Melting Clock

Tie into this month's Toby Peters mystery hardcover, The Devil Met a Lady, with his 16th adventure. Surrealist painter Salvador Dali enlists Toby's help in retrieving three stolen paintings--from thieves Dali hired as a publicity stunt. From Publishers Weekly Edgar Award winner Kaminsky ( Poor Butterfly ) pairs his 1940s L.A. private investigator Toby Peters with surrealist painter Salvador Dali in the series hero's 16th outrageous escapade. Dali and his wife, Gala, hire Peters to find three paintings and three ornate Russian clocks stolen from their house in Carmel. The only clue is an enigmatic note that, once deciphered with the help of his friend Jeremy Butler, ex-wrestler and poet, leads Peters to a murdered man, one clock and a painting defaced with another coded message. Aided again by Jeremy, Peters discovers another dead man, another clock and another work of art, on which is scrawled the message "Time is running out. "Dali confesses planning the theft and the notes as a publicity stunt, but he is horrified by the murders. Peters fears that the painter will be the third victim and enlists the aid of Jeremy and another friend, Gunther, for protection. Once again Kaminsky mixes the real--in this case the surreal--with the fictional for a quick-paced, clever revisionist Hollywood romp. Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal Any tale opening with Salvador Dali in a deerstalker and white-rabbit costume pursued by an axe-wielding monk while more consumed by his grasshopper phobia is bound to be considerable fun, and this Toby Peters mystery certainly is. Tom Parker gives each character a distinctive voice, with his French/Spanish accent for Dali a particular delight. Wartime Los Angeles detective Peters, previously on cases involving Fred Astaire, Albert Einstein, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, and other prominent 1940s figures (e.g., Poor Butterfly, Audio Reviews, LJ 1/97), has been hired by the immensely eccentric artist to recover three Dali paintings and three valuable Russian clocks. As with Lawrence Block's Bernie Rhodenbarr series, Kaminsky's book is more concerned with comic mood than with actual detection, and the plot weakens toward the end. Yet the period details about radio programs and dishes such as apples Eisenhower create a charming atmosphere. Highly recommended for public libraries.?Michael Adams, CUNY Graduate Ctr., New York Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.