Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bullet for a Star | 1977 | Stuart M. Kaminsky | Buy |
| 2 | Murder on the Yellow Brick Road | 1977 | Stuart M. Kaminsky | Buy |
| 3 | You Bet Your Life | 1978 | Stuart M. Kaminsky | Buy |
| 4 | The Howard Hughes Affair | 1979 | Stuart M. Kaminsky | Buy |
| 5 | Never Cross a Vampire | 1980 | Stuart M. Kaminsky | Buy |
| 6 | High Midnight | 1981 | Stuart M. Kaminsky | Buy |
| 7 | Catch a Falling Clown | 1982 | Stuart M. Kaminsky | Buy |
| 8 | He Done Her Wrong | 1983 | Stuart M. Kaminsky | Buy |
| 9 | The Fala Factor | 1984 | Stuart M. Kaminsky | Buy |
| 10 | Down for the Count | 1985 | Stuart M. Kaminsky | Buy |
| 11 | The Man Who Shot Lewis Vance | 1986 | Stuart M. Kaminsky | Buy |
| 12 | Smart Moves | 1987 | Stuart M. Kaminsky | Buy |
| 13 | Think Fast, Mr. Peters | 1988 | Stuart M. Kaminsky | Buy |
| 14 | Buried Caesars | 1989 | Stuart M. Kaminsky | Buy |
| 15 | Poor Butterfly | 1990 | Stuart M. Kaminsky | Buy |
| 16 | The Melting Clock | 1991 | Stuart M. Kaminsky | Buy |
| 17 | The Devil Met a Lady | 1993 | Stuart M. Kaminsky | Buy |
| 18 | Tomorrow is Another Day | 1995 | Stuart M. Kaminsky | Buy |
| 19 | Dancing in the Dark | 1996 | Stuart M. Kaminsky | Buy |
| 20 | A Fatal Glass of Beer | 1997 | Stuart M. Kaminsky | Buy |
| 21 | A Few Minutes Past Midnight | 2001 | Stuart M. Kaminsky | Buy |
| 22 | To Catch A Spy | 2002 | Stuart M. Kaminsky | Buy |
| 23 | Mildred Pierced | 2003 | Stuart M. Kaminsky | Buy |
| 24 | Now You See It | 2004 | Stuart M. Kaminsky | Buy |
The Toby Peters series by Stuart M. Kaminsky follows a down-on-his-luck private investigator working in wartime Los Angeles during the 1940s. Toby is a former Warner Bros. security guard who got fired and now scrapes by with a cheap office he shares with a terrible dentist named Sheldon Minck. Each novel pairs him with a different real-life Hollywood star who needs his help, from Errol Flynn in the first book to a long roster of Golden Age celebrities across the 24 entries.
Kaminsky’s background as a film professor shows throughout the series. The period detail is sharp, and the celebrity characters are portrayed with enough historical accuracy to give the comedy real grounding. The books are lighter in tone than Kaminsky’s other mystery series, leaning into the absurdity of a broke, frequently beaten-up PI rubbing shoulders with the biggest names in show business.