bothner@Navajo.ARPA (10/20/85)
One of the more interesting authors of hardboiled mysteries
is Joseph Hansen. What makes his books special is that his
heroes (as well as many of his supporting characters) are gay.
His most famous detective is Dave Brandstetter. So far, there are
six books about him (Fadeout; Death Claims; Troublemaker; The Man
Everybody was Afraid of; Skinflick; Gravedigger), with copright
dates ranging from 1970-82. They are all available in paperback as
"Owl Mysteries" from Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
David Brandstetter is a middle-aged death claims investigator who
works for the LA-based insurance company his father built up. This
means that if there is something funny about the death of somebody
insured by them, he looks into it. He thus comes into contact with
a lot of unsavory people, and some very respectable people with
dark secrets.
The blurbs on his books say things like "in the tradition of Hammett,
Chandler, and Ross McDonald", but while the classic hard-boiled
detectives tended to be rather homophobic, Hansen writes sympathetically
about his gay characters. The natural assumption is that Hansen
is gay himself, but I have no other supporting information.
His books are not great literature by any means, but they are
easy, entertaining reads, and look into different slices of life
than most mysteries. David is sympathetic, and competent.
While it isn't necessary to read the books in order, it makes it
easier to keep track of the supporting characters in Dave's life.
I have read one non-Brandstetter book by Hansen: "Backtrack" is more
of a finding-oneself novel than a mystery. It tells how the young
Alan Tarr tries to understand his newly-dead father who he never
knew. While doing so, he runs into some dangerous people. It is a
more serious novel than the Brandstetter books, but is still "a
good read", and is recommended.
Hansen has written other books, including some as James Colton.
This year's World Mystery Convention (Bouchercon) will be held
at the Sir Francis Drake hotel in San Francisco, October 25-27.
Guest of honor will be "The Calfornia Crime Novel", represented
by Hansen, Joe Gores and Collin Wilcox. While I'm more an sf fan
than mystery fan myself, I'll check it out, since its close by.
--Per Bothner
Bothner@su-score.ARPA ...!{ucbvax,declwrl}!shasta!bothner