Stuart M. Kaminsky (1934–2009)

Summary: Who ordered the hit on the hitman? That’s what Lieberman, who was transporting him back to Chicago tries to figure out as he tries to head off a gang war and pay for his grandson’s bar mitzvah.

Over thirty years ago Abe Lieberman’s prayers at shul were interrupted by Connie Gower, seeking to avenge his brother, who Lieberman, then a young cop had killed. Lieberman escaped that situation. Now, a much older Lieberman sits in the Yuma airport, along with a local cop, handcuffed to show more Gower. He’s bringing him back to Chicago to stand trial for a “hit.” Gower has made a career of killing people for hire.

All hell breaks loose when an elderly airport worker opens fire on Gower, killing him, getting badly wounded by the local policeman in the process. The worker survives but won’t give Lieberman much. He tells him he was paid by a man with a darkened thumb, money that would go to a granddaughter’s college fund. Now, Lieberman returns to Chicago to find the man who ordered the hit.

He faces far more than this on his return. Two ethnic gangs, one Latino and the other Asian, are on the verge of an all-out war. Meanwhile, an obsessed Falun Gong cultist is stalking his partner Hanrahan’s pregnant wife, who is Asian. And Hanrahan is under pressure to quickly find three youth who raped a rising Black detective’s wife. The detective is on the mayor’s shortlist for a top police slot. No one want’s that detective to find those youth first. And while all this is happening, a disillusioned sign painter is plotting to kill a country star who has disappointed him, thinking that for a moment he will be a hero. Just another week in Chicago.

While Lieberman cherishes his family, homelife is a challenge. His wife is zealously guarding his diet because his cholesterol is high. His daughter blames her failed marriages and troubles in life on Abe. Yet she wants his help with her son’s bar mitzvah, including financial help, stretching his detective’s salary further. And his responsibilities at the synagogue keep calling. The only thing that mitigates any of this is the deep fellowship and banter with the alter cockers, the men he prays with, and eats food forbidden by his wife, at the local deli.

This is my first Abe Lieberman (yes I know I’m reading out of order!). My son introduced me to Kaminsky’s Russian detective, Porfiry Rostnikov. I loved those stories and so downloaded this to my Kindle when it came up as a bargain. And what a treat to discover this veteran, street smart and self-deprecating detective. He show compassion for the men of his shul and for his wayward daughter, even while he mentors his grandson as he makes an important life passage. The book is a quick and engaging read that gives one sympathy for the personal and professional challenges facing any policeman in one of our major cities. Abe Lieberman, whatever his faults, navigates these pretty well. I have a feeling this won’t be my last Abe Lieberman story. show less

This is a taut and interesting mystery from beginning to end. A man shoots his wife and her lover, walks past a dozen witnesses to the elevator, and goes to the roof to await the police behind a prepared barricade with ammo, food, water, supplies, and enough explosives to bring down a Chicago city block. Enter Abraham Lieberman, Chicago detective, to find a way to talk this madman down. Here's the catch, the killer and the wife's lover are both cops.

Of course, there's more to the main show more mystery here, but I will leave it to the reader to discover that. The other thing driving this novel is the sub-plot involving the terrifying domestic violence that Lieberman is having nightmares about. That perp is beyond creepy and legitimately disturbing.

Always with a tremendous economy of words, Kaminsky's Lieberman delivers in all the right ways in this second entry. show less

The Howard Hughes Affair by Stuart Kaminsky is the 4th entry in his mystery series that features private detective Toby Peters. Peters works in L.A. during the 1940's and often gets called by the famous to help them get out of whatever trouble they have gotten themselves into. This time he is called by Howard Hughes to find out who stole the plans for an experimental plane.

Although he is working for Howard Hughes, Toby is aided in this case by movie star, Basil Rathbone, which greatly added show more to my enjoyment as Basil Rathbone is one of my favorite actors from that era. They team up to question the suspects which appears to stir things up as before too long, Toby is dodging bullets and stumbling over corpses.

I find this a fun series with it's great 1940s Hollywood setting and the inclusion of many of the top stars of the day. This plot with it's many references to Nazis took place in the days leading up to Pearl Harbor. I am already looking forward to Toby's next case which is foreshadowed at the end of this book as Toby gets a phone call from Boris Karloff. show less

Another surprisingly good read in the Lieberman series. I see an improvement from the first book, which is probably normal. I find Lieberman to be a very interesting character - he uses his brain instead of his gun in most cases, he's very even-tempered most of the time, even around the criminals. He often shows them respect that they don't expect, and seems to want to help them if possible, even when they are considering killing him. But if needed, he can be pretty scary. Once, he needed show more information from a criminal, and pointed his gun at the guy, then pulled the trigger when he didn't get what he needed. The gun didn't fire, but he pointed it away from the guy and tried again, and it fired. He commented about how it was unreliable sometimes, but the guy became more cooperative. He also faces armed shooters without his gun sometimes.

He's a family man, has a brother that owns a Jewish deli that always makes me hungry for bagels and pastrami sandwiches, among other things. He sometimes hangs out there where a group of 6retired men, called The Alter Cockers, comment and advise him on both his professional and personal life. They are not all Jewish; there's one Chinese man, whose daughter often comes in for lunch and never orders the same thing twice.

The story was pretty good - a cop who shoots his wife, her lover, and one or two others, then holds up on the roof of the building which he fortified and rigged with explosives; he then demands to see first a news team, then another cop at a certain time that he believes played some part in his wife's unfaithfulness. But aside from the main story, there's a lot going on, mostly unrelated things like friends and family matters, or partially related people. There's humor and philosophy mixed in that makes for a fun read, in my opinion. show less