The next clever, witty, and touching installment in the Edgar award-winning Stewart Hoag mystery series finds the beloved ghostwriter-sleuth and his faithful neurotic basset hound, Lulu, back in 1990’s New York City, investigating a bestselling author’s stolen manuscript and three murders linked to the crime.
Washed-up celebrity ghostwriter Stewart “Hoagy” Hoag has finally rediscovered his voice and is making progress on what he hopes will be his long-awaited second novel. Burrowed up in his less-than-luxurious, sweltering fifth floor walk-up, he tries not to think of the disparities between himself and his ex-wife, celebrity actress Merilee Nash, who is sifting through film offers—and also her fickle feelings for Hoagy—from her elegant eight-room apartment looking over Central Park. When Merilee offers her home for Hoagy’s use while she’s shooting on location, hope blossoms that he might finally get some real work done… and solidify their rekindling romance.
Then Hoagy receives a call from his literary agent asking if he can meet with publishing’s most ruthless and reviled editor, Sylvia James, for a drink at the Algonquin Hotel. After disclosing that aging literary genius Addison James—also Sylvia’s father and main client—has not in fact written his last two bestselling historical sagas, Sylvia reveals her suspicions that Addison’s assistant Tommy O’Brien—the true author—has run away with their most recent manuscript and is holding it for ransom. Tempted by Sylvia’s offer to bid a hefty advance for his novel-in-progress, Hoagy agrees to help unearth Tommy’s sudden disappearance. If only he’d known exactly what he was getting himself into, he might’ve saved himself from the ensuing grief that follows in his hot pursuit of Tommy. But then, that wouldn’t be a normal day in the life of Hoagy.
With clattering claims of a mugging, a stolen manuscript, and three murders, now it’s up to Hoagy and his short-legged sidekick Lulu to unravel this baffling, bizarre case.
David Handler, who began his career in New York as a journalist, was born and raised in Los Angeles and published two highly acclaimed novels about growing up there, Kiddo and Boss, before resorting to a life of crime fiction.
I enjoyed reading THE MAN IN THE WHITE LINEN SUIT. This is the 11th book in the Stewart Hoag series, and it's the first book I've read in said series. When Mr. Hoag is contacted by a ghostwriter who is a good friend that is afraid he might get murdered, Hoag lets him hide in his apartment. Then the murders begin. I would give this novel more of a 3.5 rating. This is a good little murder mystery and a fast read, I recommend this novel
I really wanted to like this book. Steward Hoag and his dog reminded me of my favorite crime drama character - detective Columbo (in some episodes he had a basset hound as a sidekick too!). As I quickly learned, presence of the dog was the only resemblance. Starting with a Steward - I did not like him even a bit. His sense of humor made me cringe, his constant joking (even when people started to die) annoyed me, his judgemental attitude infuriated me. It's hard to enjoy a book when you can't connect with the main character. Type of the narration wasn't my cup of tea either. Constant repeating of information gathered by main character, giving too much details (Stanley Bostitch stapler will be mentioned multiple times and always as a Stanley Bostitch stapler and not simply as a stapler) and investigation that will reveal nothing and guilty person will have to admit in the final chapter made this book pretty unsatisfying for me.
This book was great fun, I have not read the author before, but loved the time travel, felt like I was in the world of dragnet. It is refreshing to read a mystery that makes you laugh and it’s not filled with violence and comes with a sardine eating dog, what’s not to love!
Any book that lists the brand names of clothing everyone is wearing isn't for me. The tone was of snotty NYers who are more interested in status and appearance than substance. I avoid these people in real life and while I love the Algonquin it's for my memories of childhood and going there with my father and his work friends. I'm sure it's a great book for some, just not for me.
Things are going well for Stewart Hoag. His second novel is on track, and his relationship with his beautiful ex-wife, star actress Merrilee Nash, is just fine, thank you. Then he's invited to meet the most hated editor in New York publishing, whose father is probably the most successful writer in America, but who--top secret here!--can no longer write his mammoth best sellers. Father's assistant, an old pal of Hoagie's, is actually doing the writing, but he's disappeared with the latest manuscript, and there are no other copies. From this set-up to three murders is only a step, but who among the grungy cast of characters has the will and the lack of scruples? Don't all answer at once...
Had a hard time taking this guy seriously Is ‘jiggly tush’ supposed to be enticing? I really couldn’t tell and didn’t care to find out Gave up at page 50
If you’ve already read any of David Handler’s novels, you won’t want to miss this one. If you are new to him or just this series, what are you waiting for?
Hoagie (Stewart Hoag) is a novelist who had a great run with his first novel, then hit a bad run through life for the next decade. Having cleaned up his act for several years and ghost-writing several biographies, he is asked to find a missing manuscript from a best-selling author. Things get complicated quickly as several of the players in this drama end up dead. To add to the plot, a character from previous books joins the hunt-Detective Lieutenant Romaine Very. It’s a well-written, enjoyable read from beginning to end.
If you have not read this series before, please start st the beginning.
Thank you, David Handler, for reviving this very enjoyable series. Don’t stop!
Liked this much more than I thought I would. Stewart’s sartorial choices and the way he describes them are intriguing and entertaining. Lulu is a great sidekick. And I’m curious if the relationship with Merilee will be rekindled. Also wondering if the earlier books in the series are about how they broke up in the first place. I think all these other elements to Stewart’s character and story are more interesting than the murders/mystery. The author really knows how to create interesting characters.
Easy reading and not too violent considering these are murder mysteries. Compared to Jack Reacher and others of that ilk, Stewart Hoag is mild mannered and almost believable. Lulu his hound is fun as a sidekick. If you are looking for a light engaging way to pass time, try the Hoag series.
If you love mysteries that are not gory thriller types, seriously give this book a try. I could not put this one down until I turned the last page. I loved the voice, the characters and the side-kick.
Excellent light read, perfect for vacation, well written and witty. This is written in the 80s, low tech! Love that era and the gritty New York scenes.
Another great book by David Handler. I laughed out loud several times while reading this book. If you enjoy Harlan Coben, John D. MacDonald, Mark Pryor, John Dunning, Carl Hiaasen, etc., you'll likely like Handler. Smart writing. After reading this, I ordered as many of his previous Stewart Hoag books as possible; most you have to buy used. Hope that he continues to write more in this series.
I received this as a Goodreads Giveaway and would like to thank the publisher for sending me a copy.
Rating: 2.5 stars. The Man in the White Linen Suit was entertaining, but didn't deliver when it came to the mystery/investigating aspects of the story. Set in 1990s New York City, Handler's book mixes colorful and quirky literary types with a pseudo-hipster noir tone that makes for fun reading. After introducing an eclectic cast of characters and scattering a handful of murders in 200 or so pages, the book ends with a lackluster "wrap-up" session that involves little actual detection, since the culprit basically admits to the crime themselves.
I wanted to try out other murder mystery “solve-the-case-ers”. This book was more of a 3.5 for me. The dialogue was simple and easy to read. It had cliché type movement of the detective-ish guy and his dog who get everyone in a room at the end and points out the killer(s). No need for a dictionary. Interesting though it was published in 2019 it had the feel and references of the 80s and 90s coupled with typical chauvenistic references. This was more of a Sam Spade with a hint of Charlie Chan type feel versus a Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot. I enjoyed the fact that it wasn’t just one murder; it gave the book some substance. I think for a quick, easy to read, murder mystery, this might scratch your itch. It’s only a day or two read tops. If I’m looking for a quick read noir read, I might read another.
I've been looking for some new mystery series, and have seen various volumes in David Handler's series. This is my first encounter with Stewart "Hoagy" Hoag, novelist and ghostwriter to the stars. Hoagy, with his faithful basset hound Lulu, has just returned from a summer on ex-wife Merrilee's Connecticut farm, when Hoagy is invited to lunch with his agent and a publisher. Sylvia James is notoriously disliked in the publishing world, but she's the biggest editor at Guildford publishing, because she handles the books of Addison James, her father. Addison is ex-OSS and a tough old bird with plenty of bad attitude, millions of dollars, and a trophy wife named Yvette. Addison is also nearing 80 and he's not been up to writing his popular suspense novels for several years; instead, an old friend of Hoagy's, Tommy O'Brien, has been doubling as Addison's researcher and ghostwriter, but not receiving author credit or commensurate compensation. Now, Tommy has disappeared--with the only copy of Addison's newest book draft. Sylvia asks Hoagy to help find Tommy and the book, or failing that, to become Addison's new ghostwriter. Hoagy declined the but undertakes to try to find Tommy. When Tommy turns up, scared for his life, Hoagy learns he was mugged, and the book stolen. Warned to keep his mouth shut, Tommy's been laying low. But not low enough. Soon Tommy is found murdered, and Hoagy and Lulu join their old acquaintance Detective Very of the NYPD to try to figure out who took the book, and who killed Tommy. If only the killing had stopped there... The violence happens off-stage, and there's a classic gather-all-the-suspects-together scene straight out of "The Thin Man" movies. Hoagy is an entertaining companion, and the characters are sharply drawn, but Handler's story is hardly hard-boiled detective fiction. If you like pet-themed "cosies" or mysteries with a strong dose of tongue-in-cheek one-liners, I can recommend it.
Stewart Hoag is hired by an editor that no one in the publishing business likes because she fearlessly dismantles manuscripts with her pen. His job is to find a missing manuscript that belongs to the editor's father, which the father actually didn't write. The father has been a well established writer, quite wealthy, but now showing early signs of dementia. The manuscript is destined to be published, raking in tons of money, but it becomes more of a bad omen than a sign of stumbling into a gold mine. Characters in the plot are murdered as they become identified in one way or another with the manuscript. In trying to find the manuscript and the suspects of the murders, Hoagie teams up with detective Romaine Very, who appears to be the lead character instead of Hoagie. With the duo of Very and Hoagie, is Lulu, Hoagie's dog, a side-kick, being constantly fed some kind of canned fishy food. Hoagie tries to have Lulu contributing in some way to the story, which seems to be contrived. There is some humor in the story, but much violence also. Violence directed towards daughter by father, violence towards spouse by husband, and violence towards employer by employee. Another aspect I didn't like about the novel is how Hoagie describes characters he didn't like. They're either too fat, parts of their bodies too "narrow," or they are not smart enough. In the end, the murders are solved and the manuscript is found, but I find it a little unconvincing that suspects are going to confess to such serious crimes without having a defense lawyer instructing them.
Set in 1993 and rich in allusions to music, movies, TV stars of the time, readers who lived through the 90s will be delighted to be transported to an age where people were still writing on typewriters, fax machines were en vogue, mobile phones were yet to be born, and personal computers used floppy disks. Penitent, yet whip smart with a bit of a Bugs Bunny wit literary success (from 10 years prior) Hoagy, finds himself paying his rent as a ghost writer, an author eking out the next great American novel, and an ex-husband trying to redeem himself for the hell he put his wife through. He is accompanied by his dog Lulu who adores eating “9Lives mackerel for cats and very weird basset hounds” (Handler 254). When the only draft of a sure fire novel for a popular author goes missing, Hoagy finds himself investigating literary agents, crooked cops, and trophy wives. Written with an eagle eye for the culture of the time where some women jiggled their way to fortune, and many people’s largest concerns were the labels on their clothing, Handler makes the publishing empire of New York as dirty and gritty as grunge fashion, all wrapped in a sparkling bow. Readers will enjoy a solid mystery and they may need to keep a dictionary handy as Hoagy loves to show off his Harvard education via pretentious diction.
The Man In The White Linen Suit, David Handler Rating: 3.0
The Man In The White Linen Suit is a witty, fun who-done-it! Stewart Hoag (Hoagie) and his loveable canine sidekick, Lulu the basset hound, dive deep into a triple homicide while trying to uncover who stole a valuable manuscript and why anyone would deem it necessary to commit murder for it!! Filled with a variety of vibrant, well dressed and odd characters alike, The Man In the White Linen Suit takes the reader into the violently competitive publishing world. The story is written in a time before the invention of cell phones and it was quite amusing to read how the characters navigated around communicating the facts of the case, stopping to use land lines, hours after the fact, instead of today’s world of instantaneous information. It was a quirky reminder of how times have changed! While I found the book entertaining, I thought the plot was rather simple and straight forward, not terribly complex in the least, which made for a rather fast read. The characters were well developed, likeable and often, laugh-out-loud funny! The Man in the White Linen Suit is a book I would recommend to a friend for a great summer beach read!
A fun murder mystery. Stuart Hoag had a big, splashy publishing success 10 years ago, but hasn’t been able to follow it up. His ex-wife, Merilee, a hugely successful movie star, got the apartment on Central Park West in the divorce. Stuart has been keeping body and soul together ghost-writing celebrity memoirs. His old friend, Tommy, has been helping Addison James, a towering figure in fiction, write this most recent novels, as Addison declines into old age. Tommy shows up at Stuart’s one early morning in a panic, after he’s mugged as he tries to deliver the finished manuscript of Addison’s book...the muggers take both copies and threaten Tommy’s life if he tells anyone.
And thus starts a tangled set of circumstances and several dead bodies as Stuart and his dog, Lulu, try to solve the mysteries. Very entertaining.
Alright, I have now hopped aboard the Stewart Hoag mystery train!
This was such a fun read! The perfect amount of quirk and wit with a dash of murder mystery. Although predictable, I don't expect many twists with a cozy mystery series reminiscent of Agatha Christie. It wouldn't live up to its genre if it didn't contain some component of predictability.
Although these novels can be standalone, I am now interested in reading the others in the Stewart Hoag series, as I enjoyed his candor and wit immensely- not mention his basset hound, Lulu.
If you're looking for a nice palate cleanser and a quick, fun read, this is absolutely a series to pick up!
The Man in the White Linen Suit is a perfect beach read. Short, snappy and engrossing. It is the 11th book in the Stewart Hoag series, but don’t let that deter you if you’ve never so much as heard of the series before. Each novel is a standalone addition to a greater collection, and requires nothing but a comfy seat and a hunger for compelling crime fiction! Taylor - The Book Grocer
I have found a new (to me) author! Where have I been? David Handler has such a way with phrasing; his characters are absolutely delightful. I’m now totally loving Hoagy and his basset hound Lulu. Hoagy, an author and more of a ghost writer, finds himself criss-crossed with murders he absolutely wants no part of. Who would? Things are just looking up for him and his ex-wife and life is looking pretty darned good. Marilee has gone to Budapest on movie location and has asked him to stay in her 16th floor luxury apartment in Manhattan while she is gone. Are you kidding? And leave his un-air-conditioned fifth-floor walk-up? A no-brained. (To be continued)
I try not to start a series in the middle but I didn't realize this was a series. There are enough references to the character's history that I didn't feel lost. I did, however, fall in love with the character and his dog LuLu and can't wait to go back to the beginning of the series. In truth the setting and time period, New York in the 1990's, has a great deal to do with my liking this book. The author also drops enough cultural references to warm my Boomer heart. The mystery, the disappearance of a manuscript and subsequent murders, is filled with plenty of skeevy characters.
Light hearted, fast read. I got started on the audio book and the voice actor just was not doing it for me. I picked up the book at the library and finished it quickly for the size of the book. Maybe it was double spaced or maybe the book held my attention better than I had thought and I lost track of time. I think they were trying to be funny but it worked out ‘cute’. For a book with bodies dropping everywhere it is difficult to do. I would have given it 4 stars but the end was pretty cheezy (but wrapped up in a neat bow).