Bullet for a Star

Toby Peters #1

by Stuart M. Kaminsky

The first in a mystery series set in 1940s Hollywood, where a hard-boiled private eye helps a cast of real-life “Nostalgic fun” (Publishers Weekly).   Hollywood, 1940: It’s been four years since security guard Toby Peters got fired from the Warner Brothers lot for breaking a screen cowboy’s arm. Since then he’s scratched out a living as a private detective—missing persons and bodyguard work mostly—but now his old friends, the Warners, have a job for him.   Someone has mailed the studio a picture of Errol Flynn caught in a compromising position with an underage woman. Although Flynn insists it’s a fake, the studio is taking no chances. Peters is to deliver the blackmailer five thousand dollars and return with the photo negative. It should be simple, but Flynn, a swashbuckler on and off the screen, has a way of making things complicated.   Soon it’s up to Peters to clear Flynn’s name, following a twisted trail that surprisingly leads to the set of The Maltese Falcon, involving Humphrey Bogart, Peter Lorre, and Sydney Greenstreet. As real-life PI Toby Peters meets Bogie’s Sam Spade, he doesn’t fall prey to being star-struck. But he may still fall prey to a killer.   “If you like your mysteries Sam Spade tough, with tongue in cheek and a touch of the theatrical, then the Toby Peters series is just your ticket.” —Houston Chronicle

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Audiobook, Detective, Crime, Mystery Thriller

231 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Stuart M. Kaminsky wrote 50 published novels, 5 biographies, 4 textbooks and 35 short stories. He also has screenwriting credits on four produced films including ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA, ENEMY TERRITORY, A WOMAN IN THE WIND and HIDDEN FEARS. He was a past president of the Mystery Writers of America and was nominated for six prestigious Edgar Allen Poe Awards including one for his short story “Snow” in 1999. He won an Edgar for his novel A COLD RED SUNRISE, which was also awarded the Prix De Roman D’Aventure of France. He was nominated for both a Shamus Award and a McCavity Readers Choice Award.

Kaminsky wrote several popular series including those featuring Lew Fonesca, Abraham Lieberman, Inspector Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov, and Toby Peters. He also wrote two original "Rockford Files " novels. He was the 50th annual recipient of the Grandmaster 2006 for Lifetime Achievement from the Mystery Writers of America.

Received the Shamus Award, "The Eye" (Lifetime achievement award) in 2007.

His nonfiction books including BASIC FILMMAKING, WRITING FOR TELEVISION, AMERICAN FILM GENRES, and biographies of GARY COOPER, CLINT EASTWOOD, JOHN HUSTON and DON SIEGEL. BEHIND THE MYSTERY was published by Hot House Press in 2005 and nominated by Mystery Writers of America for Best Critical/Biographical book in 2006.

Kaminsky held a B.S. in Journalism and an M.A. in English from The University of Illinois and a Ph.D. in Speech from Northwestern University where he taught for 16 years before becoming a Professor at Florida State. where he headed the Graduate Conservatory in Film and Television Production. He left Florida State in 1994 to pursue full-time writing.

Kaminsky and his wife, Enid Perll, moved to St. Louis, Missouri in March 2009 to await a liver transplant to treat the hepatitis he contracted as an army medic in the late 1950s in France. He suffered a stroke two days after their arrival in St. Louis, which made him ineligible for a transplant. He died on October 9, 2009.

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the pictures. A lot. I’m not ashamed to admit it either, because I don’t think liking the pictures and liking books are mutually exclusive. And I love a good, strong hardboiled character as much as the next guy. So reading about Errol Flynn and Peter Lorre, along with a Gary Cooper cameo appearance, made this one extremely enticing book reading experience.

The details felt spot-on, as dames and broads and abercrombies filled nearly every page. And I found myself skipping along to the end. BULLET FOR A STAR went down easier than a Jack and Coke, and I was drunk with passion and on a nicotine-induced high throughout much of this tale. Had it been any longer, I might have been forced to stumble home.

Toby Peters may not have had two dimes in his pocket, but he totally won my heart with his stick-to-itiveness and well-timed comebacks. He may have been swinging from the rafters as he tried to put the pieces of the mystery together, but that didn’t keep him from a well-placed kick or a hard right.

As for the mystery itself, it proved an enticing tale, but this novel felt more at home inside the studios and name-dropping actors and actresses and taking its action both inside and outside the bedroom. In the end, that was more than fine with me, as this was one tale that I breezed through faster than a New Mexico sandstorm.

Cross-posted at Robert's Reads

[H (no longer expecting notifications) Balikov · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Two days, Phil. Give me two days, and I’ll hand you the name and maybe the killer.” “You’ll hand me the killer?” He actually laughed, but it didn’t sound as if he were having fun. “You can’t even hold down a job; you lost your client’s money and your gun, and everybody beats the shit out of you.” “We all have bad days,” I said. “You’re having a bad lifetime,” he said. “Get out. You’ve got two days providing no one else gets killed.”

But this is 1940 in Hollywood, and Toby Peters life isn't going well. His divorce is final His car is barely functional. And this case of blackmail is now morphing into murder.

Great nostalgia for life in the Golden Era of Hollywood. You will meet some of the greats from Boogie to William Faulkner. And find out few things about Errol Flynn that you didn't already know.

I like Kaminsky's way of telling a mystery yarn. He can do his magic in Chicago or Moscow or Los Angeles and make it work.

[F.R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hollywood private eye, Toby Peters, could actually be a screen tough guy of the 1940s. He has the anglicised name, the broken nose which advertises toughness and a definite shortness of stature. All those old school Hollywood tough guys were short. Peters was made for the movies, and you can almost see him squaring off against Bogart in ‘The Big Sleep’. But Peters’ real life is actually the stuff of a Chandler mystery: it’s convoluted, complicated and crammed full of murders.

He’s hired to handle the drop off of money and the pick-up of photos in a blackmail case involving a major Hollywood star. Before long though bodies are piling up, there are glamourous women seducing him, thugs smashing up his apartment and as the mystery gets more opaque, it becomes clear that everything is centring around that home of cinema noir: Warner Bros studios.

‘Bullet for a Star’ wears its love and knowledge of the golden age of Hollywood more openly and self-consciously than any Hollywood thriller I’d ever read. Yes, much more so than James Ellroy or Megan Abbott. Errol Flynn plays a major role, while there are walk-on parts for Peter Lorre, Edward G. Robinson, Bogart himself, as well as film directors Michael Curtiz, Raoul Walsh and Don Siegel. What’s more one of the key passages of the story takes place on the deserted set of ‘The Maltese Falcon’.

Obviously there’s a risk that this level of layering, this much showing off of knowledge can become too self-consciously smug. Fortunately, Kaminsky manages to land the right side of the line. This is an author having and a good time and taking the reader with him, which is good as there are few things more irritating than an author having a better time than a reader. The question is obviously there as to whether he can stay the right side of the line over twenty-three subsequent volumes. I have no idea, but I had a ball in ‘Bullet for a Star’ and I’m prepared to give it a go and find out.

[Leo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't read much about "hard-boiled detectives" but can be interesting from time to time. It was an okay story and quite entertaining in parts. Not a new favorite but will probably continue with the series

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1940, Errol Flynn is one of Warner Brothers’ biggest stars. His movie Sea Hawk has just been released. He is also a well-known lothario, so it’s not all that surprising when he is threatened with blackmail over a photo purporting to show him in flagrante delicto with a very young teenage girl. To avert the potential devastating publicity, the studio decides to pay the blackmailer for the photo and its negative and hires private detective Toby Peters to discreetly handle the transaction.

Unfortunately, getting the photo and negative back is not as simple as Toby and the studio expected. Toby is soon mixed up in several murders, and he suspects that the swashbuckling Flynn himself may be next on the hit list.

Besides Flynn, lots of other real-life movie people appear in the story, some with significant roles. Several popular movies figure in the plot: Flynn is now making Santa Fe Trail with Michael Curtiz; Humphrey Bogart, Ida Lupino, and Jerome Cowan are on location with Raoul Walsh filming High Sierra; Gary Cooper and Edward Arnold are on the Warner Bros. set for Frank Capra’s Meet John Doe; and Peter Lorre is preparing for John Huston’s The Maltese Falcon. Toby also meets Edward G. Robinson, a young Don Siegel, and others.

Kaminsky throws in an occasional sly dig at Hollywood. For example, when (fictional) producer Sid Adelman screens an independent production of Peer Gynt, he asks the name of the kid in the movie. His assistant tells him that it’s Charlton Heston (who was only 17 at the time and wouldn’t make his mark in Hollywood for another 10 years). “‘Jesus,’ groaned Sid. ‘I wonder who made that name up.’”

As a fan of both classic movies and hard-boiled detective stories, I really enjoyed this book. Kaminsky’s depiction of Hollywood in 1940 seems very authentic. I’m inclined to believe that his depictions of the real-life actors with whom Toby interacts are also true to life. None of this is surprising, since Kaminsky also wrote nonfiction books about Hollywood and the movies.

The book is a quick read, a solid mystery story that delivers a good helping of suspense and humor too. I highly recommend it, especially for readers who enjoy classic movies as well as mysteries.

[Alberto Martín de Hijas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una novela policiaca muy entretenida. Me gusta especialmente como se van introduciendo personajes reales del Hollywood de los años 40.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first of 24 Toby Peters books written by Kaminsky, and the first time reading this author who died in 2009. It is the only kindle available on my library site, and I believe the books will be hard to find. This author will have to go on my list for used book sales.
Several famous actors were featured in this 1940 Hollywood crime book, chiefly Errol Flynn with many scenes on the movie lots. Toby is hired to stop a blackmail scheme and there is a great deal of action and a few deaths along the trail. It is quite a lot of fun and I wish I could roll into the next book featuring Judy Garland who puts in a call for help on the last page of this one.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in the 1940s, Bullet for a Star is the first book in what is a lengthy series featuring PI Toby Peters. In this entry, a movie studio hires him to intervene in a blackmail case against Errol Flynn. It won't be good for profits if a compromising picture of Flynn with a young girl is made public. Toby is short on cash so he's hoping this will be a path to additional work. He's just not expecting to become a target himself.

This is a great set-up for a hard boiled detective series with a focus on a fascinating era in Hollywood. Many of the books are out of print so not sure how feasible continuing will be. Perhaps my library has more of these on audio.

As an aside, in real life Errol Flynn was arrested and tried for sexual assault. He was acquitted, although many feel that was due to his celebrity status.

[Malum · Rating 4 out of 5]

A standard hard boiled detective story that is greatly elevated by the inclusion of people from Hollywood's golden age. Errol Flynn, Edward G. Robinson, Peter Lorre, and more populate this mystery, and you can tell that Kaminsky really did his homework here (Edward G. Robinson, for example, is shown to be kind and well spoken as opposed to the loud and violent gangsters he usually portrayed).

If, like me, you are a fan of both detective novels and the golden age of Hollywood, you owe it to yourself to read at least one book in this series.

[Johnny · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Bullet for a Star in the title of Stuart Kaminsky’s first Toby Peters’ mystery was intended for Erroll Flynn. I found this novel in my local public library, only a few miles away from where Kaminsky teaches (or taught) at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. I thought I had read all of these ‘30s era detective novels, but somehow I missed the very first one. I love the way Kaminsky interweaves the realities of that era in Hollywood (and the real characters) with the fictional mysteries. The mysteries themselves aren’t that mysterious. You can almost always expect the character with the name that sounds almost like a supporting actor or almost like a historical gangster to be involved with the incident under investigation. Indeed, you can almost always expect that one of the Hollywood stars that serves in a supporting role in the novel (as often opposed to a leading role on the screen) to provide that bit of critical insight or physical intervention that Peters would need in order to solve the case. The recurring Koko the Clown and inkwell dream (a tribute to the old Max Fleischer cartoons) makes its initial appearance here. But in spite of those elements of the formula already showing themselves in the first novel, the books are fabulous experiences. The highest accolade I can give an author is that the book transports me so successfully to the alternate world that I feel like I’m there and what may be going on around me in real life (on the train, at the coffee house, at the dining table, waiting in line at the bank, running on the exercise machine, or waiting in the car) doesn’t seem nearly as real.
This novel was remarkable in that much of the action took place in the office of Spade and Archer as pre-production was taking place for “The Maltese Falcon.” At one point, Peters sees William Faulkner in a window of a studio office and at another, the unsuccessful venture of bringing Faulkner into Hollywood is remarked as an aside. I personally loved this because it seems to me like the only bit of Faulkner that survived in Hollywood (outside of films later made of his novels and short stories) was the scene in “The Big Sleep” where Sam Spade encounters the old man in the solarium. There, the Faulkner dialogue was unmistakable. Every aspect of the historical atmosphere in this novel seems just right except for one minor detail. At one point in the action, Peters stops for a Green River soda.
This is not significant in terms of my enjoyment of the book. It was just delightful, after all the books I’ve read by Kaminsky, to catch him on a provincial detail. Green River soda was only sold in the Midwest during that era. Originally created by the Schoenberg Edelweiss Brewing Company of Chicago, it had Midwestern distribution throughout Prohibition and up until 1950. At that point, the brewery closed. Now, it did eventually get to Seattle, Washington, but that was after the era in question. However, this tangy, green soda is now available both in regular and diet format. It is once again being brewed in Chicago. But it is highly unlikely Peters could have purchased one with a hot dog in Los Angeles during the time when this novel is set. Aha! Gotcha’! But it doesn’t diminish my enjoyment of the Toby Peters novels one iota. In fact, it makes them even more interesting.

[Bev · Rating 3 out of 5]

Toby Peters, Hollywood private investigator, debuts in this 1940s-era murder and blackmail fest. He's hired by Sid Adelman of Warner Brothers to make a blackmail payment drop on behalf of Errol Flynn. Someone has a photo and a negative of Flynn with a very young girl in a very compromising position. They're both naked as the day they were born. Adelman and Flynn both claim it's a fake, but they won't be able to prove it until they can examine the negative. So, Toby is hired to drop off the cash and take possession of the print and its negative. If anything goes wrong, he must not mention the studio or Flynn.

What could go wrong? He makes the scheduled appointment, hands over the cash, gets an envelope in return, starts to check the contents...and gets bashed on the head. When he comes to, his gun is gone, the blackmailer is dead--apparently shot with Toby's gun, and the cash and the photo envelope are MIA as well. His brother is a cop, so he manages to wiggle out of a murder rap, but his brother isn't exactly happy with the story he's been told. Which is, naturally, lies from beginning to end since Toby can't mention what he was really there for.

Peters sets off to find the original of the negative and the trail leads him through the film world and, eventually, to the set of The Maltese Falcon, where Bogie and Lorre are cast in roles they hadn't planned on. Errol Flynn gets to play they hero's role at the end, saving our P.I. from a final attempt on his life.

This is a fun romp through 1940s Hollywood for mystery and movie fans. It's also good for readers who like a bit of light hard boiled P.I. action. I must say, however, that Peters is pretty bad at being a tough guy hero--he gets shot at, knocked out, beat up, and framed for murder more often in one book than most detectives do over the course of a series--and Errol Flynn has to save him from the bad guy in the end. But it does make for entertaining reading. And the homage to the glittering silver screen stars of the past was really well done--the cameos didn't feel forced and definitely worked with the story.

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting portions of review. Thanks.

[Robin Hatcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audiobook (narrated by Patrick Lawlor)
I first read one of the Toby Peters mysteries about 40 years ago, a book I brought home from the library; the story stuck with me all these years, mostly because of the 1940s Hollywood setting. So when I saw many of the books in the series are available in the Audible Plus catalog, I decided to give more of them a try. This one (the first in the series) centers around a danger to Errol Flynn. Toby Peters is the gumshoe detective who must solve the crimes while surviving several attempts on his life. It was a fun read, apart from an unneeded but very hasty sex scene and some crude language. I’ll keep reading because they’re quick reads and I like the film noir vibe. Also, they’re very different from my own writing, so it feels like a nice break from work.

Robin’s Ratings
5🌟 = Out of this world. Amazing. Unforgettable. A personal favorite.
4🌟 = Loved it. Will recommend to others.
3🌟 = Liked it. Glad I read it.
2🌟 = The book was okay, but I’ve enjoyed others so much more.
1🌟 = I didn’t like it and can’t recommend it.

[Ed Mestre · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not only was this a fun romp through the golden age of 1940s Hollywood, but a real eye opener of Stuart Kaminsky’s talent. The only other book I had read by him was “Death of a Dissident,” like this one, the premiere of a detective series. But such a different approach and style. It was dark and brooding, with Soviet police inspector Rostinokov desperately trying to find a serial killer in Moscow before he strikes again. Here we have almost the flip side of that book. We have wise cracking Toby Peters, who is just trying to get his final payment of a couple hundred bucks by preventing a star and studio from blackmail and even murder. He goes through an awful lot for it, but we enjoy it all as he meets with stars, starlets, studio execs, the LAPD, and thugs. Written in a style that could have easily been a screenplay for one of the movies being filmed on the Warner Brothers lot, where much of this book takes place. If Kaminsky’s name wasn’t on both books I would have thought they written by different people. I’m happy he’s so prolific so I can look forward to more of both these series. Plus, he apparently has two more detective series, Abe Lieberman and Lew Fonseca, for me to discover. What writing style and approach will he further lead me to?

[Lonibus · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a fan of both Errol Flynn nd Stuart M. Kaminsky, so this book was great! He portrays Flynn just the way he was in 1940, and Toby Peters is a wonderful down on his luck private eye. Enjoyable read.

[Peter Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bullet for a Star by Stuart M. Kaminsky

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re...

This is the first in a series involving Hollywood Private Investigator Toby Peters. This book is set in 1940. Peters had worked for a studio as a guard until he was fired. So, now he is a low-rent PI working seedy divorce cases. At the beginning of this book, Toby gets a call from the studio because one of its stars is being blackmailed with a picture implicating him in statutory rape.

The star is Errol Flynn, who is making Santa Fe Trails at the time. The story is interwoven with the names of stars who make cameo appearances. Toby gets information from Humphrey Bogart, who shares with Toby that his next role will be as a private investigator in "The Maltese Falcon."

These details are a big part of the charm of the book. In itself, the book is well-written and a decent mystery.

[John Yingling · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Very entertaining historical fiction and mystery, with just the right amounts of action, humor, film nourish dialogue, and celebrity characters.

[Ken Finlay · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Bullet for a Star" is set in summer 1940 Hollywood where the stars are everywhere. P.I. Toby Peters knows them well as he used to work security in Warner Brothers studios.
Toby is hired by the studio to find out who is trying to blackmail Errol Flynn over a highly compromising photograph of him and an underage girl.
Though he is adamant that it is a frame Flynn doesn't help his case by admitting:- "I am not above the sort of thing implied in the photograph. As a matter of fact, I strongly advocate it, but it is illegal."
The list of stars scattered across the pages is almost endless and I suspect that anyone with an interest in 1940s Hollywood would enjoy it for that reason alone.
Toby is tough, but not invincible, however, as the murders mount, it doesn't help that it is his gun that is being used.
It's got a good sense of humour, a strong cast of secondary characters, an above average plot, and a finale that had me laughing.
Originally published in 1977 it has aged well.
3.5 Stars, raised to 4 Stars.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s 1940, and Toby Peters is the worst P. I. in Los Angeles. His ex-wife thinks he's a loser, his brother, an L. A. Cop, thinks he's an @$$hole, and his former employers at Warner Brothers( where he was fired from their security department) think he's a putz. He shares his office with a dentist, and he has a clientele that is pretty much non existent. Then, he gets a call from WB; they want him to discreetly handle the payoff to someone who is blackmailing Errol Flynn with pictures of him with an underage girl...

So begins Stuart A. Kaminsky's affectionate send up of. detective movies, Film Noir, and Old Hollywood. Peters rubs shoulders with the famous and near famous of Hollywood as he attempts to unravel the true mystery behind this blackmail caper. Bodies pile up, money disappears, and Toby is beaten, shot, arrested, and screwed by the various suspects. He also has to ride herd on Errol Flynn, who is amused by the whole thing, while also dealing with Humphrey Bogart, Peter Lorre. Jack Warner, and a very upset Michael Curtiz .

Kaminsky, who is also a film historian, has done his homework. The cameo appearances by real movie people and the studio settings are all accurate; the movie Errol Flynn is shooting in the novel is the actual film he shot in 1940, “Santa Fe Trail”. More importantly, Kaminsky has his tongue planted firmly in his cheek, which creates a breezy, humorous tone as he follows the exploits of his "anti- Philip Marlowe". One sequence, where Peters chases a suspect (who is dressed in a pirate costume, no less) across the Warner Bros backlot and ruins shooting on about a dozen movies, is wonderfully droll. The actual plot is serviceable and does play fair with the tropes of the detective story, but the real treats are the Classic Hollywood Easter eggs( I mean, OF COURSE Flynn's bodyguards are Bruce Cabot, Alan Hale, and "Big Boy" Williams).

"Bullet for a Star" is the first of what would become a long running series; it is a terrific diversion and a great summer read for fans of detective stories, film noir, and Hollywood's golden age.
.

[Tim Schneider · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stuart Kaminsky in general and Toby Peters in particular are like theater pop-corn. They don't have any nutritional value, but damn if they aren't addictive and fun to eat. Toby starts his series dealing with an attempt to blackmail Errol Flynn over a photo that allegedly shows Flynn with an underage girl. Not a great stretch.

I find Peters to be likeable and Kaminsky peppers the books with a ton of Easter eggs for classic movie fans. In his non-writing life, Kaminsky was a professor of Film Studies at Northwestern and Florida State. Pretty darn good credentials for setting your P.I. in Hollywood working among the stars.

No they aren't great books. But they're fun and diverting. And sometimes that's as good as throwing an old familiar movie up on the TV screen. This one...it's in like Flynn.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hollywood Private Eye Toby Peters’ Stunning Debut in ‘Bullet for a Star’

Veteran award-winning mystery writer Stuart Kaminsky introduced one of his signature characters in Bullet for a Star, the first novel to feature hard-boiled private eye Toby Peters as he ekes out a living in 1940 Hollywood. After being fired as a security guard from Warner Brothers four years earlier, the studio now wants Peters to help deal with a blackmail problem when someone mails them a picture of movie star Errol Flynn caught in a compromising position with an underage girl. While Flynn insists the photo is a fake, Adelson wants Peters to pay $5000 for the negative and other print photo. If anything goes wrong, Peters has to keep Flynn and the WB name out of it.
Naturally, the trade goes wrong, with Peters regaining consciousness to find himself surrounded by cops, the blackmailer dead, and the money and blackmail evidence gone—along with Peters’ gun, the likely murder weapon.
Only Peters’ head wound and missing gun at the scene keep him from being arrested on suspicion of murder. That, and his relationship with the investigating police detective, Lieutenant Phil Pevsner, who turns out to be his older brother (Peters’ full name is Tobias Leo Pevsner) with whom he's clearly estranged.
Soon, there's another demand for money, and someone takes potshots at Flynn on the set as Peters investigates while rubbing shoulders with legends ranging from Errol Flynn to William Faulkner to Peter Lorre and Humphrey Bogart. Peters even walks through a new set on the Warners lot, a private detective’s office with the name “Spade and Archer” on the door.
Peters isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, or the toughest (or the richest: his proposed fee for services rendered to the studio total $400; Nero Wolfe would recoil in disgust) and for a self-professed dreamer, Peters has few illusions about his profession or his abilities. As Peters himself puts it: “I was a first-rate, determined plodder with a hard head. That was the way I worked, and the way I liked it.”
Kaminsky packs a lot into a relatively short book of 188 pages (of which a portion features a preview of the next book in the series, Murder on the Yellow Brick Road), and creates a great yarn with memorable characters, weaving in the history of Hollywood in 1940 without turning the novel into a history lesson. Also, Peters' encounters with violence would make Mike Hammer and Joe Mannix wince. (Toby, would it kill you to take some self-defense courses and maybe look behind you once in a while?)
Still, it's never boring. And as much as I love private eyes like Spenser who can outfight and outshoot most bad guys, you gotta love a guy who gets knocked around constantly and keeps getting back up. I look forward to more Toby Peters. Four out of five stars.

[Chazzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stuart Kaminsky’s PI, Toby Peters is on the case for Warner Brothers Studios. Seems there is a photo of Errol Flynn in a compromising situation, with a very young girl. Warner Brothers wants to know if it is real or fake. Flynn says it’s a fake. Damage control is desperately needed or Flynn’s career will be down the tubes!

A ransom demands has been made and Toby is to be the delivery boy. Toby is skeptical about being given the original negative when he delivers the money. His suspicions of the exchange being a set-up are confirmed when he is hit over the head at the drop and wakes up to being in the company of a dead body!

As Toby tries to solve the murder and get the original negative, dead bodies keep turning up. Not a good thing.

A romp through 1940s Hollywood and the world of movie studios, with appearances of Peter Lorre, William Faulkner, Edward G. Robinson, Humphrey Bogart and more make this book a delight. The turns are sharp and the pace is steady, with humour interlaced with danger.

I’ve read a couple of books in the series and enjoyed them. This was the first of the series, and it did not disappoint.

[John Reis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read many of Kaminsky’s Inspector Rostnikov mysteries in the 1990s, but I never ran across the Toby Peters mysteries.

Toby is a former security guard at Warner Brothers. He is now a PI. It is 1940. He receives a call from Sid Adelman to pay a ransom and recover an incriminating photograph. The subject? Errol Flynn.

This is not a noir style detective story despite the time period. It is rather more of a romp. Peters meets Errol Flynn, Peter Lorre (to whom he gives advice on the detective life), Gary Cooper, Edward G Robinson and many other stars as he tries to recover the photograph after a violent encounter with the blackmailer. He has a chat with Bogart who remembers Toby from his past employment at WB.

Toby is beaten twice and shot but finally catches the murderer. He then gets a call from Judy Garland.

Kaminsky does a good job here. Hollywood is charming. And I like the reference to old products like Green River.

[Beyond the Pages with Eva K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick Summary: A star studded whodunit

My Review: Bullet for a Star by Stuart M. Kaminsky is a mystery/thriller that was first published in 1977. It is book #1 in the Toby Peters series.

About the Book: A former WB employee turned PI attempts to solve a Hollywood case involving Errol Flynn and an underaged girl. As bodies stack up, the case no longer seems to be about Flynn, rather it seems to be about the detective being accused of murder. Will he be able to clear his name in time before the killer gets to him?

My Final Say: This was a creative read. I enjoyed hearing the name dropping as the detective attempted to solve his case. As a classic film buff, it offered much in the way of entertainment.

Other: I would simply read this series just to hear how the author works in mentions of other Hollywood greats.

Rating: 3/5
Recommend: Yes
Audience: A
Status/Level: 👍

#libraryread

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

The number of excellent mysteries, and other works of fiction, published recently is phenomenal, and it is at times difficult to do more than tread water in an effort to keep up. It can be worthwhile, though, to make the time to go back and read some of the best books of the past. Stuart M. Kaminsky’s BULLET FOR A STAR is one of those books, a work that stands the test of time.

BULLET FOR A STAR introduces the world to Toby Peters, a hardscrabble, mostly down on his luck, private detective in 1940 Los Angeles. Kaminsky published this book in 1977, and the book is equal parts homage to the works of noir mysteries and to the Golden Age of Hollywood. Peters works on the fringes of the movie studio system. He knows the prominent players but isn’t always welcome in that world. Much of the fun of Kaminsky’s work is that familiar Hollywood roles don’t just show up, but they have critical roles. In this book it is Errol Flynn who needs Toby’s help, for reasons that you can well guess if you know anything about Flynn’s reputation. Flynn, though, is very likable in this book, as are Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre. Kaminsky likes Hollywood stars not Hollywood movie executives.

The setup works and there would be 24 Peters books when all was said and done. The prolific Kaminsky also published many other books before he passed in 2009, including several other significant series. BULLET FOR A STAR is a shorter book and a quick, engaging read. Toby Peters isn’t Sam Spade, but the portrayal is close enough to provide some real entertainment. It is worth taking that little bit of time away from the new.

The dark and dingy
Pervades Toby’s Hollywood.
The stars shine onscreen

[Raquel Santos · Rating 4 out of 5]

O primeiro de mais uma série deste autor.
É um Hard boiled passado na era de ouro do cinema nos EUA, em Hollywood. O Toby lembra o icónico Philip Marlowe.
E as estrelas sucedem-se e interagem com o herói. Aqui uma boa mão cheia delas. É um bônus.

[Blaine DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gotta say that I really enjoyed this book. Each week I was tempted to buy books by Kaminsky and finally took the plunge. Loved this book #1 of the Toby Peters mystery series. Toby is a hard-boiled PI who used to work for Warner Brothers studio until he was booted out 4 years prior to this book. It is early 1940 and one of Warners stars is being blackmailed. Toby is called in to help retrieve the incriminating photos in exchange for $5,000. Things don’t go as planned and this book is off to the races. Love old time movies and so I enjoy all the movie references and the fact that the characters are Ida Lupino, Errol Flynn, Humphrey Bogart, Peter Lorie and more. So many movie references it was fun for me to dash through this book. Again if you like old movies you will notice that Toby meets Bogart on the set of High Sierra. A fun and fast-paced book. Never lacking in action. Can’t wait to read Book 2 which is set on the Yellow Brick Road!

[Cherie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hearing all of the old movie star names was fun. No sure about Toby yet, so I will listen to the next one. I like the audio but didn't catch the name.

[Kelvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a 1977 book and is the first in Stuart Kaminsky’s long running Toby Peters series. The setting is in 1940s Hollywood. Toby Peters is a private investigator who used to work at Warner Brothers Studio. The book is very well written, quite humorous, and is packed with a lot of actions. I like how Kaminsky incorporates a lot of real Hollywood characters (such as Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre) into the story and how they all work well into the plot.

The story is about how a blackmailer Charles Cunningham drugged an underage girl Lynn Beaumont and unbeknownst to her took her naked pictures. Cunningham then used that photo to create a fake composite photo showing Lynn Beaumont with the famous Hollywood star Errol Flynn in a compromising situation even though the two have never met. Cunningham then blackmailed Warner Brothers and Errol Flynn with the fake photo. Sid Adelman, a Warner Brothers executive, hired Toby Peters to handle the payoff. During the exchange, a third party showed up and ambushed Cunningham and Peters. Cunningham was shot dead and Peters was injured. The negative of the fake picture was stolen. It then fell into the hands of a B movie actor Harry Beaumont, who then tried to use it to blackmail the studio himself. After a couple more deaths, Toby were able to solve the case. It turns out that Lynn’s mother a rich actress Brenda Stallings was in the midst of a divorce from Harry Beaumont. She worked with Harry’s father, Hatch, who works as a security guard at the studio, to try to retrieve the compromising negative to protect her daughter, not realizing it was a fake.

After Peters solved the case, he worked out a deal with Hatch, Brenda and Flynn so that Hatch confesses to the murders and Peters left everybody’s involvement out of the police and the public eye.

[Chuck Neumann · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Bullet for a star" was the first Toby Peters novel, but I have read a number already. This has been my favorite, though I have enjoyed them all. Toby is a private investigator in 1940's Hollywood who never has much money but always seems to be hired by wealthy stars. In this novel it is Errol Flynn. The plot is fairly straight forward for a Peters novel. We meet a lot of movie people, supporting actors such as Bruce Cabot and Big Boy Williams to stars like Peter Lorre and Edward G Robinson to directors like Raoul Walsh, Michael Curtiz and a young Don Seigel. They all act just as I would expect them to based on what I know of the "real" people. The first novel did not have all the unusual supporting characters found in the later novels, only the policeman brother and the dentist he rents an office from were in this novel. His ex-wife was present, she would be in a few of the later novels but not a regular. The novel takes the reader back to 1940 L.A. I figured out who did it before the ending, but that didn't damper my enjoyment of the novel at all. (It was the case of a character playing a role in the novel that really wasn't needed, unless ...) I also liked this novel a little more than most because we we more involved in the film business, we visited a number of sets including "Maltese Falcon", "High Sierra" and "Meet John Doe". While all Toby P1eters novels involve film stars, few actually "show" the movie business this close up. I highly recommend this novel to all mystery lovers and those who enjoy looking back at the film business.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first of the Toby Peters series by Stuart Kaminsky, and it's a fun ride indeed. I began reading these out of order, which is fine for this series, but it was a pleasure to finally pick this one up to see how it all began. Several characters that recur later in the series are conspicuously absent here, so it's all about private investigator Toby Peters, his client (Warner Bros and Errol Flynn), and his ever angry brother who is a lieutenant on the LAPD.
The beauty of this series is that it always involves some entertainer from the 30's or 40's and a pretty good mystery / murder(s). That's the case here, and Kaminsky did a fine job with the tale-- one can see how he later developed more peripheral characters to add comic relief, a skill at which he excels-- but for this maiden voyage, we pretty much just have the down on his luck but clever Toby, a private eye who is always a dollar short but lovable to all but the ones trying to kill him.
Fans of this series must read this initial outing, whether in or out of order. You will enjoy inhabiting LA in the 40's and solving mysteries among Hollywood's elite.