Death Claims

Rating:
Summary: Excellent whodunit
Review: Bookseller John Oats has been found dead in the Pacific Ocean. The death has been ruled accidental, perhaps suicide. This explanation doesn't satisfy insurance claims investigator Dave Brandstetter. He comes to believe Oats was murdered for his considerable policy and sets out to find the culprit. Whodunit? Oats's elusive son? The closeted, all-American TV star? A washed up screenwriter? Or maybe even Oats young lover, a woman who took care of the man until his dying day?

This is a beautifully written page turn, very smooth and very engaging. Brandstetter is no angst-torn hero despairing of the state of the world. He's a solid, mature professional out to do his job (though not without his own personal problems). Though the killer's identity should be obvious, Hansen weaves the story in such fashion that we are still surprised to find out who done it.

If Hansen has a flaw as a writer, it might be his relentless need to describe all exteriors and interiors, even those that play a scant role in the story. The abundance of detail and description bogs the story down some. But not much. After all Hansen is doing his storyteller's duty to put the reader into the world he has created.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent whodunit
Review: Bookseller John Oats has been found dead in the Pacific Ocean. The death has been ruled accidental, perhaps suicide. This explanation doesn't satisfy insurance claims investigator Dave Brandstetter. He comes to believe Oats was murdered for his considerable policy and sets out to find the culprit. Whodunit? Oats's elusive son? The closeted, all-American TV star? A washed up screenwriter? Or maybe even Oats young lover, a woman who took care of the man until his dying day?

This is a beautifully written page turn, very smooth and very engaging. Brandstetter is no angst-torn hero despairing of the state of the world. He's a solid, mature professional out to do his job (though not without his own personal problems). Though the killer's identity should be obvious, Hansen weaves the story in such fashion that we are still surprised to find out who done it.

If Hansen has a flaw as a writer, it might be his relentless need to describe all exteriors and interiors, even those that play a scant role in the story. The abundance of detail and description bogs the story down some. But not much. After all Hansen is doing his storyteller's duty to put the reader into the world he has created.

Rating:
Summary: None had ever died there, a natural death...
Review: Dave Brandstetter, a claims investigator for Medallion Life Insurance Company, is checking into bookseller John Oat's 'death by misadventure.' The misadventure was a drowning that took place in the ocean. At night. During a rainstorm. After Oats decided to change his insurance policy so that his son wouldn't inherit. Yeah, it's a little suspicious, and it doesn't help that the son is now missing. Maybe this doesn't sound that thrilling (insurance claims? ), but Hansen, frequently compared to Hammett, Chandler and MacDonald, catches your attention from the first line: "Arena Blancas was right. The sand that bracketed the little bay was so white it hurt the eyes." And he never lets go, never wanders off track through an unexpectedly twisty tale of betrayal and murder. Hansen is that rarity, a brilliant stylist who actually has something to say. Sure, the message is unrelentingly liberal, but it is also tempered with commonsense and compassion. Most impressively, the man knows how to tell a good story. DEATH CLAIMS, book two in the Brandstetter series, is one of the best.

Rating:
Summary: None had ever died there, a natural death...
Review: Dave Brandstetter, a claims investigator for Medallion Life Insurance Company, is checking into bookseller John Oat's 'death by misadventure.' The misadventure was a drowning that took place in the ocean. At night. During a rainstorm. After Oats decided to change his insurance policy so that his son wouldn't inherit. Yeah, it's a little suspicious, and it doesn't help that the son is now missing. Maybe this doesn't sound that thrilling (insurance claims? ), but Hansen, frequently compared to Hammett, Chandler and MacDonald, catches your attention from the first line: "Arena Blancas was right. The sand that bracketed the little bay was so white it hurt the eyes." And he never lets go, never wanders off track through an unexpectedly twisty tale of betrayal and murder. Hansen is that rarity, a brilliant stylist who actually has something to say. Sure, the message is unrelentingly liberal, but it is also tempered with commonsense and compassion. Most impressively, the man knows how to tell a good story. DEATH CLAIMS, book two in the Brandstetter series, is one of the best.