A Fatal Glass of Beer

W. C. Fields hires private eye Toby Peters to nab the culprit who is robbing him one bank account at a time, but while on the thief's trail, the two find out there is another bad guy who does not want the money, but rather wants both of them dead.

In the strangely prudent youth that preceded his misspent middle age, misanthropic funnyman W.C. Fields squirreled away sizeable chunks of his earnings in banks across the country, under such quaintly Fieldsian monikers as Otis J. Raisincluster and Cormorant Beecham III. But now some scoundrel calling himself Lester O. Hipnoodle has absconded with Fields's stash of bankbooks and is traversing this great land cleaning out the accounts, pausing only long enough to taunt the great man with mocking letters and phone calls. Determined to give Hipnoodle a run for his money, Fields engages Hollywood detective Toby Peters to accompany him on his race from Philadelphia to Ottumwa, Iowa, to Panguitch, Utah (with stops at lesser oases on the way), to beat Hipnoodle to the boodle. From Pennsylvania to the midwest, the crafty thief comes out one step and many dollars ahead by one clever ruse after another--but somewhere along the line he stops stuffing money into his suitcase and starts shooting, and by the time the curtain rings down, two people are dead, and Toby's lost one of his favorite appendages. Fields's blather is perfectly suited to Kaminsky's overgalvanized style, and the cross-country odyssey gets Toby away from the menagerie of friends-and-relations who've weighed down his last few outings. Toby's 20th (Dancing in the Dark, 1996, etc.) is cause for celebration, especially if Fields is paying. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

"`Godfrey Daniel,' Fields hissed. `He's absconded. And he's stolen your midget.'" Any reader whose interest isn't piqued by that single line from the latest Toby Peters caper shouldn't be allowed near the mystery shelves. The Fields in question is W. C., of course, and the legendary comedian has enlisted the aid of Peters to track down the scoundrel who's been emptying Fields' bank accounts. For years, the eccentric star has squirreled away his cash in small towns under such pseudonyms as Quigley E. Sneersight. But now, in 1943, a man with the unlikely moniker of Lester Hipnoodle has stolen Fields' bank books and is crisscrossing the country emptying the accounts. Fields, Peters, and Gunther Wherthman, Peters' sidekick (and the midget), are in hot pursuit. Peters, the world-weary private eye to the stars, has all he can handle in the headstrong, pontificating Fields, whose oratorical pomposities are captured perfectly in Kaminsky's dialogue. Egads! This book is a hoot! Wes Lukowsky

The prolific Kaminsky here offers the 20th Toby Peters mystery. Peters and W.C. Fields cross the country (chauffeured by a Swiss midget) in search of Lester O. Hipnoodle, the villain who has somehow gained access to Field's numerous hidden bank accounts. An enjoyable lark.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.