High Midnight

Toby Peters #6

by Stuart Kaminskky

Someone wants Gary Cooper to make a movie he isn't interested in making, and whoever it is wants him badly enough to get nasty about it.Cooper takes to the hills, accompanied by a writer named Ernest Hemingway, chased by men with blood in their eyes and murder in their hearts. The problem is that Cooper can't shoot straight and Hemingway can't operate without native bearers and an elephant gun.Toby Peters can't shoot either, but he doesn't need help... much. Just give him a bowl of cereal and time to decide his next move and Toby will get everything straightened out. Now, if he can only keep Lombardi the gangster from making good on his threat to turn him into kosher hot dogs... .

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

188 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1981

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