Justin Bieber Fan Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to The Stewart Hoag Mysteries
Related ebooks
Runaway Man: A Mystery Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Woman Who Fell from Grace Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Man Who Died Laughing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Man Who Would Be F. Scott Fitzgerald Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All the Tea in China: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Girl Who Ran Off with Daddy Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Man Who Lived by Night Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Boy Who Never Grew Up Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Man Who Loved Women to Death Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Crocodile Tears Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeath in Albert Park: A Carolus Deene Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5God in Concord Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dante Game Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5After You with the Pistol Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Man Who Cancelled Himself Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Ten Little Herrings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Devil and Her Son Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSmall Claims Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDead Dames Don't Sing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Detective Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/513 White Tulips Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5O' Artful Death: A Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Body For Sale Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Mortdecai Moustache Mystery Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Herring in the Library Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Amateur Sleuths For You
The Life We Bury Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Color Me Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Eight Perfect Murders: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bangalore Detectives Club: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hardy Boys Collection Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone: A Murdery Mystery Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5John Grisham: Series Reading Order - 2019 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories: A Miss Marple Collection Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Accidental Alchemist: An Accidental Alchemist Mystery, #1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Word Is Murder: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Deep Dark Secrets: A Must Read Psychological Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Solve-It-Yourself Mystery MEGAPACK®: 123 Crimes You Can Solve Yourself! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pieces of Her: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Doing Harm: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Twyford Code: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Marlow Murder Club: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Night Olivia Fell Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sidney Chambers and The Shadow of Death: Grantchester Mysteries 1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sentence Is Death: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Death by Dumpling: A Noodle Shop Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Summer House: A highly addictive psychological thriller from TOP 10 BESTSELLER Keri Beevis Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Three Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Murderous Affair at Stone Manor: A Completely Gripping Cozy Murder Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Line to Kill: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fletch Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Woman in the Library: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Trouble with Goats and Sheep: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pale Blue Eye: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Marple: Twelve New Mysteries Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related categories
Reviews for The Stewart Hoag Mysteries
41 ratings0 reviews