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Stuart M. Kaminsky

Born: 1934 in Chicago, Illinois
Died: 2009 in St. Louis, Missouri.

Pen Name: None

Connection to Illinois: Kaminsky was born in Chicago. He attended the University of Illinois and Northwestern.

Biography: Stuart Melvin Kaminsky entered the University of Illinois on a soccer scholarship, he earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism in 1957, followed by a master’s in English literature in 1959. In 1972, he received a doctorate in film studies from Northwestern University, writing his dissertation on the director Don Siegel. Joining the Northwestern faculty, Mr. Kaminsky taught film there until 1989. Afterward, he was the first director of the Graduate Film Conservatory at Florida State University, a position he held till 1994, when he left academia to write full time. The author of more than 60 crime novels, Mr. Kaminsky typically wrote two or more books a year. A longtime resident of Sarasota, Florida, he moved to St. Louis for a liver transplant but suffered a stroke shortly thereafter which made him ineligible for the transplant.


Awards:

Primary Literary Genre(s): Fiction

Primary Audience(s): Adult readers

Stuart M. Kaminsky on WorldCat : http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=stuart++m.+kaminsky


Selected Titles

A fatal glass of beer /
ISBN: 0892966300 OCLC: 35919388

Mysterious Press, New York : ©1997.

The Hollywood detective, Toby Peters, is hired by the 1940s comedian, W.C. Fields, to help catch a swindler. The swindler has found a way to gain access to Fields' bank accounts in various parts of the country and is emptying them one by one.

  A Fatal Glass of Beer :
ISBN: 9781531829575 OCLC: 965917507

W. C. Fields hires private eye Toby Peters to nab the culprit who is robbing him one bank account at a time, but while on the thief's trail, the two find out there is another bad guy who does not want the money, but rather wants both of them dead.

A whisper to the living /
ISBN: 0765318881 OCLC: 428026963

Forge, New York : 2010.

Inspector Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov, an honest policeman in a very dishonest post-Soviet Union, and his team search for a serial killer who has claimed at least 40 victims while protecting a visiting British journalist who is working on a story about a Moscow prostitution ring that produces leads to a high-level source seemingly beyond Rostnikov's reach.

  Blood and rubles
ISBN: 1531829317 OCLC: 965917505

Crime in post-communist Russia has only gotten worse: rubles are scarce, blood is plentiful. In the eyes of Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov and his metropolitan police team, newfound democracy has unleashed the desperation that pushes people over the edge, and a trio of nasty cases confirms their worst fears.Deputy Inspector Sasha Tkach must find the murderous thieves who have terrorized an impoverished neighborhood. Policewoman Elena Timofeyeva joins the tax police in a raid on a house filled with priceless Czarist treasures--which disappear the following day without a trace. And relentless Inspector Emil Karpo will not rest until he finds the Mafia beasts who killed the only woman he has ever loved in a bloody drive-by shooting--and Karpo intends to punish them his way.

Blood and rubles :
ISBN: 0449909492 OCLC: 32893430

Fawcett Columbine, New York : 1996.

In Russia, Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov and his squad of dedicated and honest policemen battle organized crime, muggings, kidnapings and murder. The action unfolds against the background of the anarchy which followed the collapse of the Soviet Union. By the author of A Cold Red Sunrise.

Bright futures :
ISBN: 9781429924290 OCLC: 865171173

Tor, New York : 2013.

Lovable everyman Lew Fonesca, the Man Who Makes Things Work in Sarasota, is once again faced with cases that try his patience and test his sanity. A local curmudgeon who has been campaigning to end state-sponsored school fundingis brutally killed. A recent graduate of a public high school for the gifted is arrested for the crime and turns to Lew for help. Asemi-retired and much beloved singer of children's songs is being anonymously pushed to leave Sarasota, threatened with exposure asa sexual predator. It is up to Lew to uncover the blackmailer and determine whether there is any truth to the accusation. Lew has decided that life is worth more than just going through the motions. But will the good life that Lew so richly deserves elude him as he uncovers some very sad truths' His final choice--do the right thing and see his happiness evaporate ... or betray a trust andstay happy' At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.

Bright futures :
ISBN: 0765318288 OCLC: 229026584

Forge, New York : 2009, ©2008.

Lovable everyman Lew Fonesca, the man who makes things work in Sarasota, takes on the cases of seventeen-year-old Ronnie Graeill accused of bludgeoning to death a local curmudgeon who has been campaigning to end state-sponsored school funding and a semi-retired and much beloved singer of children's songs who is being blackmailed.

Devil on my doorstep
ISBN: 0812571061 OCLC: 46931406

Forge, New York : 2001, ©1998.

Private eye Jim Rockford receives a visit from a girl claiming to be his daughter and she has proof. The girl says her mother, the woman with whom Rockford had an affair, is missing and may have been murdered by her husband. Rockford investigates.

Devil on my doorstep /
ISBN: 0312864442 OCLC: 37426226

Forge, New York : 1998.

Private eye Jim Rockford receives a visit from a girl claiming to be his daughter and she has proof. The girl says her mother, the woman with whom Rockford had an affair, is missing and may have been murdered by her husband. Rockford investigates.

Fall of a cosmonaut /
ISBN: 0892966688 OCLC: 43810691

Mysterious Press, New York : ©2000.

Chief Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov and Emil Karpov lead an investigation for clues that might link the disappearance of a cosmonaut, the theft of the negatives of a Russian epic film, and the murder of the director of a center for paranormal research.

  Fall of a Cosmonaut :
ISBN: 1531829554 OCLC: 965917460

It was one of those days when Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov should have stayed in bed. After braving a ferocious storm, Rostnikov arrives inside the Petrovka headquarters only to find three very peculiar investigations waiting for him. First there's cosmonaut Tsimion Vladovka, whose last words on the space station Mir were instructions to contact Rostnikov if something went wrong with the mission. Now, Vladovka is missing and his fellow cosmonauts are turning up dead. Then there's filmmaker Yuri Kriskov, who fears for his life after being threatened by a chess-crazed lunatic who stole his documentary on Tolstoy. And finally, there's the scientist who was murdered while researching psychic phenomena during dream states. Inspector Rostnikov must find a connection between these very strange cases ... before another murder can take place.

Midnight pass :
ISBN: 0786260351 OCLC: 53483665

Thorndike Press, Waterville, Me. : 2004.

Lew Fonesca is a Sarasota part-time process server still mourning his dead wife and trying to get through life without any complications. When a distraught father comes to Lew to track down his wife and two kids, Lew suspects the wife ran off with the man's best friend. When people start showing up dead, Lew knows he's in way over his head, and this time he may not be able to make it come out okay.

Midnight pass :
ISBN: 0765304627 OCLC: 52214486

Forge, New York : 2003.

Abandoning his old life after the death of his wife, Lew Fonesca takes a series of odd jobs in Sarasota, Florida, and is enlisted to help locate some missing people, a situation that is complicated by a string of suspicious deaths.

  Mildred Pierced :
ISBN: 1531829856 OCLC: 965917474

Toby tries to clear a dentist accused of a medieval murder.Though an otherwise unremarkable woman, Mildred Minck has the distinction of being the first citizen of Los Angeles to be murdered by crossbow. The police find her dentist husband, Sheldon, standing over the body with the weapon, swearing that only Joan Crawford can identify the real killer. An insanity defense seems a natural fit, 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 silver screen beauty is in the middle of a comeback, and begs Toby to keep her name out of it. She points Toby towards the Survivors of the Future, a merry 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.

Mildred pierced :
ISBN: 0786711825 OCLC: 52305203

Carroll & Graf Publishers ; New York : 2003.

When his longtime friend Sheldon Minck is arrested for the murder of his estranged wife, Mildred, private detective Toby Peters is hired by film legend Joan Crawford to solve the crime and prevent negative publicity from tarring her name.

People who walk in darkness
ISBN: 9781429940702 OCLC: 865171606

Tor, New York : 2013.

After a very long absence, Forge is delighted to be bringing back one of Edgar award winning Stuart Kaminsky's best loved characters, Inspector Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov. Rostnikov is a Russian bear of a man, an honest policeman in a very dishonest post-Soviet Union Russia. Known as The Washtub, Rostnikov is one of the most engaging and relevant characters in crime fiction, a sharp and caring policeman as well as the perfect tour guide to a changing (that is, disintegrating) Russia. Surviving pogroms and politburos, he has solved crimes, mostly in spite of the powers that be that rule his world. In People Who Walk in Darkness, Rostnikov travels to Siberia to investigate a murder at a diamond mine, where he discovers an old secret'and an even older personal problem. His compatriots head to Kiev on a trail of smuggled diamonds and kidnapped guest workers'and what they discover leads them to a vast conspiracy that not only has international repercussions but threatens them on a very personal level. People Who Walk in Darkness is a fast-paced novel of modern Russia told by one of mystery's finest storytellers. At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.

People who walk in darkness /
ISBN: 0765318873 OCLC: 184823037

Forge, New York : 2008.

Inspector Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov travels to Siberia to investigate a murder at a diamond mine, where he discovers an old secret ... and an even older personal problem. His compatriots head to Kiev on a trail of smuggled diamonds and kidnapped guest workers ... and what they discover leads them to a vast conspiracy that not only has international repercussions but threatens them on a very personal level.

The Cold War swap
ISBN: 9781429981668 OCLC: 829027154

Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Minotaur, New York : 2003.

The Cold War swap /
ISBN: 0312315813 OCLC: 51342481

Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Minotaur, New York : 2003.

At the height of the Cold War, two Americans are runnng a bar in the West German capital, called Mac's place. One of the pair, Michael Padillo, isn't around a lot; he keeps disappearing on "business trips." McCorkle, his partner, wisely doesn't ask questions; he knows Padillo has a second job -- he's a (reluctant) US agent. But McCorkle is ready to answer a call for help from Padillo, and he joins his friend in a blind journey with no inkling of what they will encounter at the turn of each dark and dangerous corner.

The green bottle /
ISBN: 0312862296 OCLC: 34590963

Forge, New York : 1996.

Rockford has returned a missing green bottle to a rich and grateful client when he discovers that the case of the green bottle wasn't as simple as it looked.

The last dark place :
ISBN: 0765304635 OCLC: 55000842

Forge, New York : 2004.

When the target of an extradition case in Arizona is gunned down, detective Abe Lieberman pursues the killer's identity, while priest Bill Hanrahan struggles with a racist and sexist colleague who thwarts a rape investigation.

The Rockford files: the green bottle
ISBN: 0812571053 OCLC: 45704159

Tom Doherty Associates, New York : ©1996.

A classic Rockford case involves retrieving stolen property, locating a cat for an eccentric old lady, thugs out to rearrange Rockford's anatomy, and a hunt that turns deadly when a beautiful woman in search of Hollywood fame turns up missing.

Vengeance
ISBN: 9781466803077 OCLC: 865174168

Tor, New York : 2013.

Three years ago Lew Fonseca quit his job as a process server with the State Attourney's Office in Cook County, Illinois, and drove his rattling Toyota south to escape the memories of his beloved late wife. Headed for Key West, the Toyota broke down in a Dairy Queen parking lot in Sarasota, Florida. Buoyed by the friendship of a few trustworthy souls, Lew settled there, making ends meet by doing some investigative work for local attourneys. Now, Lew is hired by Carl Sebastian, one of Lew's lawyer's clients, to find his missing wife. Following up on a few leads, Lew finds himself being trailed by a mysterious burly man, and saddled with another missing person case -- this time a runaway teen. With the help of some friends, Lew seems to be getting closer and closer to Melanie -- but will he find her before the unthinkable happens' At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.

Vengeance :
ISBN: 0812575180 OCLC: 41674449

Forge, New York : 1999.

PI Lew Fonseca of Florida is hired to find a girl who ran away from her abusive father for the streets. The search takes him into the sleazy world of pimps and prostitution. First in a new series.

 

 

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