“Since a burning accident that
left him painfully disfigured, John Oats, a well-liked collectible book dealer,
has been self-isolating at his beach house in Arena Blanca, California. An avid
swimmer, John Oats had taken to night swimming to hide his injuries from
daytime beachgoers. When his body is found one morning smashed against the
rocks at the treacherous point near the house, the authorities rule it “Death
by Misadventure.” Insurance companies don’t much care for verdicts like that
and therefore Medallion Insurance, the policy holder for Oats’s substantial
life insurance policy, sends out its best investigator, Dave Brandstetter, to
poke holes in the story. The night Oats died there was a dangerous storm along
the coast, and Brandstetter finds it hard to believe that the bookseller, a
lifelong swimmer, would have gone out. As his investigation reveals more of
John Oats’s sad story Brandstetter learns that the motives for murder are
many.”
Death Claims is the second
Dave Brandstetter mystery and it’s just as wonderfully dark, noir-ish and
ruthless as the first. Hansen’s prose reminds me much of Donald Westlake when
he was writing his Parker novels under his Richard Stark pseudonym. It’s
precise, sometimes cold, sometimes heartbreaking, but never sentimental and
never wasted. Brandstetter remains dedicated to his work and will do and say
anything to get his killer.
It’s still remarkable that
Hansen’s work remains relatively unknown to modern noir readers (although his
work has been reprinted in the last twenty years). In just two books, so far, I’ve
found a remarkable writer of old-style detective writing skills who just
happens to be gay and who knows that in the dark corners of Los Angeles of the
1970s, murder and love are always intertwined.
While investigating this
latest case, we also get continued glimpse into Dave’s personal life, as he’s
still mourning the death of his partner, Rod. It was his grief that got him
involved with Doug (who appeared in the first book), but he too is grieving
from the loss of his long-time love. But the two men must come to a reckoning
of where their relationship stands, whether their love is a stand-in for their
lost partners or something more.
Death Claims is a clever whodunit and brilliant work of noir fiction.
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