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Read Early Graves (2002)

Early Graves (2002)

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Rating
4.04 of 5 Votes: 3
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ISBN
1842430637 (ISBN13: 9781842430637)
Language
English
Publisher
oldcastle books

Early Graves (2002) - Plot & Excerpts

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 woman in the last mystery to save her from her selfish, alcoholic and greedy mother from getting control of her life and trust fund. Dave is unhappy with Ceril and refuses to have a relationship with a married man. The two continue the argument until they reach their home, where they discover the body of a young man outside of Dave's house.Having been out of town for a while, Dave is unaware that this young man may be the latest victim of a serial killer who has struck young men with AIDS. Having found the young man, Drew Dodger outside his home with his business card on the ground, Dave feels compelled to investigate. Drew Dodger was many to many people, married with young children, a devoted hard working business man who was building a new mall. Drew also had a hidden life, a young man who he was seeing who had AIDS (as Drew did) but died at the hands of this serial killer. This is one of my favorite mysteries and the twist and turns keep you on edge. Also, we get caught up with one of the characters who Dave helped out in his investigation, Tom Owens. I like Tom and I'm so glad to read what happen in his life, but I won't say here. At any rate, I highly recommend this book in the series, it is indeed a good read.

This one's a little different. Up until this one, every book has started with Dave knocking on the door of some dead person's next of kin, who invariably lies to him (everyone does), as the California sun beats down mercilessly.This one started with Dave at the end of a case, where I'm sure everyone lied to him, in the California rain. Also, Dave is going through some shit and as a result it's like he has no patience for other people's bullshit. I LOVE THAT. What's not different in this book? Dave still thinks he's fuckin' Superman. You are at least 65 years old, dude! Ease up a little.Of course, Dave has survived 9 killers at this point, so really, why shouldn't he think he's Geezer Superman?

What do You think about Early Graves (2002)?

Early Graves is one of the better volumes in Hansen's Dave Brandstetter series. The twists and turns in Brandstetter's investigation into a series of murders of AIDS victims kept me guessing till the end. As usual, Hansen introduces a number of memorable characters and revisits characters from previous volumes in this book. And his evocation of southern California is spot on, as usual. Brandstetter's relationship with his boyfriend, Cecil, has hit a hard patch because Cecil went more than a little overboard by marrying a girl he thought he could help no other way. This problem was apparently resolved in a deus ex machina authorial move at the end of the book (the primary reason why I could not give this book 5 stars). For me, however, what sets this volume apart from the other Brandstetter mysteries is Hansen's laconic and directly to the point evocation of the panic, dread and resultant compounding of the human tragedy of the AIDS epidemic in the mid eighties, which Hansen wrote in 1987 - not with the advantage of hindsight. Joseph, if you can read this, kudos !!!
—Steve

Good mystery (serial killer targeting gay males who have AIDS). It is heartbreaking. The mystery and the romance. Dave and Cecil have broken up... temporarily, or forever, Dave is not so sure. He is a cynical, cold and tough guy, and he's not into menage or open relationship, he is kind of possessive and with Cecil, he has a all or nothing kind of relationship (Like his relationship with Rod, his first lover who died of cancer and with whom he lived 22 years. But unlike his relationship with Doug, the guy he used to try to contain his grief after Rod's death. He didn't care enough to fight for Doug).By the end of the book, (the very last pages), the problem with Cecil is solved and we suppose they'll get back together.
—Edina Rose

3.5 stars. This book left me bemused. (view spoiler)[On the one hand, I found the look at AIDS in the late 80s interesting - the different perspectives Hansen chose to write. On the other hand, this is a repeat of a technique he's used in the past - taking one aspect of a character (suspect/dead person) and using it to expand upon gay issues. More often than not, these diversions are just that - red herrings. Still not sure what I think about this as they take up a significant chunk of the book. Here, too, we have two cases which are closed rather strangely by two young men essentially ranting into the void and providing answers too conveniently. Parallels in character lines everywhere. (hide spoiler)]
—Lil' Grogan

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