Murder on the Yellow Brick Road

Toby Peters investigates threats to Judy Garland and a body on the MGM lot.

A year after The Wizard of Oz's smash success, the yellow brick road is crumbling. The famous sets are stashed on a soundstage in the depths of the MGM back lot while the studio plans a sequel, and a strange addition has just been made to the scene: a munchkin in full costume lying facedown with a knife buried in his back. The studio boss calls Toby Peters, a Hollywood detective with a reputation for discretion, and asks for help keeping the murder quiet. MGM is a family company, and Judy Garland, who found the body, is a wholesome actress whose rising star cannot risk a whiff of scandal. But as Peters quickly learns, the threat to Miss Garland isn't the tabloids: It's the psychopathic killer whose turf is the back lot, and whose crime of choice is the murder of the silver screen's finest.