Columbo The Grassy Knoll
TOR Columbo Series Book 1
Forge
ISBN 9780812530247
ISBN 9780312855369
Over many months, nearly a year to be more accurate I watched the complete run of Columbo, while researching an article I wrote as an overview on the series I discovered this novel and the other 6 in the series. I also found about casebooks, and even a cookbook. I thought I would try tracking down these books and give them a try. They did not disappoint. It was almost like watching an episode, his mannerisms, his process, and even his favourite foods. I cannot see any fan of the series not enjoying this book, and if the other 5 in the series are a good I am in for some great reads!
The description of this book states:
“Who Killed JFK?
When controversial talk show host, Paul Drury, is murdered, Lt. Columbo, America’s favourite TV detective, must unravel the mystery that has help the world’s attention for thirty years.
For someone has sabotaged the broadcast of Drury’s final show, which promised to expose JFL’s real assassin.”
Another description is:
“After the murder of controversial talk-show host Paul Drury, Lieutenant Columbo must unravel the thirty-year-old mystery of the assassination of President Kennedy, a crime whose perpetrator Drury had been about to expose on his final show.”
In this story not only does Columbo solve the case in hand but gives clear evidence in who assassinated JFK. In a story with Hollywood personalities, a Texan, and a crime boss connection to Vegas this story has a bit of everything. It was interesting to see him work closely with Martha Zimmer a detective Columbo appears to respect and trust. As someone who works in IT and was hand building computers at Stapes before this episode aired it was interesting to see who the technology of the day was written, dual computers with redundant drives, back up to over 200 micro diskettes. Also the incorporation of a virus that could do a DOD quality wipe of a disk. When I was in college we had a floppy with a program you could boot into and do the same sort of thing.
But watching Columbo pull all the threads and eliminate some suspects, raise deeper concerns about others, and finding other connections was just as fascinating as watching the show.
While researching for this review I discovered that there were also 6 Columbo novels in the 1970; 2 new stores and 4 novelizations of episodes and also a collection called The Columbo Collection of 12 stories by William Link. These 6 novels came out overlapping with the 6 of the last 8 episodes of the TV Movie Special Era. And if this one had been filmed I believe it would have been one of the most popular episodes of the series.
A great read for fans of the series or JFK buff’s and for those who just like a good mystery.
Books about Peter Falk or Columbo:
Columbo Phile - A Casebook - Mark Dawidziak
Cooking With Columbo Suppers With The Shambling Sleuth - Jenny Hammerton
Just One More Thing - Peter Falk
Shooting Columbo - David Koenig
The Columbo Companion, 1968-78: Investigating Every Detail of All 45 'Classic Era' Columbo Adventures - The Columbophile
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Columbo Books:
A Christmas Killing - Alfred Lawrence
The Dean's Death - Alfred Lawrence
Any Old Port in a Storm - Henry Clements
By Dawn's Early Light - Henry Clements
Murder by the Book - Lee Hays
A Deadly State of Mind Book - Lee Hays
The Columbo Collection – William Link
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Columbo Novels by William Harrington:
Grassy Knoll (1993)
The Helter Skelter Murders (1994)
The Hoffa Connection (1995)
The Game Show Killer (1996)
The Glitter Murders (1997)
The Hover Files (1998)
…
Other Books by William Harrington:
Which the Justice, Which the Thief (1963)
The Power (1964)
aka The Gospel of Death
Yoshar the Soldier (1966)
aka One Over One
The Search for Elisabeth Brandt (1968)
Trial (1970)
The Jupiter Crisis (1971)
Mister Target (1974)
Scorpio 5 (1975)
Partners (1980)
The English Lady (1982)
Skin Deep (1983)
The Cromwell File (1986)
Oberst (1987)
For the Defense (1988)
Virus (1990)
Endgame in Berlin (1991)
Town on Trial (1994)
Murder at the President's Door (2001)
with Elliott Roosevelt published posthumously.
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