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Murder Mystery / 5m, 2f 2008 Mystery Writer's of America Edgar Award nominee for Best Play. After robbing a savings and loan, Brian takes refuge in a down-and-out used book store run by Maddy and Betty. The book store's principal customer is Christopher, who steals books his brother pays for at the end of each week. A suspicious cop has the shop surrounded. Roger, a public defender, enters in a clown costume. It's his day off and he is moonlighting. After bullets fly during a comic siege, Brian turns himself in to Claudia, a no-nonsense assistant district attorney, but first he hides some of the money he has stolen. Brian's partner Eddie is under Claudia's thumb and ordered to remain mute. Late that night, Brian, Maddy, Betty, Christopher and Roger converge on the book store to retrieve the stolen money. Brian has made a deal to return the stolen money. However everyone decides to kill Brian and share the money. In confusion, Betty is shot by Maddy, Brian decides to turn himself in, but first he lets the women keep some of the money.

60 pages, Paperback

First published October 13, 2008

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About the author

Stuart M. Kaminsky

162 books217 followers
Stuart M. Kaminsky wrote 50 published novels, 5 biographies, 4 textbooks and 35 short stories. He also has screenwriting credits on four produced films including ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA, ENEMY TERRITORY, A WOMAN IN THE WIND and HIDDEN FEARS. He was a past president of the Mystery Writers of America and was nominated for six prestigious Edgar Allen Poe Awards including one for his short story “Snow” in 1999. He won an Edgar for his novel A COLD RED SUNRISE, which was also awarded the Prix De Roman D’Aventure of France. He was nominated for both a Shamus Award and a McCavity Readers Choice Award.

Kaminsky wrote several popular series including those featuring Lew Fonesca, Abraham Lieberman, Inspector Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov, and Toby Peters. He also wrote two original "Rockford Files " novels. He was the 50th annual recipient of the Grandmaster 2006 for Lifetime Achievement from the Mystery Writers of America.

Received the Shamus Award, "The Eye" (Lifetime achievement award) in 2007.

His nonfiction books including BASIC FILMMAKING, WRITING FOR TELEVISION, AMERICAN FILM GENRES, and biographies of GARY COOPER, CLINT EASTWOOD, JOHN HUSTON and DON SIEGEL. BEHIND THE MYSTERY was published by Hot House Press in 2005 and nominated by Mystery Writers of America for Best Critical/Biographical book in 2006.

Kaminsky held a B.S. in Journalism and an M.A. in English from The University of Illinois and a Ph.D. in Speech from Northwestern University where he taught for 16 years before becoming a Professor at Florida State. where he headed the Graduate Conservatory in Film and Television Production. He left Florida State in 1994 to pursue full-time writing.

Kaminsky and his wife, Enid Perll, moved to St. Louis, Missouri in March 2009 to await a liver transplant to treat the hepatitis he contracted as an army medic in the late 1950s in France. He suffered a stroke two days after their arrival in St. Louis, which made him ineligible for a transplant. He died on October 9, 2009.

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Displaying 1 of 1 review
Profile Image for Ladan.
70 reviews
July 20, 2009
Interesting. Some fun dialogue. Enjoyed the book references and Brian's "intellectualism." The play almost could have ended with just Act 1...
Displaying 1 of 1 review