David HandlerRecensioni

We'll plotted with the world weary noir sensibility lightened a bit by the presence of the basset hound & a. Touch of humor

This book has a great plot, characters and humour. I have always enjoyed a good mystery, and this one kept me intrigued and wanting to find out more. Very well written, and am looking forward to further books by the author!

Just grabbed this off the shelf at the library, not knowing anything about it. I enjoyed it and have now received the first two novels in this series from the library, and will finish off the series. As I was reading this, Hoagy reminded me of another detective that I read years ago. It finally dawned -- Lawrence Sanders' Palm Beach detective, Archy McNally.

Kind of quirky

It took awhile to get into this book but finally story grabbed me and I liked the book. Easy mystery read.

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 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.

This Stewart Hoag book #11 was my introduction to Hoagy and Lulu. I loved the characters and the wit so I certainly will be catching up with the rest of the books in the series.

Run-of-the-mill detective story.

When a prestigious Manhattan law firm hires a mom & pop detective agency to find a missing college student, the deal seems a little hinky, but Benji Golden and his mother let the size of the retainer gloss over any suspicions they may have.

As Benji tries to track down the student, he finds numerous things that don't add up. And then people begin dying.

The observant reader will pick up on the "whydunnit" fairly early on, though Handler manages to keep the "whodunnit" portion under wraps almost to the very end. (Hint -- it's not who you think it is.)

Entertaining read, but don't expect anything earth-shattering.

Another very good novel in the series. Peter Berkrot is the narrator.
Four stars, and recommended to anyone who loves a good mystery.

I'm really starting to like this series.....

Great fun! The Man in the White Linen Suit is the kind of book you want to read for distraction from what's going on around you. It keeps you entertained and curious. I'm writing this review for Early Reviewers. The series is new to me and I'm delighted to have discovered it. I have just downloaded the first two books from the series on my kindle.
Highly recommended for pleasure reading!

This series just keeps getting better and better. I'm glad I found Hoagy and Lulu many years ago, and even happier when the author picked the series back up. The plot is interesting as are the characters. I'm just happy to read other reviews and see that the Early Reviewers program is introducing more people to the author and the series.

This is a fun new to me series. I felt like I could keep up with this book without reading others in the series. I love a quirky detective and his fun dog, and Stewart and Lulu didn't disappoint. I'm pretty sure the next person to read this book will be my husband and we never read the same books! I am so thankful for the Early Reviewers Program as it has introduced me to new authors and series. Many of the books I have passed along and/or recommended to others just like this book!

This is a book in a series with which I was not familiar. Stewart Hoag is a writer who also seems to moonlight as a PI, along with his dog, Lulu. The plot involves writers, publishers and shady cops and wives. None of the characters are all that likeable, but still I wanted to see justice done for them.There are murder victims piling up and Stewart teams up with a cop friend to solve the cases.

I thought the mystery part was pretty good, and it did keep me guessing for a while about who the culprit was, partly because so many of the characters were not very nice people, and they all could have done it. I got a bit tired of the detailed descriptions of what everyone was wearing, and the fact that the dog went everywhere, including into restaurants and offices, was annoying. But that's a pet peeve of mine in real life (pun intended :) ). Overall, though, this was an engrossing story and I stayed up late to finish this book. I didn't like it enough to check out the rest of the series, but I did enjoy this tale.½

I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book. The writing was fresh, the story was original, and it made me want to check out some of the other mysteries by David Handler. I like a good mystery, and at just 272 pages it didn't drag on and on, it was short enough for a weekend read and long enough for a full-bodied plot to develop.
I won this book from LibraryThing's monthly giveaway, but I truly enjoyed this novel and want to read more. I love it when I find a new contemporary mystery writer I enjoy!

Really liked the plot. Being set in the 80s, the dialog and settings are a little dated, but the characters have depth, the story moves along at a good clip and the ending is really well done.

Another entry in the adventures of Stewart Hoag and his Bassett Hound, Lulu.
Hoagie is living in his ex wife’s penthouse in NY, working on his new book.

After a summer break in Connecticut, Hoagie is hopeful that he and Marilee might have a chance of getting back together.

Hoagie becomes involved with his old friend, Tommy, who does research and major writing for a best selling author, Addison James. James is past his prime and needing Tommy’s help to get anything published.James’s latest book was stolen from Tommy. His daughter is an editor with a line of people who hate her.

Hoagie is hired to find and return the missing manuscript.
He soon meets up with an old friend, cop , Romaine Very and together they find themselves facing a series of murders and a cast of suspects.

Well written with enjoyable characters in descriptive settings.
And Lulu, stealing the show whenever she can.
Read as an ARC from LibraryThing.

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 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.½

I requested The Man in the White Linen Suit because I always love a good mystery, but not having read any prior Stuart Hoag books, I wasn’t sure if I’d be ok jumping into the middle of a series. But I didn’t at all have any problems keeping up with this one.

The premise for this one is pretty neat: famed novelist teams up with his basset hound Lulu to find a stolen manuscript from an even more famous writer.

David Handler’s writing is excellent. It’s really quite lyrical. Great sense of setting and a well realized cast of characters, I’m definitely interested in looking up his other works, as I’d like to learn more about Hoag and Lulu.

This is a quirky tale about a writer doubling as an amateur sleuth. And his very odd dog. I like the dog in the story. Alas, I have not met such a smart pooch in real life, although the eating habits of this dog are more catlike than what I would consider normal doglike habits.
When people have very strong feelings about other people and a lot of money is ultimately at stake, bad things can happen. The obvious suspects come up, some are dealt with, some are sure red herrings, and some are the real deadly vermin they seem to be. Sorting them out comes out in the final chapter.
A good read, if a little bit on the insider bent for New York City places, eateries, etc... People who live there, will no doubt be checking the landscape there for places mentioned in the book.
I found it a good read, kept a good pace, and kept me interested until the last pages, so recommend it for a good read. And a little hard to put down.
I also, am on the hunt to look up his previous works with these characters as they do seem interesting.

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 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.

This is an easy-to-read whodunit murder mystery set in the 1990's in New York City. Novelist and sometime amateur detective,Stewart Hoag (aka Hoagy) agrees to retrieve a stolen manuscript for a bestselling author. The suspected thief is the author's "research assistant" who may have actually written the manuscript. Tommy O'Brien is also Hoagie's friend. Things turn ugly when when Tommy is murdered. Hoagy teams up with NYPD detective Very to find the killer, and before long there's another murder, and then anther one. Eventually the killer is unmasked at an exciting conclusion.

The story is full of oddball characters, including the famous author, his trophy wife, detective Very and a couple of former NYPD cops. For dog lovers there's Lulu, Hoagy's basset hound, who goes everywhere with him and turning up clues. New York City plays a big role in the story, much of the action takes place in Manhattan, but there are trips to Long Island and the northern suburbs. There's an authentic feel to the local colour of New York.

It's a light and entertaining read, probably best described as soft-boiled detective fiction. There are several other books in the series but this one can stand on its own. Any gaps in Hoagy's backstory may lure a reader to search out some earlier entries in the series.
Recommended.½

Hoagy and his dog are on the way to California so that he can ghostwrite a book on his ex-wife’s father who apparently disappeared 10 yrs earlier but has now written a letter to Hoagy’s former sister-in-law (also a former lover of Hoagy’s back in his heyday). Hoagy arrives at his ex-wife’s house, now a tv star with paparazzi outside her gate 24-7, her two teenage children, a housekeeper and her sister soon to arrive with a letter from their father. Monette is separated from her tv star husband, who has a drug and steroid problem with a trainer/bodyguard always around. He also has a pregnant teenage starlet girlfriend. At Joey’s 17th birthday party, all the characters are there and there’s a murder followed the next day by two more deaths. Hoagy helps the police solve the crime.

Fun, amateur detective story.

Apparently David Handler wrote a bunch of Stewart Hoag mysteries about 20 years ago and was encouraged to do another now. He explains that celebrity secrets---an important part of the stories---are impossible to keep in this age of the Internet. Fortunately, someone suggested that he make this new book take place in 1992. This is the first book of the series that I have read.
There is a basset hound smart enough and expressive enough, even if she can't speak English, to be a significant part of the detective team.

A quote I liked:
"There's a brief slice of time in our lives, a sweet season of madness, that falls right in between wo we want to be and who we end up being. That was you and me." [p. 115]½

I wasn't real impressed with the description of the book but again...it met a challenge, so I thought I can stand less than 200 pages so lets go for it. I'm glad I did. It's not often that a writer can make the reader feel completely immersed in a story...David Handler can. The only complaint that I had was that he tried to hard to make Mitry into the idea of what a black woman is supposedly suppose to sound like and act like. She was more well bred that that and he didn't really do her justice. For the first book in the series...the author did very well and I will find the others soon.½