Now You See It

by Stuart M. Kaminsky Narrated by Jim Meskimen

Overview

The final Toby Peters Hollywood whodunit from the Edgar Award-winning author is "a marvelous magic trick of a mystery" featuring Harry Blackstone (Booklist, starred review).



When an anonymous rival demands that master illusionist Harry Blackstone reveal his secrets on stage or die, the magician hires Toby Peters and his brother, ex-cop Phil Pevsner, to run security for his show at the famous Pantages Theater in Hollywood. Of course, Peters doesn't expect the job to include replacing a showgirl for Blackstone's show-stopping sawing-a-woman-in-half trick after the saboteur has stolen the blade.



Peters's brief career in magic is only the first surprise as a blackmailing con man turns up shot in a dressing room backstage and one of Blackstone's competitors ends up dead at a testimonial dinner. With "The Great Blackstone" now a murder suspect, the sleuth will need to pull a rabbit out of a hat to solve this mystery . . .

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

When PI Toby Peters answers the bell for the 24th time, his footwork is as nimble as ever, even if the dance will be familiar to fans of Kaminsky's Hollywood historical series. The celebrity-friendly detective has aided every kind of star from Errol Flynn in the first book (Bullet for a Star) to Joan Crawford in the most recent (Mildred Pierced). Toby often earns gratitude, frequently reaps scars and bruises, but never garners the kind of riches likely to change his boarding-house lifestyle. As WWII appears headed for a close, the great magician Harry Blackstone, who's been challenged and (apparently) threatened by a third-rate competitor, approaches Toby. Now teamed up with his brother, Phil, Toby undertakes to protect and unmask Blackstone's nemesis. Kaminsky makes an art of interjecting bits and pieces of period color, from Toby's dilapidated Crosley auto to 1940s songs or jingles. The running madcap humor includes landlady Irene Plaut's endless memoirs and dentist Shelly Minck's wacky inventions. Murder transforms Blackstone from magician to suspect and leaves him holding the bag, with predictably enjoyable results. Intriguing but simple magic tricks borrowed from Blackstone: The Magic Detective radio show serve as clever chapter lead-ins. Agent, Donald Maass. (Nov. 2) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Joined by his recently retired brother Phil Pevsner, 1940s p.i. Toby Peters (Mildred Pierced, 2003, etc.) proves that the hand really isn't quicker than the eye when he plays bodyguard to a famous magician. Harry Blackstone isn't so much scared as piqued by anonymous threats to sabotage his act unless he reveals the secrets of his illusions. But just to make sure his lovely assistant doesn't really get sawed in half, he hires Pevsner and Peters to check things out backstage. Sure enough, a vital safety switch goes missing from Blackstone's buzz saw, forcing Toby to make a daring last-minute rescue-only to find blackmailing con man Robert R. Cunningham shot to death in a dressing room. As the threats continue, suspicion falls on rival conjurer Calvin Ott, who under his stage name Marcus Keller arranges a testimonial dinner for Blackstone and offers to present the diners with "the death of a magician." Unfortunately for Ott, the dead magician turns out to be him. So Toby and Phil, along with four-foot-tall Gunther Wherthman, ex-wrestler Jeremy Butler, and demented dentist Sheldon Minck, all have to sweat in their rented tuxedos while the LAPD's John Cawelti tries to establish who saw what in a room full of illusionists. The Peters entourage, barreling ahead full tilt, provides just enough insanity to enliven a routine whodunit.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172802607
Publisher:	HighBridge Company
Publication date:	07/27/2021
Series:	Toby Peters Series , #24
Edition description:	Unabridged

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