Stuart M. Kaminsky

• Born: September 29, 1934
• Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois
• Died: October 9, 2009
• Place of death: St. Louis, Missouri

Types of Plot: Private investigator; police procedural; cozy

Principal Series: Toby Peters, 1977-; Inspector Rostnikov, 1981-; Abe Lieberman, 1992-; Lew Fonesca, 2000-

Contribution

Like his detective characters, Stuart M. Kaminsky was a modest and somewhat unassuming person capable of turning his sense of humor on himself and his work. His novel settings include the East Coast, Midwest, West Coast, and Russia. From 1977 until his death in 2009, he kept his reading audience engrossed in and entertained by his fictional homicides, which include hilarity at various junctures. Kaminsky made being a Jewish writer writing about Jewish detectives and Jewish culture acceptable. In his works, he explored the Jewish faith and its morality and used the contrast between social and moral justice to make philosophical points about issues. His Jewishness endeared him to many others in the American Jewish community largely because of the dialogues he opened and the sympathetic way in which he presented Jewish characters to a Gentile audience.

Kaminsky was often nominated for various mystery awards, and in 1989 he received an Edgar Allan Poe Award from the Mystery Writers of America for A Cold Red Sunrise (1988). In 2006, the same organization named him Grand Master in recognition of a lifetime of achievement. Kaminsky’s works include more than sixty books plus screenplays, textbooks on film and television writing, and a number of biographies of film stars. With all of these accomplishments, Kaminsky had one unrealized ambition: Although he received good reviews, respect, and awards, and his works have always sold well, he never had a book on a best-seller list. He hoped that having been named Grand Master would help him achieve this goal. He was called a writer’s writer and an excessively nice guy.

One reason that Kaminsky was so successful is because he broadened the definition of mystery. He felt that there is a mystery in every good novel in that there is always some question that the main character must answer. When he wrote the first Toby Peters book, Bullet for a Star (1977), he altered the format of the classic, hard-boiled detective novel by using a lighthearted approach that earned him a special place in the pantheon of mystery writers.

Biography

Stuart Melvin Kaminsky was born in Chicago in 1934 to Leo Kaminsky and Dorothy Kaminsky. His grandfathers were émigrés to the United States; one was originally from Lithuania and the other, from the Ukraine. The Lithuanian grandfather was a businessman who became a successful junk man in Chicago. One grandfather was an Orthodox Jew and the other, a communist.

After Kaminsky graduated from Marshall High School, his father opened a grocery store on the north side of Chicago, and the family moved to Albany Park. It was during his childhood that Kaminsky first became interested in writing when he read a children’s mystery series published by Whitman Publishers. The books featured movie stars who solved crimes as themselves. That series, very popular in the 1930’s and 1940’s, probably provided Kaminsky with the inspiration for his Toby Peters series. In the Peters books, Toby solves cases for studios and famous stars of the 1940’s. The Whitman books may also account for Kaminsky’s lifelong interest in American film.

Kaminsky held a bachelor of science degree in journalism and a master of arts degree in English from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a doctorate in speech from Northwestern University. He taught at Northwestern from 1973 until 1989, serving as both professor and chair of the film division. During that time, in addition to his own writing, he helped Sara Paretsky, then a student in one of his classes, become a professional writer. From his 1957 marriage to Merle Gordon, he was father to three children: Peter, Toby, and Lucy. Kaminsky and his second wife, Enid Perll, had a daughter, Natasha.

Kaminsky moved to Sarasota to accept a job as founding director of the Graduate Conservatory in Film and Television for Florida State University. When the conservatory left Sarasota and moved to Tallahassee in 1994, Kaminsky decided to retire from academia and devote his time to writing.

Kaminsky died in St. Louis, Missouri on October 9, 2009 at age 75.

Analysis

Stuart M. Kaminsky researched his books in many ways: He did ride-alongs with the police in Chicago, Moscow, and other cities; he got information from his police contacts in Chicago and Russia; and he made wide use of the Internet, magazines, and newspapers. All this research is one reason that so many people admire his knowledge of police procedure.

Although Kaminsky’s first mystery novel was published in 1977, it was set in 1940, within the same time period as that of the mysteries that he enjoyed reading as a youngster. The Toby Peters series, his first and longest, is definitely inspired by his early reading, but he adapted the concept of the Whitman books for adults. One of the strongest points about the Peters novels is the atmosphere of their time period. Were it not for the occasional strange twists in the plot, these books could be prime examples of film noir in manuscript form. Kaminsky’s novels are well plotted and the clues are presented fairly; however, there are still surprises waiting in their resolutions. In addition, the seeds of concerns to come are planted within the first novel of the series in that Toby is preoccupied by thoughts of what it means to be Jewish, although he would deny this preoccupation. The beatings that Toby takes are physically hard on him, but they may do him a great deal of psychological good because he feels that he deserves them. Physical punishment assuages his guilt.

Murder on the Yellow Brick Road

Kaminsky’s second Toby Peters title, Murder on the Yellow Brick Road (1977), was the one that called attention to his series. He based the novel on The Wizard of Oz (1939), one of the most popular films of all time and one of his favorites. In this novel, Toby must solve the murder of an actor who played a Munchkin on the set, a year after the film was released. Characters range from historical film stars and directors to fictional characters. Kaminsky captures young Judy Garland on paper as perfectly as she was ever captured on film, even down to the “sob” in her voice. His sympathy for his leading characters is obvious in this work.

A Cold Red Sunrise

A Cold Red Sunrise (1988), the fifth novel in the Inspector Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov series, won both an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America and the French Prix du Roman d’Aventure for best mystery novel. In A Cold Red Sunrise, Rostnikov travels to the Siberian village of Tumsk to investigate the death of Commissar Illya Rutkin, who died while looking into the death of Karla, the daughter of dissident Lev Samsonov. The suspects are numerous and the plot undergoes many twists and turns. However, Rostnikov is a man with a conscience and strength of character. He demonstrates these traits in his finely balanced life and career by figuring out ways to administer justice based on real justice and not on party politics.

The Rostnikov books are much more mature than the early Toby Peters books and the solutions are frequently ingenious. As with the majority of well-written series, it is not necessary to read the works in order, but it is helpful because each character has a history that cannot be summarized completely in each volume. For example, those who read the series from the start know that Rostnikov is the indirect victim of anti-Semitism because his wife is Jewish and that his son, who is in the Russian Army, is sent to troubled areas and kept there in an effort to force Rostnikov to toe the party line. Despite all this, Rostnikov manages to keep his self-respect and achieve personal satisfaction by using morality rather than relying on procedure.

Not Quite Kosher

Not Quite Kosher (2002), the seventh novel in the Abe Lieberman series, contains a bit of Jewish stereotyping. Lieberman, white haired and in his sixties, with a face a little like a sad hound dog, carries around his load of Jewish guilt at all times. A police detective, Lieberman is fully aware of what the police do and how they work, although Kaminsky occasionally either exaggerates, ignores, or slightly misrepresents police procedure. Lieberman operates in Chicago, Kaminsky’s birthplace, and the city’s sounds, sights, and atmosphere form the backdrop for this series. In what is possibly Kaminsky’s most philosophical series, Lieberman and his partner, Detective Hanrahan, frequently take the opportunity to express their philosophical beliefs and discuss what constitutes “evil.” These discussions are often deep and thought provoking. In Not Quite Kosher, Lieberman must solve two murders and deal with his partner’s marriage, his grandson’s bar mitzvah, his synagogue’s fund-raising committee, his high cholesterol, and a roof that needs repair. Somehow, Lieberman perseveres and manages to overcome, and that is Kaminsky’s tribute to the human spirit.

Lew Fonesca Series

Set in Sarasota, Kaminsky’s home, the Lew Fonesca series focuses on the life of Lew, a former Chicagoan who is working as a process server and sometimes turns private eye to help others. Lew is severely depressed about the death of his wife, a prosecutor, who was killed by a hit-and-run driver. In Always Say Goodbye (2006), Lew attempts to track down the man who killed her, an action suggested in earlier novels in the series. This series has not quite found itself, but no doubt Kaminsky will continue working on it and the other series. To keep his series new and fresh, he puts them away for years at a time when he senses that they are about to go stale.

Principal Series Characters:

• Toby Peters , whose real name is Pevsner, is a former security officer for Warner Bros. Studio. Fired for roughing up a Western star in self-defense, Toby survives by becoming a cut-rate private eye and begins working for various film stars of the 1940’s or their studios. Toby’s living and office conditions are not the best, but he manages. He is Jewish, but he has changed his name and does not admit to being Jewish, which upsets his brother. Although Toby can talk and act like a tough guy, he has a sense of the ridiculous that breaks through and frequently turns what could be a serious situation into a comical one.
• Inspector Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov , a Russian in his fifties, was created as a tribute to the detective in Fyodor Dostoevski’s Prestupleniye i nakazaniye (1866; Crime and Punishment, 1886). Rostnikov is not Jewish, but his wife is, and he exhibits a kind of Jewish sensibility. He is a basically decent man who genuinely cares about other people, but because of political pressures and influences, he must tread carefully. Because he does not always follow procedure, he is regarded with suspicion by his superiors and the KGB. Rostnikov limps because of a war wound, and his outlook is frequently bleak.
• Abe Lieberman is a crotchety but shrewd Chicago police detective in his sixties. His stories, rich in cynicism, are also rich in Jewish tradition and culture. Lieberman is deeply concerned with God’s justice as based on the Talmud, and his culture is sometimes brought to the forefront by his interactions with his Irish Catholic partner. Lieberman is a deeply moral man who prefers to try to work things out without using his gun. Life is frequently difficult for Lieberman, and he feels a sense of frustration that he cannot change some familial relationships.
• Lew Fonesca is a depressed widower whose wife was killed in a senseless automobile accident. He tries to do things for other people to make himself happier. Lew is Italian, but he is surrounded by Jewish characters and has a kind of Jewish sense of guilt. He lives in Sarasota, Florida, not because he chose it, but because that is where his car died. He makes a meager living working as a process server and a cut-rate private eye. His therapist wants him to lose his guilt and begin living rather than existing, but Lew continues to plod through life and all the curves that it tosses him.

Bibliography

Breen, Jan L. “The Police Procedural.” In Vol. 2 of Mystery and Suspense Writers: The Literature of Crime, Detection, and Espionage, edited by Robin W. Winks and Maureen Carrigan. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1998. An extensive and informed entry details the history and popularity of the police procedural. While Kaminsky is mentioned by name, the material refers to procedurals generally rather than his work specifically.

Browne, Ray B. “The Ethnic Detective: Arthur W. Upfield, Tony Hillerman, and Beyond.” In vol. 2 of Mystery and Suspense Writers: The Literature of Crime, Detection, and Espionage, edited by Robin W. Winks and Maureen Carrigan. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1998. An extensive entry concerning the unique challenges and problems of ethnic detective fiction that mentions Kaminsky and his characters by name, but is more of a general, but very useful, introduction to the concept.

DeAndrea, William L. Encyclopedia Mysteriosa: A Comprehensive Guide to the Art of Detection in Print, Film, Radio, and Television. New York: Prentice Hall, 1994. Contains a succinct and flattering entry about Kaminsky along with separate entries on his leading characters. Also provides explanations of procedurals and other terms used in reference to Kaminsky’s writings.

Murphy, Bruce. Encyclopedia of Murder and Mystery. New York: St. Martin’s Minotaur, 1999. Includes positive evaluations of Kaminsky and all his charactesr as well as explanations for and definitions of his detective genres.

Rife, Susan. “Mr. Mystery: Stuart Kaminsky Recently Was Honored as a Grand Master by Mystery Writers of America.” Sarasota Herald Tribune, August 30, 2006, p. E1. This profile of Kaminsky on the occasion of his being named Grand Master looks at his present life in Sarasota and his life as a writer.

“Stuart Kaminsky: A Cold Red Sunrise.” In Contemporary Literary Criticism Yearbook 1989, edited by Roger Matus. Detroit, Mich.: Gale Research, 1989. A literary critique of A Cold Red Sunrise, part of the Inspector Rostnikov series.