Never Cross a Vampire

Toby Peters #5

by Stuart M. Kaminsky

Toby Peters guards a horror icon against a gang of crazed vampire enthusiastsCoffins fill the basement of a crumbling Los Angeles movie theater. Five vampires crowd around fading horror idol Bela Lugosi, peppering him with questions. A malfunctioning plastic fang causes one of the undead-wannabes to lisp. The effect is less than fearsome, but Lugosi is terrified, for one of these oddballs has been making threats on his life. He hires Toby Peters to provide security against his unbalanced fans. The detective is not concerned, but he should be. Even fake vampires can kill. Meanwhile, the Warner brothers contact Peters regarding a murder. A body has surfaced in one of Hollywood’s darker corners, and police suspicion has fallen on one of the studio’s star screenwriters: William Faulkner. As he struggles to balance the murder investigation while protecting Lugosi, Peters finds a thread connecting the two cases. To get Faulkner off the hook, he’ll have to find out who wants to kill Hollywood’s original Dracula.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Audiobook, Historical Mystery, Crime, Vampires

182 pages, ebook

First published July 1, 1980

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

[Merl Fluin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm in the mood for something frothy and was hoping for butterscotch Angel Delight, but this turned out to be more like a whimsical rice pudding, trying so hard to be "fun" that it was no fun at all. Maybe it would have improved if I'd stuck with it, but if I'd wanted a book that needed some effort I'd have chosen something else in the first place. Time of DNF: 35 pages.

[Chuck Neumann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another enjoyable novel in the Toby Peters series by Stuart Kaminsky. This is the second I have read, coming before the John Wayne/Charlie Chaplin one. In this novel Peters, a private detective in 1942 Hollywood, goes to work for aging star Bela Lugosi, now appearing in low budget films, who has been receiving threats from a crazed "Vampire". Peters is soon after hired by a lawyer, for much better payment, to investigate a murder charge against author William Faulkner. The Faulkner case was quite interesting, I figured out what happened fairly soon, but not who did it until much later. The Lugosi case was unclear, though Peters had narrowed it to five possible subjects. Suddenly, both cases seemed to come together, which made no sense at first. However, the ending explained the plot twists in a very convincing manner. Once again, the historical characters involved (Lugosi, Faulkner, Boris Karloff) seemed to act just I would imagine the real people to act. Peters is once again friends with with a number of quirky characters and a policeman brother with serious anger issues. I could easily rate this a five, but went with a four because I hope the next one I read might be even better. I highly recommend this novel to mystery fans and/or fans of 1940's Hollywood. It is an exciting read, but one with humor as well.

[Ronald Wilcox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Toby Peters is at it again, this time with two cases, the first with Bela Lugosi receiving death threats and the second investigating a murder that has pinned on William Faulkner. Usual good use of sardonic humor and a nice tying up of the two cases.

[F.R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did my dissertation on William Faulkner, and - as you can tell from my own fiction - I’m a massive horror and hard boiled fan. So any book which brings together Faulkner and Bela Lugosi in a noir L.A. mystery is right up my street.

[Susan Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bela Lugosi has just received a dead bat - in a coffin - with a stake through it's heart. Private Investigator Toby Peters has been hired to find out who is the threat to the famous vampire. While following the leads in a group of wannabe vampires, another case falls into Toby's lap. William Faulkner has been accused of killing a movie agent, and everyone swears that he did it - except for Faulkner.

This is the busiest Peters has been in his entire career! Chasing vampires on one end of town, grilling the "grieving widow" on another end of town, Toby doesn't know where to turn next. Not to mention the fact that vampires keep attacking him everywhere he goes. No, seriously. People dressed as vampires are coming out of the woodwork to try to end Toby's investigation -- but which one?

This was a ptetty good detective story set in the early 40s. Toby Peters is a typical gumshoe, down on his luck and his cash. The reader, Tom Parker, brings Toby to life, making him sound just like a P.I. should.

[John R. Goyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not great literature, but fun and a good read - and with William Faulkner and Bela Lugosi involved, it can't be all bad... neo-noir, a tiny bit forced, but still enjoyable and well done. A nice plot, a couple characters overly rough around the edges, but I guess that's the style of the time.

[Bev · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stuart Kaminsky's Toby Peters has a double-feature in store for him in his fifth recorded case. First up is Dracula himself, Bela Lugosi. Someone has been sending America's favorite vampire threatening messages and nasty little packages. Lugosi hires the Hollywood private eye to look into the case. Peters meets a whole group of vampire-wannabes who seem to dote on Hollywood's Count, but does one of them think they can replace Lugosi as the king of vampires? Before Peters can get very far into the suspects and motives behind the poison pen, he's asked to take on a second case. This time it's the murder of an agent and the prime suspect is William Faulkner, a southern author who has decided to try his hand at screenwriting.

The case looks pretty black against Faulkner. Not only did the dying man identify him as the culprit, but the man's wife also claimed to have been present and fingered the author as well. The curious thing is...when Peters interviews her and shows her a picture from his wallet (asking her, "Is this the man?"), she identifies the man as Faulkner. But it's not--it's Harry James [Peters doesn't say so, but I'm guessing this is a reference to the musician/band leader]. So something is definitely fishy. And then the two cases seem to intertwine and Peters has to figure out if they really are related. And he better do it before the killer decides to add Peters to the body count.

The Kaminsky novels are fun and high in nostalgia for those of us who grew up with the old black and white movies playing every Saturday and Sunday afternoon (when there wasn't a bazillion channels/streaming services/what-have-you). He's got old Hollywood down to a T (or should that be down to an H?). It's also good for those who like their private eyes more soft- than hard-boiled. I mentioned in my last review that Peters doesn't really fit the 1930s/40s tough guy detective bill--he gets beat up (quite often by his own brother, police Lieutenant Phil Pevsner), shot at, and framed for murders more often than most private eyes do in an entire series. And--as with his adventure with Errol Flynn, it's the Hollywood star who saves his bacon when the bad guy is ready to write "The End" on Peters' life story. Lugosi, in full Dracula kit, scares the bejeebers out of the culprit and Peters lives to face another day.

I wasn't quite sure how I liked the meshing of the two stories, but Kaminsky did manage to bring it off in a fairly satisfactory way. I spotted what was going on with Faulkner, though I didn't quite get the culprit right. ★★★ and 1/2 stars for a fun romp. [rounded up here]

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.

[Tommy Verhaegen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Een verhaal dat speelt tegen de achtergrond van de glitterwereld Hollywood. Achtergrond mag je hier letterlijk nemen, van glitter is geen sprake, wel van de donkere, vuile en vieze kantjes van Hollywood, zijn sterren en zijn mislukkingen.
Toby Peters, advocaat die net zijn neus boven water kan houden, past perfect in dit plaatje.
De plot waarin vampieren (nu ja Bela Lugosi dan toch), namaakvampieren (De Kinderen van de Nacht) en namaak-namaakvamieren (de leden onder valse voorwendsels van de Kinderen van de Nacht) een belangrijke rol spelen zit goed maar ietwat ingewikkeld in mekaar. De 2de plot waabij Peters de onschuld moet bewijzen van een moordenaar die beschuldigd werd door zijn stervende slachtoffer zelf, heeft hier schijnbaar niets mee te maken. Maar dit is Hollywood, sommige dingen zijn voorbeschikt...
Hard-boiled detective waarbij het merendeel van het geweld op Toby voor rekening van zijn broer komt, hoofdinspekteur bij de politie.
Een originele kijk en verfrissende blik op een oud en bewezen genre met goede gevolgen.

[dOnnabud · Rating 4 out of 5]

Toby Peters is a captivating character: cynical, humble, modest, determined, clever, insightful and funny. He reminds me a bit of Travis McGee. This story takes place in the days following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, so the historical context is enlightening. The plot incorporates Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff and William Faulkner - a fun, quick read.

Favorite passages (1995 paperback edition):
"A pudgy vampire with a soiled black cape sat on a coffin across from me sipping a bottle of Hires Root Beer through a soggy straw. His loose fangs kept slipping, and each sip brought a sound somewhere between an asthmatic whistle and terminal pneumonia. He was fascinating, but so were the other four black-caped vampires who surrounded my client in that damp basement." (page 1; from the first paragraph)

"She looked at me briefly, trying to read some answers in my face, but my face doesn't hold any answers. My face is a weary question mark." (page 167)

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

Quick Summary: A murder mystery set in Old Hollywood

My Review: Never Cross a Vampire by Stuart Kaminsky is book # 5 in the Toby Peters series.

About the Book: Creepy vampire enthusiasts, dark secrets and affairs, unexpected murder and suspense, and an aging icon who has seen better days all merge in this latest episode. While the prospect of war looms, Peters stays his course for finding a killer in this campy PI installment.

My Final Say: The story did what it was supposed to do, in that it creatively introduced a classic Hollywood legend. Bela Lugosi never looked so good.

Rating: 3/5
Recommend: Yes
Audience: A
Status/Level: 🕸
Series: Yes
Audiobook: Yes
Narration: +

#libraryread

[John Reis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Toby Peters has two cases. Bela Lugosi is receiving threatening letters which seem to be written in blood. William Faulkner has been charged with murder. Lugosi is old now and poor and sad. Faulkner is imperious, given to insulting or sneering at all he meets.

It is 1942 and the USA is in the war. Toby works each case alternately, so he does not know who is following him around in a dark Ford. He eats Kix or shredded wheat for breakfast and hot dogs or pork and beans for dinner.

Toby is attacked in a library. There are several more murders.

And then he figures it out. In the end, he now has two enemies on the police force, his brother and the detective assigned to the Faulkner case.

These are all enjoyable reads.

[Mattia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Siamo negli anni 30/40 in America a Los Angeles, un investigatore squattrinato, senza lavoro, che vive in un appartamentino diviso con un dentista che a volte, ha per clienti perfino i vampiri, ottiene due strani incarichi: qualcuno invia messaggi minacciosi all'Attore Bela Lugosi, interprete di Dracula e William Faulkner è accusato di Omicidio.
Il romanzo è carinissimo ed originale, vi è un ottimo umorismo inserito tra i dialoghi, e come cornice un'ottima ricostruzione di quel periodo storico. Bello davvero.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this whole series! Fun historical mystery, set in Los Angeles during WWII with all kinds of interesting little details: Toby Peters has a Beechnut Gum clock, he eats Kix cereal, he works with wartime rationing. And in every book he solves a murder for a Hollywood star, so there are a lot of interesting details there too. Just a fun series bout a detective who can't catch a break, but is doing his best.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting mystery set in the time of hard-boiled detective types, but written much more recently, which allows it (thanks to the talent of the writer) to alternate between being a solid example of that type of fiction, and respectfully and gently satirizing it. The author also takes full advantage of the Hollywood setting, seamlessly weaving actual historical characters -- in this one, it was Bela Lugosi and William Faulkner -- as major players in the story.

[Amy Gibbons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it , you will love Toby Peters

as I read this book,I couldn't imagined it how anyone could take that much punishment. It is really great to have a protagonist who is not ruggedly handsome. The characters sound realistic and interesting, even funny. I love reading about Hollywood and old time movie stars. The book makes life on the home front during WWII believable. The plot is twist y enough to.or anyone entertained.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

This time Toby Peters has two different clients. Bela Lugosi who is being threatened by person or persons unknown, and William Faulkner, who is being framed for murder. I highly recommend this tightly written Hollywood noir PI novel.

[Raquel Santos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Espera que as ligações vampíricas desta história fossem mais profundas, mas o Bela Lugosi teve de partilhar o espaço com outro caso no mesmo livro.
Ainda assim, bom entretenimento, como nos outros tomos.

[Stephanie Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love all Stuart M. Kaminsky's series.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few red herrings and a good mystery. Plus so many fun characters.

[Tasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun series. The mystery on this one was a bit muddled but I really enjoy the characters.

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

gonna give this a 4 for the delightful setting, the main stories are good, but the backdrop is always fun!

[Mike Harper · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK, short, but not in a class with Kaminsky’s best.

[Jon Ziomek · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is number 5 in the series, and Mr. Kaminsky has found his groove with Toby Peters. Another good one.

[John Yingling · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable formulaic mystery. In this one Toby Peters is working for William Faulkner, who has been arrested for murder, and Bela Lugosi who is receiving threatening letters.

[Eric]

Full review: https://monsterbookclub.com/2022/11/0...

[Rob Townsend · Rating 4 out of 5]

Typically fun Toby Peters mystery, but where the hell did Goodreads get this cover?

[Robert James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another clever and entertaining entry in the Toby Peters series.

[Dave Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stuart Kaminsky writes good old fashioned wise-cracking detective stories with all the standard themes so you can't help but like it. Our hero Toby Peters with the usual baggage: ex-cop, always in fiduciary distress, a connection in the police, claims to not be a team player but has the collection of odd-ball friends to call on, a combination of constantly hit on the head man-of-action and deductive reasoner, a seedy office, a gun hardly ever used, heading toward the upper end of middle age but still a bit of a ladies man. Also (as I like) in the Sir Conan Doyle/Rex Stout/Ross Thomas tradition having his repasts described in the tale; although unlike Doyle's tinned Tongue or a cold cut platter from Mrs. Hudson's kitchen he tends to tacos or the daily from a diner when he is out or a can of beans warmed up and maybe scrambled eggs and Kix when home in the boarding house. There is a twist to everything else too, as the boarding house is in LA and the time is early WWII. The office for example is sublet and in the back of a dentist's office, the cop connection is his brother who is still beating him up, the friends are even odder than usual (dwarf, dentist, building super/ex-wrestler) There are lots of era specific product or radio references I really enjoy and a good dose of humor (usually supplied by the bit characters) with all the bodies. The special angle these Toby Peters books take, is the clients were famous in their day. in this case somewhat down and out Bela Lugosi is being threatened by unknown parties and William Faulkner (in town to work on a screen play) has been framed for murder. The bodies pile up in this one and hijinks ensue. I recommend it. I actually listened to this one as the audio book through the library (and Hoopla) and the narration was terrific, recommend it.

[James Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bela Lugosi is being threatened and William Faulkner is in jail, framed for murder. Toby is up to his badly banged-up skull in wanna-be vampires, bad Hollywood writers, and his brother Phil, the cop who delivers most of his injuries.
Another fun romp through a nostalgic, early 1940s LA with Toby Peters, the dedicated, reasonably competent PI with Hollywood connections. With help from his friends, Gunther, a polyglottal Swiss midget and Butler, his ex-wrestler office landlord.
I always enjoy these books. For whatever reason, I embrace the romanticism of Toby and his life in Mrs. Plaut's rooming house and his small cubby-office off of Sheldon Minck's terrible dentist office. His brother, the police lieutenant who takes out his frustrations by beating on Toby, his ex-wife who has had enough of his bs, and his sense of fair play that puts him in a lot of his near-fatal situations.

Here's Toby,in a nutshell:
"'No money,' I said...
'And no offers of flesh,either,' I added. 'I have no ambition,' I explained. 'Absolutely none. I don't want or need a lot of money. I have no dreams money can buy. What I always need is just a little more than I've got, not a lot more, and I'm not about to be bought in for a few hundred dollars. It's a bind, but it keeps my reputation clean and my suits old.'
'And when you go to that great Pinkerton agency in the sky, they may reward you bymaking you a night watchman on the gate of heaven,' she spat.
'Or the gate of hell,' I added. 'I'd like that.'"

That's my Toby.