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 for which he has been a claims investigator announcing that he is calling it quits, much to the delight and relief of his lover, Cecil.Unhappily for Cecil but happily for the reader, Dave's retirement lasts all of about two pages until a sympathetic young public defender comes begging for his help. A prominent Vietnamese businessman has been murdered. The victim owned an aging marina and was in the process of selling it to developers. The marina was basically the last stop for a group of aging boaters who live there on their even more dilapidated boats. Once the marina is sold, they will be kicked out with nowhere to go.The marina residents have been protesting the sale and the group's spokesman, a particularly unpleasant man, has been arrested and charged with the murder. The young woman representing him believes that he is innocent and lays a guilt trip on Dave, claiming that he is the only one who can save her client.Dave agrees to look into the case, which takes him into the heart of L.A.'s tightly knit and very secretive Vietnamese community. (The book is set in the late 1980s, when many Vietnamese had just moved to California in the wake of the fall of Saigon.) Dave uncovers a number of secrets that powerful people would like to protect and inevitably puts himself in grave danger. This is another well-told story with a very engaging and sympathetic protagonist, and it's especially interesting for the glimpse it provides into the world of the Vietnamese who were coming to the U.S. at this time. Although the book is now over a quarter of a century old, it does not feel dated, and the reader is immediately immersed in this very interesting world. Another winner from Joseph Hansen.
Obedience should be subtitled "The One Where Dave Retires for 22 Hours." Dave has just sent off his retirement papers when a young public defender comes by to hire him. Her client, a Vietnam vet and her half-brother, has been arrested for murdering a local important Vietnamese businessman. She insists (and I'm paraphrasing here) that he may be a racist asshole but he's a cowardly racist asshole who wouldn't actually murder anyone. (Seems reasonable.) Dave is intrigued despite himself."I should have moved to a remote cottage on the Sussex downs and kept bees," [Dave] said.She frowned, tilted her head. "What?"He sighed. "I'll look into it."(No worries, Dave. No one's left Sherlock alone for over a hundred years--why should you be any different?)(And you know, now that I think about it, it's not that Dave can't resist a pretty face, it's that Dave can't resist a good mystery. So in that he's not any different from any mystery lover. Like moi-self.)(What the fuck was I talking about?)Oh yeah, I'm reviewing a book here. Okay, I've been in an impatient [read: shitty, shitty, shitty] mood all week and as a result I kept getting annoyed with the usual large cast of suspects in Obedience.I mean, if you're going to attempt to murder the detective out to reveal your secrets, if you're going to order people to beat them up, DO IT FUCKING RIGHT. Don't (view spoiler)[call them 12 times before setting up an appointment (hide spoiler)]
What do You think about Obedience (1989)?
Obedience is probably my favorite of the first ten books of the Brandstetter series. In addition to the usual cast of interesting and well drawn characters, the completely apposite and convincing evocation of the southern California terrain and the well designed plot which keeps the reader guessing, the fact that Brandstetter is aging has added an additional element of absorbing interest for me. In Early Graves and this book Brandstetter has acted foolishly, indeed, suicidally. At the end of this book he was made aware that he might be deliberately trying to end his life to avoid facing the question of what he will do with himself when he retires (besides build some book cases and hang some paintings...). I hope that in the last two volumes of the series Brandstetter will completely realize how lucky he really is and will act to preserve his blessed life, even if his sense of duty and obligation forces him to agree to further investigations.
—Steve
Great, gripping story. As usual Hansen is economic with words, but achieves a better result that with many descriptions/explanations.Dave notices that he is getting older, and that's not typical for the MC of a detective story. I'm glad Barker at the end of the book makes Dave think about the risks he has been taking lately, there is a moment when Dave stops and realises that probably it was really like he was trying to throw away his life. But he is always very aware of danger as far as Cecil is concerned, and he is shielding him from it. We get lovely glimpses of his relationship with him, I love the banter between the two of them. There are lots of great little details and considerations: the jab at xenophobia when the security firm director complains in racist terms about the Vietnamese immigrants (''No morals at all'') and when he comments that the name of a suspect doesn't sound Vietnamese, Dave answers ''No morals, though. No morals at all''. Or the old lady saying: ''It takes a special kind of person to be able to kill in cold blood'' and Dave answering:'' A kind we'd better off without''.
—Antonella
This is the 10th of the Dave Brandstetter"s mysteries and not the strongest in the series. In this mystery, Dave decides to retire for about 2 minutes until a young lawyer from the DA office ask him to investigate a murder. The young lawyer, we discover bigoted step-brother has been arrested for the murder of a Vietnamese businessman who he asked to meet who has a boat that he and others are living on the businessman's dock. The businessman is found shot and the man is arrested.Dave soon finds himself investigating Vietnamese gangsters, old traditions, and family secrets.Dave keeps complaining that he feels old and his instincts and reflexes aren't as fast as they were 40 years ago and he's just tired, but that doesn't stop him from investigating. Even Cecil, his partner who is 30+ years younger begs Dave to retire. This book in the series seems to drag on,but a I would reccommend it because I like the series.
—Neet
