A Fatal Glass of Beer

This is only the second "Toby Peters" novel I've read. I started last month with the one that actually follows this effort...the Cary Grant thriller "To Catch a Spy." That's good but this is better. W.C. Fields comes off as irascible as those who know him from his great film comedies would expect, but he holds his liquor well and exhibits bravery and a good heart to boot. Toby and his buddies Gunther and Jeremy and his girlfriend Anita are present, along with nutty and incompetent dentist Shelly and the lovely secretary Violet. Toby and W.C. and Gunther go on a cross-country journey to save Fields' famous small-town savings accounts from a thief. Comedy and tragedy and danger are well-balanced here, against a backdrop of 1943 WWII headlines and name-dropping from Hollywood's Golden Era. I recommend this highly to those who like quick-reading mixtures of fun and suspense. I'll be cleansing my small town's library shelves of its stock of the "Toby" series, then looking to buy the missing ones. Kaminsky has a winner in this character and his adventures. I have also read two of his "Abe Leiberman" police procedurals, but the Peters' books are more impressive.

This book is perfect for all W.C. lovers. The absurd detective plot and a journy across the country from Philadelphia to Los Angeles in an old Cadillac are the backdrop for W.C. Fields' amusing one-liners of wit and wisdom. And the old, alcohol soaked comedian fires them in abundance. I couldn't help myself but laugh out loud. Good entertainment!