Mildred Pierced

by Stuart M. Kaminsky Narrated by Jim Meskimen

Overview

Mildred Minck is an unremarkable woman-until one tragic night in June 1944 when she becomes the first citizen of Los Angeles to be murdered by crossbow. The prime suspect is her husband, dentist Sheldon Minck, who's found standing over her body with the weapon in hand, raving that only Joan Crawford can identify the killer. It seems like a natural insanity defense, but Sheldon wants his neighbor, private investigator Toby Peters, to prove his innocence. The dentist is telling the truth about one thing: Joan Crawford was there.



The steely silver screen beauty is in the middle of a comeback, about to star in a film noir based on a James M. Cain novel, and insists Peters keep her name out of the papers. In exchange, the glamorous eyewitness points the sleuth toward the Survivors of the Future, a band of crackpot survivalists that the dentist was hoping to join. Sheldon's new friends want him sprung, but only because they want him dead . . .



With its "irresistible" title, Edgar Award winner Stuart M. Kaminsky's penultimate Toby Peters mystery shines a spotlight on the legendary screen diva as well as one of the favorite supporting characters of the series (The Washington Post).

Editorial Reviews

The Washington Post

The title is irresistible: Mildred Pierced). And the set-up for this, the 23rd Toby Peters mystery by Stuart M. Kaminsky, is presented in glorious black and white. — Dennis Drabelle

Publishers Weekly

Old pro Kaminsky serves up his usual amiable blend of nostalgia, humor, eccentricity and a mystery built around a celebrity (typically a film star) in his 23rd book to feature PI Toby Peters (after 2002's To Catch a Spy). While his long career hasn't been lucrative, it has allowed Toby to assemble a wealth of unusual friends, including dentist Sheldon Minck. Sheldon gets in over his head when he takes up with a strange survivalist group and, apparently, slays his wife with either a well-aimed or an errant crossbow bolt. Sheldon has the weapon and the motive, and the police have Sheldon and a witness who is none other than Joan Crawford. Getting Sheldon out of jail and keeping the actress out of the news become Toby's twin priorities. Toby still lives at Irene Plaut's boarding house and struggles with his relations with his brother, Phil. Kaminsky fashions the character of his guest star from bits and pieces of her public and private personas so that Crawford appears both familiar and new. While the mystery as such may be routine, details of the time (1944), from Toby's car (a Crosley) to the radio shows (The Aldrich Family) to the projected price of a postwar car ($900 for most, as much as $1,400 for a "luxury" model), will bring smiles of recognition to older readers. (July 9) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Detective to the stars Toby Peters (To Catch a Spy, 2002, etc.) finds a client tougher than he is when he investigates the death of his officemate’s wife. Joan Crawford isn’t going to lie for anyone, so it’s a shame she’s the sole witness when dentist Sheldon Minck’s faithless wife Mildred is shot with a crossbow bolt just yards from where Shelley is practicing the techniques he’s learned, sort of, from survivalist Lawrence Timerjack. But she’d rather not testify at all, since the publicity might cost her the lead in Mildred Pierce. So Toby agrees to help shield her from the press, hoping that getting close to the case will help him clear Shelly. He gets unexpected help from his brother Phil, whose anger-management issues intensify as his wife Ruth succumbs to cancer, and expected grief from John Cawelti, a detective with a grudge against Phil. He gets the usual misguided advice from his loopy landlady, Mrs. Plaut, and the usual aid and comfort from his girlfriend Anita. And he gets tailed, shot with a blowgun, lured into traps, and blown up as he discovers that Pathfinder Anthony, Pathfinder Lewis, and Deerslayer Helter--Timerjack’s fellow Survivors for the Future--are interested in their survival, not his. But Crawford never blinks, fending off threats of exposure from Cawelti and of destruction by the Survivors as she waits for her next close-up. More somber than Toby’s usual antic fare, perhaps out of respect for Ruth.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172802430
Publisher:	HighBridge Company
Publication date:	07/27/2021
Series:	Toby Peters Series , #23
Edition description:	Unabridged

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