This is the twelfth and final entry in Joseph Hansen's excellent series featuring insurance investigator, Dave Brandstetter. Published over a period of twenty-one years, from Fadeout in 1970, to this book in 1991, the series was witty and very well-written, with cleverly-plotted stories and well-...
Charles Westover, a disbarred lawyer, alleges that his runaway teenage daughter has been murdered and he files an insurance claim. And then he disappears, leaving claims investigator, Dave Brandstetter to sort through the pieces of the puzzle. Young women have been murdered by the crazed guru of ...
"Fog shrouded the canyon, a box canyon above a California town called Pima. It rained. Not hard rain but steady and grey and dismal. Shaggy pines loomed through the mist like threats. Sycamores made white twisted gestures above the arroyo. Down the arroyo water poured, ugly, angry and deep. The r...
This is the fifth of Joseph Hansen's series featuring insurance investigator Dave Brandstetter, and it's among the best in the bunch. As the book opens, Dave is going through some significant changes in his life but, as with any good P.I., the job always comes first.Dave's company has insured the...
Rating: 4* of fiveThe Publisher Says: "My name is David Brandstetter. I'm a claims investigator for the Medallion Life Insurance Company." He handed her a card. She didn't glance at it. "I'm looking for Peter Oats," he said."He's not here. I wish he were. Maybe you can help me. The police don't s...
Dave Brandstetter, the insurance claims investigator who is the protagonist in Joseph Hansen's excellent series, is feeling his age. He's been threatening to retire for a while now and at the opening of this book, he officially pulls the plug. Dave sends letters to all of the insurance companies ...
In the small town of La Caleta, Dave Brandstetter investigates the murder of a very unpopular copWhen Ben Orton’s head is found bludgeoned by a heavy flower pot, the people of La Caleta are stunned—not because their police chief has been murdered, but because no one thought to do it sooner. A bru...
This is the 9th book in the Dave Brandstetter mysteries and one of the best in the series. In this mystery we find Dave being picked up by his ex from the airport after an out of town investigation. The ex in this case is Ceril, who in a unselfish but foolish gesture, married the young blind woma...
Little enough remained of its paving—bleached, cracked islands of blacktop that stood inches above the dirt level of the street. The Jaguar rocked and rumbled. Weeds edged the street, seedy, sun-dried. There were a few fences, chainlink, picket, grapestake. The houses, on narrow lots, were smalle...
IT WAS late afternoon, and he was no longer sleek. His sweaty jacket hung on the back of his chair. His shirt had wilted. After the old manner of Ken Barker, he had unbuttoned the collar and pulled down the knot of his handsome tie. Rough beard stubble showed, and his eyes were bloodshot. In fron...
"But only for California.""It was an Indian Head camper," Larry Johns said. "On an old orange Chevy pickup with a smashed headlight."Yoshiba opened the door. "License number?""You're kidding," the boy said. Yoshiba grunted and left. The boy looked at Dave with tear-filled eyes. "You're really som...
“I only had one drink,” Dave said. “I didn’t say drunk. Exhausted. Dave—you didn’t know where you were.” He set a Mexican tin tray on the bedside table. On the tray coffee steamed in big brown pottery mugs. Glasses of orange juice stood beside these. In a basket, a yellow napkin covered what Dave...