Fadeout

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: 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