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Rating: 
Summary: In the beginning
Review: Hansen's first Dave Brandstetter mystery is a marvelous read. Fox Olson's car is found, but he isn't. Is he dead or just missing? With a healthy cast of suspects, Brandstetter has his work cut out for him in solving this case. It's almost timeless in its quality of writing and pacing. I only wish it wasn't so short, but there are more books in the series, so it does balance out some. Fans of gay men's mysteries will certainly love this classic tale!
Rating: 
Summary: Ahead of his Time
Review: I was in my early 20s when I first read Fadeout. Because I'm not a native speaker of English, I found Hansen's straightforward language, the unadorned eye and the spareness of emotion rather dry and uninteresting. I was still neck deep into the convolutions of Henry James and whatnot (I even asked people what's the big deal with Hemingway). In rock n' roll terms, Hansen, like Hemingway, was just two chords going back and forth. Twenty years and an extended stay in the hard knocks school of life I now treasure my two-chord Bruce Springsteen classic Jungle Land, my one-chord-and straight distortion Velvet Underground vynils and my no-frills-no-fancy-posh language Brandstetter collection. At 40 I understand why you have to be of a certain age and length of stay on earth to recognize just how ahead of his time Joseph Hansen was in 1970.
Rating:
Summary: Impressive.
Review: Joseph Hansen manages to fit a remarkable amount of storytelling in this relatively short novel. Fadeout is the story of an intriguing investigation. Yet it is so much more than that. Seemingly without effort, Hansen also succeeds in giving the reader a very revealing look into the inner life of the investigator.
Fox Olson of Pima, California has disappeared and is presumed dead. Mr. Olson is many things. Husband, father, local radio personality, writer, painter and erstwhile politician. He also owns a $150,000 insurance policy from a company known as Medallion Life.
Dave Brandstetter is a claims investigator for Medallion Life and it is his job to find out what really has happened to Fox Olson. As Brandstetter interviews the policyholder's family and acquaintances he learns that things are not as they appear. The ostensibly happy life Fox Olson seemed to be enjoying was anything but that.
All is not well with Dave Brandstetter either. You see, Dave is a homosexual and his life partner of more than 20 years has recently died of cancer. Dave is just now trying to learn how to live again.
In giving us the Dave Brandstetter character, Hansen has done a very remarkable thing, at least as far as detective fiction is concerned. Though proudly gay, there is nothing about Dave that would lead anyone meeting him in a professional setting to suspect he is anything other than heterosexual. His speech, his clothes, his mannerisms, everything about him speaks to a mainstream orientation. But since the reader is aware of Dave's homosexuality, the way in which Hansen has him relate to women, other gays and homophobic individuals he encounters in the course of his work is quite interesting indeed. Moreover, Hansen includes a number of scenes between Dave and the people in his own life which very tellingly expose the pain and anguish he carries within.
One cannot help but notice the similarities of Hansen's writing style in Fadeout to much of the work of Ross Macdonald. Both writers use a highly descriptive type of prose that is very effective. Both delight in exploring the geographic and sociologic diversity California has to offer. Both make use of long held family secrets to provide key plot twists. And both feature toughminded protagonists who steadfastly seek out the truth.
Fadeout is truly an impressive literary effort. Word for word, this book delivers as much value to the reader as any work of fiction out there.
Rating:
Summary: A landmark detective...
Review: Joseph Hansen was the second author to construct a series around a gay detective--George Baxt preceded him--and the first to make his gay detective absolutely "normal." And by "normal," I mean "average." Dave Brandstetter is a decent, reticent, often rather icy human being. No genius, he solves cases by patient sleuthing rather than Holmesian leaps of logic. And Brandstetter, who eventually ages in "real time," ultimately comes apart at the seams in realistic fashion: in the last novels, when he is close to 70, Brandstetter forgets things, needs reading glasses, and loses the stamina he needs to think straight. In this, the first novel, he is just beginning to emerge from profound, paralyzing mourning for his companion of twenty-two years; as the series progresses, he will acquire two more partners, one a misfire and the other more permanent. Hansen's characterizations are sharp throughout, and his prose style--short, snappy sentences, with the occasional quirky metaphor or simile thrown in--is deceptively simple. Both this novel and the series as a whole are worthwhile reading.
Rating:
Summary: A Classic Characterized by its Clear & Delightful Prose
Review: When Pima, California's local celebrity/singer/radio show host Fox Olson turns up missing and his T-Bird is found in the arroyo after a fierce storm, his wife, daughter, friends, and fans expect his body to wash up any time. It doesn't happen. Dave Brandstetter, claims investigator for Medallion Life Insurance Company comes to town. As he interviews family and friends, Dave discovers that all was not well in Fox Olson's charmed life after all. Did Fox commit suicide? Or kill himself? And if he's dead, where is the body? Dave thinks Fox disappeared on purpose, but in order to prove it, he'll have to find the man. Detective Dave Brandstetter is not only an appealing, sympathetic character, he is also a rugged, hard-drinking, relentless investigator with his own secrets. He's just lost his lover of 20+ years to cancer, and he is well aware that he is not in good shape emotionally. Against the backdrop of his loss, Dave talks to the people of Pima, noses into old issues, and gets a possible lead on Fox's whereabouts. But there is more than one person in town with something to hide, and some of them may just be ready to kill to keep things quiet. Author Joseph Hansen writes clear and delightful prose: 'the rust from the nailheads had written long, sad farewells down the salt-silver planks.' Alternating captivating description with classic hard-boiled narrative, the author brings Brandstetter's world alive, both inside and out. No wonder Hansen has been compared to classic mystery writers such as Raymond Chandler and Ross MacDonald. Originally published in 1970, FADEOUT is remarkable in at least three ways: 1) the mystery features the first openly gay private detective, Dave Brandstetter, who is unapologetically homosexual and displays a solid strength and confidence that seems ahead of its time; 2) the writing is crisp, exciting, and exudes style beyond the level of the typical mystery; and 3) after over three decades, every aspect of the story and the writing holds up marvelously. Hansen's work is destined to be deemed classic. The fact that Alyson has reprinted this debut novel and, so far, two of the eleven subsequent installments of the Brandstetter series bodes well for Joseph Hansen's revival. Lori L. Lake
Midwest Book Review
Rating:
Summary: A Classic Characterized by its Clear & Delightful Prose
Review: When Pima, California�s local celebrity/singer/radio show host Fox Olson turns up missing and his T-Bird is found in the arroyo after a fierce storm, his wife, daughter, friends, and fans expect his body to wash up any time. It doesn�t happen. Dave Brandstetter, claims investigator for Medallion Life Insurance Company comes to town. As he interviews family and friends, Dave discovers that all was not well in Fox Olson�s charmed life after all. Did Fox commit suicide? Or kill himself? And if he�s dead, where is the body? Dave thinks Fox disappeared on purpose, but in order to prove it, he�ll have to find the man. Detective Dave Brandstetter is not only an appealing, sympathetic character, he is also a rugged, hard-drinking, relentless investigator with his own secrets. He�s just lost his lover of 20+ years to cancer, and he is well aware that he is not in good shape emotionally. Against the backdrop of his loss, Dave talks to the people of Pima, noses into old issues, and gets a possible lead on Fox�s whereabouts. But there is more than one person in town with something to hide, and some of them may just be ready to kill to keep things quiet. Author Joseph Hansen writes clear and delightful prose: �the rust from the nailheads had written long, sad farewells down the salt-silver planks.� Alternating captivating description with classic hard-boiled narrative, the author brings Brandstetter�s world alive, both inside and out. No wonder Hansen has been compared to classic mystery writers such as Raymond Chandler and Ross MacDonald. Originally published in 1970, FADEOUT is remarkable in at least three ways: 1) the mystery features the first openly gay private detective, Dave Brandstetter, who is unapologetically homosexual and displays a solid strength and confidence that seems ahead of its time; 2) the writing is crisp, exciting, and exudes style beyond the level of the typical mystery; and 3) after over three decades, every aspect of the story and the writing holds up marvelously. Hansen�s work is destined to be deemed classic. The fact that Alyson has reprinted this debut novel and, so far, two of the eleven subsequent installments of the Brandstetter series bodes well for Joseph Hansen�s revival. Lori L. Lake
Midwest Book Review
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