Bullet for a Star

The first in a mystery series set in 1940s Hollywood, where a hard-boiled private eye helps a cast of real-life stars: Nostalgic fun (Publishers Weekly). Hollywood, 1940: Its been four years since security guard Toby Peters got fired from the Warner Brothers lot for breaking a screen cowboys arm. Since then hes scratched out a living as a private detectivemissing persons and bodyguard work mostlybut now his old friends, the Warners, have a job for him. Someone has mailed the studio a picture of Errol Flynn caught in a compromising position with an underage woman. Although Flynn insists its a fake, the studio is taking no chances. Peters is to deliver the blackmailer five thousand dollars and return with the photo negative. It should be simple, but Flynn, a swashbuckler on and off the screen, has a way of making things complicated. Soon its up to Peters to clear Flynns name, following a twisted trail that surprisingly leads to the set of The Maltese Falcon, involving Humphrey Bogart, Peter Lorre, and Sydney Greenstreet. As real-life PI Toby Peters meets Bogies Sam Spade, he doesnt fall prey to being star-struck. But he may still fall prey to a killer. If you like your mysteries Sam Spade tough, with tongue in cheek and a touch of the theatrical, then the Toby Peters series is just your ticket. Houston Chronicle