Deadfall: A Nameless Detective Mystery

Rating:
Summary: The End of the Beginning
Review: In 1971, author Bill Pronzini was only 27 when he wrote The Snatch, building on a shorter and different version of the story that appeared in the May 1969 issue of Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine under the same title. With the publication of The Snatch, one of detective fiction's great characters was born with full fledged power and authenticity. If you have not yet read the 25 plus Nameless Detective novels by Mr. Pronzini, you have a major treat ahead of you. Many of these are now out-of-print, so be sure to check your library for holdings in near-by cities.

The Nameless Detective is referred to that way because Mr. Pronzini never supplies a name until Twospot, several books prior in the series, when police lieutenant Frank Hastings tells what his poker playing friends call Nameless, employing a first name. But it's never acknowledged by Nameless that this is his name . . . so it's probably a nickname. That name is not then used again until much later in the series in Nightshades. In Double, fictional detective Sharon McCone supplies her own nickname for Nameless. You can learn about why Nameless has no name in an author's note in Case File, a collection of short stories that precedes this book in the series.

Mr. Pronzini presents a world in which people take evil actions to further selfish interests, and many innocents struggle because of that selfishness. The police and private investigators suffer along with the victims, for evil-doing has painful consequences for everyone. Mr. Pronzini's plots are complex, yet he provides plenty of clues to help you identify the evil-doer on your own. Despite the transparency of many of the early plots, he successfully uses plot complications to keep the action interesting and fresh. Beginning with Labyrinth, the plots became less simple. In many cases, there are locked room mysteries.

But the reason to read the books is because of the character development for the Nameless Detective. Nameless is a former police officer in San Francisco who collects pulp fiction about tough private detectives. Overcome by the evil he sees as a police officer and drawn to the complex imagery of the strong, silent hero who rights wrongs, Nameless tries to live that role as a private detective. But he has trouble getting clients, and operating as a one-man shop causes him to lead a lonely existence. In his personal life, his career keeps women at a distance. Beginning with Hoodwink, he has a love interest, Kerry Wade, who is the daughter of two ex-pulp authors. Like a medieval knight errant, he sticks to his vows and pursues doing the right thing . . . even when it doesn't pay. At the same time, he's very aware of art, culture and popular trends. And he doesn't like much of what he sees. He's also skeptical about technology, and doesn't want to become a snooper using electronic gadgets. He's a proud Italian in his 50's, could stand to lose some weight, and is really messy. So there's an element of Don Quixote here, too.

The books are also written in a more sophisticated version of the pulp fiction style, employing a better writing style and greater range through language and plot. The whole experience is like looking at an image in a series of mirrors that reflect into infinity.

These books are a must for those who love the noir style and the modern fans of tough detectives with a heart of gold like Spenser . . . and can live without the wise cracks and repartee. Beginning with Scattershot though, the books increasingly contain witty references to early mysteries and their characters.

Deadfall marks the end of the beginning of the Nameless Detective books. After Deadfall, his character makes a large change and the rest of the series shifts too. So if you are, like me, a fan of the early stories, you will treasure this last one.

Nameless and his partner, Eberhardt, have fallen on hard times. Nameless is now repossessing cars to make a buck. In the process of doing so, he hears a shot. He finds a lawyer, Leonard Purcell, dying . . . and one of Purcell's last words is "deadfall." Nameless has no idea what the word means. Nameless finds himself consoling Washburn's roommate and lover, Tom Washburn, when he returns home.

A week later, Washburn hires Nameless to look into the case. Then the dots begin to link up. Purcell's brother, Kenneth, had died in a fall from a cliff near his home a few months earlier. Washburn tells Nameless that he had accidentally overheard a telephone call intended for Leonard Purcell saying that the caller knew who Kenneth had been pushed off the cliff that night.

Soon, Nameless is meeting a particularly unpleasant group of Purcell relatives and acquaintances, including Kenneth's widow, Kenneth's daughter and her druggie boy friend, unscrupulous art collectors and dealers, and various hangers on. Before long, he sees the truth in the alleged "push" and does his own pushing to find out who did what to whom. The mystery becomes entangled in tragedy, not unlike Macbeth, and a dark tone pervades most of the tale.

Deadfall also contains a major subplot involving Kerry Wade's ex-husband, who now refers to himself as the Reverend Dunston. He has now become involved with a religious group which believes that divorce is meaningless, and the reverend wants to have Kerry come back to live with him. The solution involves a lot of common sense and nerve combined in a way that will probably bring more than a few chuckles from you.

As I read the book, I was reminded of the Biblical reminder that we reap what we sow.