Books: The Little Dog Laughed By Joseph Hansen (1986)

“Journalist Adam Streeter covered some of the most dangerous stories of the last quarter century, ranging from Cambodia to Siberia and anywhere troubled in between. Fearless, dashing, and more than a little resourceful, Streeter was renowned as much for his virtuosic writing as the shocking reality of what he uncovered along the way. Why would someone who lived so purposefully and with such demonstrable bravery turn a pistol on himself? Insurance investigator Dave Brandstetter has seen enough suicides to know this isn’t one. Suspecting treachery, he digs into Adam's last story — an unpublished investigation into the whereabouts of a vanished South American strongman, called El Carnicero, the Butcher — and finds that Adam's death shows every hallmark of his bloody style. Dave quickly realized that some very powerful people would like him to drop the case. Dave’s own lover, Cecil, would like to see him take it easy for once. But Cecil knows Brandstetter is not so unlike the man whose death he’s investigating. The truth, to someone like Brandstetter or Streeter, is worth the ultimate price. As he attempts to finish Adam’s story and get to the bottom of the journalist’s death, Dave will find more than a few people willing to make him pay it.”

For the eighth book in this series, we get a little parallel 1980s tale of fictional South American rebels, ala El Salvador and certain American semi-retired military men (Oliver North, maybe) who want to overthrow governments without Washington DC getting their hands dirty. It’s a bit far-fetched that an insurance investigator would somehow get involved in such plot and you have to suspend some disbelief during the last sixty pages or so. Not sure why Hansen chose this plot, beyond, maybe trying to say something about what the Reagan Administration did during that period. But the political and military issue he tries to cover here is reminder that as a series of books ages, sometimes the writer gets in over his head.

It’s still worth the read, though. Dave remains a compassionate, very empathic character and you sense he truly wants to help the underdogs here. The first half is a great mystery, very Westlake in some aspects. These later books are also, seemly, getting less gay. I mean, Dave’s relationship with Cecil is still there, but Hansen seemly is putting it in the background more and more. They do make a perfect team, and after the Marines show up at the end, with Cecil leading the rescue, I hope the final four books in this series address this more.