David Handler

This was the first LibraryThing free book I received. It was so exciting getting the package from the publisher. This was my first time reading a book by David Handler so obviously it was my first Stewart Hoag mystery. I truly enjoyed this fast paced, easy to read mystery...it was a ton of fun and full of interesting characters and vivid descriptions (especially of clothes, I suspect the author is a snappy dresser). The main character, Stewart Hoag, is witty and I enjoyed his quips and sense show more of humor while also sensing some of his true melancholy. I guess when you fall into a series midway, you have to infer a lot of that history, and it seems clear that Steward has had some rough patches...divorce, addiction...but they don't feature heavily into this story. The mystery itself--featuring a lost manuscript--was an entertaining look at the underbelly of the publishing world, a setting I usually don't associate with who-done-its, but was a welcome change. The relationship with Hoagy and his Basset Hound Lulu was excellent...Lulu is quite the sidekick and gourmet. show less

Two incredibly wealthy brothers, one insane and dangerous (because you know that's the function of mental illness in mysteries) and the other terrified of his brother. An amateur sleuth who interrogates suspects and is tolerated, even reluctantly encouraged by the police who are dimmer than the amateur sleuth. A basset hound who attends the interrogations and comments in a cute doggie way. Dialogue that is sometimes snappy and sometimes just makes the protagonist seem highly show more irritating.

Apparently this isn't my kind of book, given the praise other readers have for it. I had trouble getting into it and set it aside. Picked it up again and began to enjoy it mildly, thinking it would be a solid three-star book. Then the ending ... well, to me it was sloppy and cliched and dreadful. And a disappointment as I have previously enjoyed the author's work, though this is the first I've read in this series. Sorry for the grumpy review, but I really felt highly annoyed by the end. show less

Isn't it funny how over time your tastes change? There are foods I never liked as a child that I love now and some I used to like and am less impressed with now. There are colors I like better than I used to, clothing styles I wouldn't have touched with a ten foot pole that I'll now wear. And of course, my reading tastes have evolved too. I started out reading everything. Then I went through a stage where if it wasn't literature (and please pronounce that as lit-ruh-chure and loft your nose show more into the air as you say it), I wasn't interested. I was a serious reader, you see. Then I went through a phase where I read romances like candy, devouring their guaranteed happily ever afters. Now I like to think I am a much more balanced reader. I want something that is well-written. I like it to be thoughtful but it doesn't always have to be. Most of all, though, I want a cracking good story. That can mean heavy or light, funny or not. But it means a book that keeps me turning the pages, wanting to live in its world (although for the sad or heavy books, maybe not as one of the characters!). And I am finding these across genres. They happen in literature. They happen in romances. They happen in commercial fiction. To my surprise (and perhaps down to my ever changing taste), they happen in mysteries. David Handler's newest mystery, The Girl With the Kaleidoscope Eyes is one such book. After a twenty year hiatus from his Stewart Hoag series, Handler is back with another adventure for Hoagy and his basset hound sidekick Lulu.

Hoagy was once the darling of the literary world, publishing a novel that promised an amazing career. He married a famous actress but when he was unable to write a second novel, he crashed and burned spectacularly. Now Hoagy's divorced, although still close with his ex-wife, and his career as a ghost writer is pretty successful. But he's still not writing his own novel. His agent offers him a big, developing story as his next ghost project and although there are signs that Hoagy should turn it down, he agrees to it.

Richard Aintree was a famous author who disappeared after his wife committed suicide. He left behind his two daughters, one of whom, Monette, has turned herself into a wildly successful lifestyle brand, married a popular actor from whom she is now separated, and has two teenage children. The other, Reggie, was once a poet of some re-known herself as well as being an ex of Hoagy's, the one to whom he dedicated his novel, his first love. The sisters have been estranged for two decades, ever since their father disappeared. It appears though, that Richard is preparing to surface from his long-time self-imposed anonymity, writing first to Monette and then to Reggie. The literary establishment wants Hoagy to document this reappearance in a book. Or the whole thing could be a hoax for a host of reasons, perpetrated by a host of different people. Either way, Hoagy and his four legged sidekick Lulu fly out to Monette's house in LA and get completely embroiled in the sensational tabloid mess going on in Hollywood. Monette's husband has apparently gotten his nineteen year old co-star pregnant and it's caused a major media feeding frenzy. In the midst of this, Hoagy's trying to figure out the legitimacy of the letters to the Aintree daughters but his assignment gets completely overshadowed when there's a murder and then even more bodies start to pile up. People are clearly lying about what truly happened and Hoagy, assisted by Lulu, just wants to uncover the truth.

Although this is the ninth in the series, it stands on its own with no trouble. Hoagy and Lulu are fantastic characters and all of the secondary characters are fully realized and totally human as well, flaws and all. The 1992 setting is delightful, as it allows the reader to remember back to the beginnings of personal computers, cell phones the size of bricks, and other nascent technology and Handler does a good job integrating their use into the story, grounding the novel in a definite time period, without being too serious or didactic about the technological advances we've now gone so far past. His portrayal of the chaos and unreality of Hollywood and celebrity is marvelous as well. There is a wonderful sense of humor here and it pops up in unexpected places such as when Hoagy dons a light green shirt to match his skin after he'd been drinking the night before or when the literary agent and the producer both retreat to opposite sides of the pool to get better signals and talk/shout on their cell phones. It's not often that I've read a mystery that made me smile like this one did, twining levity and noir together so well. And the ending had several neat twists to it that were entirely believable in the context of what went before. I thoroughly enjoyed this one and might just have to catch myself up on the back list of Hoagy and Lulu's adventures and I certainly hope they will add more in the future as well because this was indeed a cracking good read. show less

Two years ago I read The Girl with the Kaleidoscope Eyes, the continuation, two decades after he stopped writing the series, of David Handler's Stewart Hoag Mysteries. And despite not being much of a mystery reader, I thoroughly enjoyed the witty and fun amateur detective mystery. So it's no surprise that I happily added the second novel in this series reboot (actually tenth if you count the books from 20 years ago) to my stacks. Having finally gotten around to reading it, I found that it show more was a welcome re-immersion in the life of Hoagy and his faithful basset hound Lulu.

It's 1993 and Hoagy is living in his ex-wife, famous actress Merilee Nash's guest cottage out in Connecticut. He's working feverishly on his second novel and feeling really confident about what he's producing. Meanwhile Merilee is working hard on a production of Noel Coward's "Private Lives," which she is directing as a special, one night fundraising event to save Sherbourne Playhouse, a summer playhouse where many famous actors, including Merilee, made their stage debuts. Acting in the play with her are three of her very famous, Oscar winning Yale School of Drama classmates and one young, unknown but talented actress. When another former classmate, R J Romero, the one who everyone thought was the most talented, the most likely to make it and make it big, reappears, it is clear that the grudges and animosity from that time in all their lives has never completely disappeared. In fact, R J, now a criminal and drug addict, is blackmailing Merilee for something scandalous that could derail her career forever. Hoagy is determined to protect Merilee, because although she is his ex-wife, he still loves her, and so he gets a little more involved in the upcoming production than he normally would. That means he's right on site when after the successful first act of the play, performed in front of an audience of who's who in Hollywood and Broadway, one of the leads is found murdered in his dressing room. Hoagy, Lulu, and the police have to uncover the murderer in what is almost a locked door mystery, backstage and below stairs in the dilapidated, storm flooded playhouse.

When Handler wrote the first books in the series, it was the 90s so they were set in present day. Now they are set twenty years in the past but Handler has done a fantastic job of still grounding the book in that time period through references, name dropping (especially the actors expected at the fundraiser), and the technology used. Hoagy is a likable character and he narrates the novel. In order to keep the reader in suspense until the very end, he will intentionally leave out information, answers to questions he's asked or even the question itself, in order to signal to the reader that he is on the right track, even if we readers aren't yet. Lulu is an adorable sidekick who is only anthropomorphized to the extent that other dog owners understand but her sniffing investigations do help Hoagy in his conclusions. The wit and humor threads through the story and the visuals of Hoagy's attire are a complete delight. The ending is a surprise but an entirely believable one. As a bonus, in this novel, the whydunit relies on a situation that is quintessentially 90s. I liked the previous installment a little bit better than this one but I am still looking forward to the next novel because I enjoy my time with Hoagy, Merilee, and Lulu. If you're looking for a fun and quick whodunit read, you should definitely take a look at this one. show less