The Melting Clock

Kaminsky, Stuart M.

ISBN 10: 0892964359 / ISBN 13: 9780892964352

Published by Mysterious Pr, 1991

About this Item

NY: St. Martin's Press, 1991. Hard cover w/DJ. First Edition (stated). SIGNED by the author, Stuart Kaminsky, on the title page. 16th Toby Peters mystery (out of 24). Text is clean and solid no names or remainder markings. Covers are clean and straight, appears unread. DJ is bright but lightly shelfworn (unclipped $17.95), and protected in mylar jacket. Book and DJ condition: Near fine. Packaged with care and shipped in a box. Seller Inventory # 5693

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Melting Clock

Publisher: Mysterious Pr

Publication Date: 1991

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Near Fine

Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine

Signed: Signed by Author

Edition: 1st Edition.

About this title

Synopsis:

Accompanied by a scholarly dwarf and a wrestler-turned-poet, 1942 Hollywood investigator Toby Peters investigates the disappearance of three of Salvador Dali's paintings from his Carmel, California, retreat

Reviews:

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.

Hollywood-40's p.i. Toby Peters agrees to recover three paintings and three clocks stolen from the house of Salvador Dali and his wife Gala. The first two paintings and clocks turn up at places indicated by tricky messages (``Look for the second PLACE in Los Angeles'') that don't mention the dead men who turn up with them; the third is promised for a fatal denouement already forecast by the flashforward opening chapter. Dali's pretentiously determined clowning--he first appears in bunny suit and deerstalker--makes him a natural for Toby's beat, but he's practically the only character of any interest or consequence, as the solution will reveal. Above average for this uneven series (Poor Butterfly, 1970, etc.), though not in the same league as Kaminsky's stories about Inspector Rostnikov. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.