A Country of Old Men: The Last Dave Brandstetter Mystery

Rating:
Summary: When Bad Things Happen to Good Characters
Review: Nearly all his friends dead or put to pasture, lured out of retirement for one last case, gay PI Dave Brandstetter decides to investigate the unlikely tale of a little boy who claims he witnessed a murder and was then kidnapped and beaten by a mysterious woman named 'Rachel.' Sure enough, there does turn out to be a dead man: Cricket Shales, a first-rate guitarist but less than efficient drug dealer. Pursuing this case against the wishes of his lover Cecil, an ailing Dave is dragged into the underbelly of the music industry, and the grim world of street drugs. As one would expect from Hansen, this is a sharply written, effective and clever detective story. I do think good old Dave deserves a more imaginative fate--in fact, I'd have liked to see Hansen start the book with the last few pages of story, and flash us back to Dave's first ever case in post-Chandler Los Angeles. Then we could start the adventures of Dave all over again! Okay, I admit this is the long goodbye I'd have been happy to postpone permanently.