In a poignant final case, a weary detective is drawn back into action to protect a scared child. As he navigates the complexities of this investigation, he confronts his own past while seeking justice and safety for the vulnerable. This story explores themes of redemption, sacrifice, and the enduring impact of one's choices.
The investigation into a journalist's suicide leads insurance investigator Dave Brandstetter to uncover a dangerous story involving a missing South American strongman, El Carnicero. Renowned for his fearless reporting, Adam Streeter's death seems suspicious to Dave, who suspects foul play rather than suicide. As he delves deeper, he faces threats from powerful individuals wanting to silence the truth. Balancing his pursuit of justice with the concerns of his lover, Cecil, Dave's quest reveals the high stakes of uncovering dark secrets that some are willing to kill for.
In this concluding installment of an epic mystery series, Dave Brandstetter is drawn into a complex investigation while helping an old friend. The plot weaves together themes of child abuse, drug-related issues, AIDS, and the victimization of the elderly, showcasing Hansen's skillful storytelling filled with action and unexpected twists.
Freelance insurance investigator Dave Brandstetter embarks on a dangerous case involving the suspicious death of evangelist Gerald Dawson, who believed in a violent form of piety. After Dawson is found dead, the police target a local smut peddler as the prime suspect, but Brandstetter suspects a deeper, darker truth behind the evangelist's life. As he uncovers Dawson's hidden sins and nighttime activities, Brandstetter risks his own safety in pursuit of justice, revealing a world of moral contradictions and hidden secrets.
The shocking murder of Police Chief Ben Orton, found with a brutal head injury, stirs the seaside community, revealing the deep-seated animosities he cultivated during his tenure. As the investigation unfolds, the townspeople grapple with the implications of his death and the potential motives behind it, exposing a web of secrets and rivalries that challenge their perceptions of justice and morality. The story delves into themes of power, retribution, and the hidden darkness within a seemingly peaceful town.
CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF DAVE BRANDSTETTER With a new Introduction by Michael Nava. Published fifty years ago, a time when being gay was illegal in 49 out of 50 states, Joseph Hansen’s first Dave Brandstetter novel shattered stereotypes and redefined the Private Eye novel as we know it. Five decades after its original landmark publication, Joseph Hansen’s Fadeout is as fresh and important as ever. Preceded only by a handful of gay protagonists in crime fiction, Hansen’s Dave Brandstetter, a ruggedly handsome World War II vet with a quick wit, faultless moral compass, and endless confidence, shattered stereotypes and won over a large reading audience, a feat previously considered impossible for queer fiction. Set in the mid-1960s, Fadeout centers on the disappearance of a southern California radio personalitynamed Fox Olson. A failed writer, Olson finally found success as a beloved folksinger and wholesome country raconteur with a growing national audience. The community is therefore shocked when Olson’s car is found wrecked, having been driven off a bridge and swept away in a fast-moving arroyo on a rainy night. A life insurance claim is filed by Olson’s widow and the company holding the policy sends their best man to investigate. The problem is that Olson’s body was never found. Not in the car. Not further down the river. As Dave Brandstetter begins his investigation he quickly finds that none of it adds up.
A cult leader named Azrael perpetrates a brutal mass murder and afterwards a slimy lawyer is trying to claim the life insurance policy for his missing daughter; it's the early '80s in Los Angeles and private investigator Dave Brandstetter has a new love in his life as exciting as this case is dreadful. Two years ago Charles Westover disgraced himself and his family when he was disbarred for bribery. Westover's daughter Serenity, disgusted with her once beloved father, ran away to a cult founded by a mesmerizingly handsome young man, a self-appointed messiah going by the grimly grandiose name of Azrael. The whereabouts of Serenity pass unknown for years until the police raid Azrael's compound and discover that the cult leader lived up to his ghastly Angel of Death moniker. Thinking his daughter has been murdered, Charles Westover claims her life insurance, and then he too vanishes. Insurance companies don't like to cut a check without a body and especially don't like cutting a check to someone who is also missing. Hired as a private investigator for Banner Insurance, David Brandstetter quickly finds himself in a complicated maze of lies and hidden histories
Love and money are the easy motives in the death of a California beachfront nightclub owner, but death claims investigator Dave Brandstetter is certain of one thing: the case is going to be far from easy and the police have it all wrong. Rick Wendell wouldn’t hurt a flea. The big, jovial owner of the Hang Ten, a surfing-themed gay bay on the boardwalk, was loved by regulars and new arrivals alike. But Rick was found naked and dead, with a local hustler named Larry Johns standing over him, smoking gun in hand. Wendell’s death is ruled as a homicide and Johns is arrested. Everyone thinks it’s a simple open-and-shut case. Everyone except the death claims investigator, Dave Brandstetter. Brandstetter, a homosexual himself, doesn’t make the same assumptions about the crime scene and easy story it tells. Larry Johns had enough time to escape had he wanted to. Not to mention Johns lacked any discernable motive, especially since the $200 in Wendell’s wallet was left untouched. In an investigation that takes him from sun-scorched hillside ranches to seedy boardwalk bars, Brandstetter gets to the bottom of a twisty mystery in this hardboiled and entertaining portrait of the ’70s gay culture by groundbreaking poet and award-winning crime writer Joseph Hansen.