High Midnight

Toby Peters #6

by Stuart M. Kaminsky

Toby Peters tries to protect a Western star against a vicious salami-mogulToby Peters is enjoying a moonlighting gig as the house detective at a hot-sheets motel when two giant men come to take him for a ride. They’re Chicago toughs, visiting Los Angeles with their boss, Lombardi, who has come west to establish himself as the cold-cuts king of California. His message to Peters is simple: Stop asking questions and tell Cooper he didn’t find anything. Or else. “Cooper” is Gary Cooper, who recently hired a detective named Toby Peters to quiet a blackmailer. But that wasn’t Toby—it was the dentist who shares his office. The amateur sleuth bungled the case so badly that now they’re all in danger from Lombardi, the blackmailers, and anyone else with a hot head and a .45. If Toby Peters can’t sort this out quickly, the next batch of Lombardi hot dogs will be made of one hundred percent pure-ground detective.

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

190 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 1981

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

[Elisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't love this one quite as much, but I still enjoyed it.

[Raquel Santos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mais um caso, mais uma tareia e um balázio.
Os famosos mais proeminentes deste são Gary Cooper e Ernest Hemingway.

[Tommy Verhaegen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Iemand probeert om Gary Cooper via bedreiging te dwingen om in een nieuwe film te akteren. Hard-boiled detective Toby Peters moet dat voorkomen en zoekt de zaak, die vol tegenstrijdigheden zit, tot op de bodem uit. Het feit dat de meeste van zijn verdachten vermoord worden, helpt hem flink op weg.
Een ingewikkelde plot die zoals gewoonlijk minder belangrijk is dan de non-stop aktie in een spannend verhaal. Bekende persoonlijkheden maken hun opwachting en laten zich van hun sympathiekste op minder aangename kant kennen.
Familiale problemen leveren een vleugje psychologie op de achtergrond.
Absoluut een topper binnen het genre.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series and author new to me, picked it up as an audio book to listen in the car. Really enjoyed it, old fashioned hard boiled detective story set in the golden years of hollywood. It's not perfect, but it is funny, with lots of lol moments as I drove to work. I note other reviewers familiar with the series say it's not the best, so I do look forward to tracking down the other titles, because I enjoyed this one a lot. Christopher Lane's narration was fantastic.

[Chuck Neumann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another Toby Peters mystery. Toby is a private eye in 1940's Hollywood who works for the big stars of the day, even though he has a hard time paying all his bills. In this book, he works for Gary Cooper, who hires Toby to find out who is trying to force him into making a cheap western (High Midnight) when he is already working on "The Pride of the Yankees" film. As in all the Peters stories, a large supporting cast of regular (a little person, a huge ex-wrestler, a glum dentist, his policeman brother) helps (and hinders) his investigation. We meet other famous people along the way, including Babe Ruth and Ernest Hemingway. The story makes little sense, but in the end the author ties up the loose ends quite effectively. As always, the famous people behave in a way you believe they might in real life - although Hemingway seemed a little too much. I have now read quite a few of the series, this has been my least favorite so far. Perhaps I'm just getting too use to the formula. Still, it is a good mystery and a fun read.

[F.R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Each of these books hangs around a particular Hollywood figure, or film. This time it’s Gary Cooper. Now, I have seen HIGH NOON, but really Gary Cooper is a blank for me. Tony Soprano used to hold him up as a certain type of American male, but I don’t have much sense of his persona. As such, although this is a well put together tough guy thriller, I don’t think I got as much from it as I was supposed to. Which is really my fault rather than the book’s, but there you go.

[Jon Ziomek · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Toby Peters series is a nice break from the serious nonfiction history that usually occupies my reading time. This one, #6, shows that Mr. Kaminsky is in his Toby groove. Funny, memorable characters, and a plot that moves along pretty quickly.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Toby gets taken for a ride by some Chicago hoods now in LA to help set up a "kosher deli supply house'. Someone is trying to force Gary Cooper to act in a B grade (or C) Western for a failing director.

[Robert James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always wondered why Hemingway was on the cover of the book and now I know. Another very entertaining entry in this series. You can tell that the author loved what he was doing, and his descriptions of the period make the story and the plotting even better.

[Dave Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun with familiar characters, but despite Ernest Hemingway appearing as probably exactly himself it's below 'the series average.

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

really enjoy the setting and main characters, fun read

[Willie Kirschner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another quick read and another misadventure for Toby Peters, the “ace” detective who always manages to get close to getting himself killed and somehow manages to survive. A Fun read.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

This time Toby Peters finds himself involved with Gary Cooper, the mob and a smalltime film producer who'll do anything to get his movie made. Plenty of suspenseful action. Highly recommended.

[James Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

This time Toby has to protect Gary Cooper from a semi-retired gangster who wants to corner the LA cold cuts market... and make a movie, starring Cooper. Or else.

Toss in Ernest Hemingway getting manly and boxing with Toby, a Spanish freedom fighter with delusions of "fascisti" all around, Babe Ruth and some of his baseball friends, and assorted washed-up actors and filmmakers and a few small-time mobsters.

And one of them is willing to kill anyone who gets in the way of "High Midnight" being filmed, with Gary Cooper as the lead role. And when Cooper won't do it, he becomes the next target.

Toby is his usual loyal detective with a face bad guys can't resist punching. With his standard back-up, the midget Swiss translator, the ex-wrestler-turned-poet, and the messed-up (and generally messy) dentist.

The usual fun and adventure, mystery and famous faces, places, and times. I love Kaminsky's Toby Peters adventures, in large part because they never fail to transport me to their world. It's like being in The Big Sleep or Maltese Falcon. Always fun.

[Marj · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the sixth in the Toby Peters mystery series, published in 1981. I've read several of the others and enjoyed them, and while I also enjoyed this one, I found it to be a little less enjoyable than many of the others. It seemed to move a little slower, and there were characters that didn't seem to really belong in the story.

This one featured Gary Cooper, and had appearances by Babe Ruth and Ernest Hemingway to add to the story. Added to the celebrity characters were several gangsters to make Toby's life a little more interesting.

The plot was interesting, and I find that the various bits of 1940s trivia adds to the feel of the story. I also like Kaminsky's portrayal of both Gary Cooper and Babe Ruth. I'm not sure about Ernest Hemingway's portrayal, it seems a little bit less real somehow.

[Mike Gustin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another amusing Toby Peters mystery--this one involving Gary Cooper and Ernest Hemingway. An interesting minor character is a vicious policeman named Cawelti. I believe he is named after John Cawelti, the author of Adventure, Mystery and Romance, a book analyzing formulaic popular fiction. Quite appropriate!

[Ron · Rating 2 out of 5]

My least favorite of the series so far. The scenes with Gary Cooper were OK, but not so much the scenes with Babe Ruth. I'm not a big fan of Hemingway, but his part was very disappointing. But more than that, the story itself felt contrived--just an excuse to parade a few celebrity names around.

[Kristine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy the Toby Peters series but this is not one of my favorites. The plot seemed thin and to move rather slow as well as having a few characters that didn't seem to belong. This leaned more heavily toward the research material rather than story. Overall, still a nice read.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Toby Peters w/ Gary Cooper

[Joe O'Connor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very Good; Continuing character: Toby Peters; Gary Cooper needs assistance when a bunch of mobsters try to force him into doing a low budget movie.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audiobook, read by Christopher Lane

[John Gilchrist · Rating 3 out of 5]

done