Customer Reviews

Complete Brandstetter

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Dave Brandstetter is an insurance death claims investigator and we first meet him as he is investigating the supposed death of Fox Olson. Olson is a local celebrity who it appears meet is death as his car plunged into a swollen arroyo; but the body has not been found.

Convinced that the man did not die in the accident, Dave uncovers a lot more besides Olson's disappearance as he relentlessly pursues his investigation, including a suspicious relationship between Olson's wife and his manager, a jealous opponent in the running for local mayor, and the sudden re-appearance of a long lost boyhood friend.

So begins the series of twelve Brandstetter murder mysteries, and each is excellent in its own right, with no two alike. But what make these different from the normal run of detective thrillers is that Dave is openly gay and thoroughly masculine, and interspersed with the ongoing investigation we enjoy glimpses of his private life and relationships. One of the first things we learn is that is recovering from the death of his partner of over twenty years, a flamboyant interior designer and the seeming antithesis of Dave. Now in his forties, he is open for a new relationship. Over the course of these stories we follow as a backdrop to the investigations his turbulent love life. He has more than one relationship, although he is far from promiscuous, including a handsome lithe young back guy less than half his age who is clearly devoted to him. Dave comes across as an intelligent and caring person, educated in his tastes with a liking for good food, classical music and modern design. He appreciates good things and can afford them, being very successful in his job and being the only son of the founder of the large insurance company which initially employs him.

Another appealing aspect of these stories is that they are told in real time, parallel with their publication, so over the course Dave ages until by the time we reach the last story he is well in his sixties. He is a handsome and slim, and he although he might feel the increasing years he maintains both his looks and figure.

The individual mysteries are very good (and I have reviewed each under its published title so as not to reveal too much here), the writing is of a high standard, but what makes them outstanding is the lead character. I was compelled to read them back to back such is his allure.

Available as they are here in an omnibus edition they are an absolute bargain. Just a word about this edition; the print is small and there is a lot on the page, but there are no issues about the quality of the printing, it is easy enough to read. There are a few typographical errors, mostly missing speech quotation marks but occasionally a wrong word creeps in.

The complete series in order of publication:

Fadeout (1970)
Death Claims (1973)
Troublemaker (1975)
The Man Everybody was Afraid Of (1978)
Skinflick (1979(
Gravedigger (1982)
Nightwork (1984)
The Little Dog Who Laughed (1986)
Early Graves (1987)
Obedience (1988)
The Boy Who was Buried this Morning (1990)
A Country of Old Men (1991)

i was amazed to find all of joseph hansen's brandstetter novels in one volume. unfortunately, it's a british import, which seems to indicate that the quintessentially californian hansen is being taken more seriously by the brits than by the publishers of his own country. i hope an american publisher soon rectifies this, and that these stories will receive the wide distribution and recognition they deserve here in the usa.

joseph hansen was a superb writer, who died almost unknown in the early 90s. his brandstetter novels were published in the late 70s and early 80s, to much acclaim in the gay press but with very little recognition by mainline critics. this is sad, both because of the outstanding quality of his prose, and also because of the marketing, many straight people missed out on a real treat. while dave brandstetter is a gay character, the books themselves transcend any attempt to pigeon-hole them. his characters develop beautifully over the course of the series, and i know of no other writer who evokes southern california as well, unless it be raymond chandler.

in addition to the brandstetter books, hansen wrote other free-standing novels. to my mind, the best of them is titled 'job's year.' that book and these stories have haunted me every since i first read them in the 80s. i am eager to reread all of these brandstetter novels, from start to finish.

now that he is reappearing, i hope hansen catches on with english speaking readers and that american publishers bring back his works here on his side of the pond. i don't know if he has been translated into other languages, but if he hasn't been he ought to be. you may not know it, but the appearance of this book is an important literary event.

I've been a Joseph Hansen fan for years and read most of the books as they came out. It's great to have them in one edition. However, the type is very, very small and the whole thing is falling apart and I'm only four books in. Plus, and maybe this is a small thing, the titles are out of order on the cover (which has nothing to do with the content, either). They are correctly listed inside for reference - which I figured out after checking out the cover a few times. He would have been better served with a two volume omnibus. One that would have held together.

I read other reviews before ordering The Complete Brandstetter. My only reservation was from the comments about the print being so small. Not wrong! (And that's the only reason I take half a star away.) But I got used to it while reading the first of the twelve books within. If you have a dedicated pair of reading glasses, as opposed to no line bifocals or whatever, I suggest you get them out and then prop yourself up comfortably with the book, which is a bit heavy, at a good reading distance. The binding on mine seems to be secure and supple to durably keep the 1200 pages (of nice paper) together. I have two of the original paperbacks and always wanted to read more, but considered the expense even if I could find the other ten. Still, I started right from the beginning of this collection and will read them all in chronological order as they are laid out which I recommend. It is a series. J. Hansen's writing style is for intelligent readers and his stories, besides being very good "mysteries", have rich and deep, well, subtext doesn't say enough. Hansen made Dave Brandstetter fully human and intriguing. I liked him right from the beginning and even more as his flaws and sometimes subversive investigative methods came to light. I already know I will read the last story slowly, not wanting to come to the end, however there are more books by Joseph Hansen and that's something to look forward to.

Joseph Hansen's David Brandstetter books are among the best detective novels I've ever read and I've read most of them. When these books were first published many of us couldn't wait for the next in the series.
When the series ended, it was indeed a sad day for readers of such amazing fiction.
Joseph Hansen's characters are likeable even when doing dastardly deeds and they are totally believable. It is great to have a hero who has doubts and flaws. It makes David and the other characters human. Although characterizations and descriptions are tight, Hansen creates a movie of the mind. You can taste, smell, hear and see through his words.

I'd like to see this published in a set of hardbacks or at least a hardcover edition. These books would also make a great TV series whether BBC, Channel Four, Here or any other network.

12 complete novels in a single paperback volume of 1,200 pp. This increasingly appealing series of mysteries by Hansen's highly successful mystery series, inaugurated in the 1970s with the novel Fadeout through A Country of Old Men in 1991, is the androphile's version of Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlow or Mikey Spillance's Mike Hammer, a series of novels about a gay insurance adjuster for his father's life insurance company, investigating "unusual" circumstances of the insureds' deaths, but requiring the perspicacity of a middle aged, well-adjusted homophile's tough, smart, and self-assured ability to solve a "mystery" that wasn't at all a mystery. This reissue by Britain's No Exit Press of the complete set allows the reader and author to watch the "evolving" growth, development, and "issues" which the central character Dave Bandsetter must settle in addition to solving mysteries for our entertainment. Hansen's Estate has served the readership well, as Joseph Hanson's death in 2004 bequeathed a valuable testament to the novel, mystery genre, and the power of androphilia to live a full and exciting life.

I cannot recommend Joseph Hansen's Dave Brandstetter series highly enough (and I'm a middle-aged mom who has no special interest in gay detectives).

The mysteries are well-crafted, the writing's great, and the window the series presents back into (what now seems a much more innocent)Southern California is both poignant and breathtakingly sharp.

If there's a flaw, it's that...yes...most everybody (guilty or innocent) turns out to be gay, which makes the series a bit repetitive if you try to read it all at once. But that's more than compensated for by Hansen's wonderful characterizations.

Dave is an thoughtful, well-rounded, intelligent character with keen instincts about people and a unique ability to sympathize without compromise. His relationships with his father, lover and friends take up very little "screen" time but light up the book. His corresponding lack of insight into his own flaws give him a subtle, deep sense of humanity.

One comment- to accommodate the entire series, the print in this "works of" edition is extremely small. It's a great deal, but I'd love to see it come out on the kindle!

To give credit where it's due, I learned of Joseph Hansen from references to him in Josh Lanyon's Adrien English series. I read all twelve of the novellas, and found the depiction of the protagonist moving and poignant, from Brandstetter's grief and guilt over the death of his long-time lover, Rod, to his own aging. Hansen was a master at establishing scene and mood; the books are intricately plotted and beautifully written. I recommend them highly.

The edition of all these books was very fine -- a bargain at twice the price!

Joseph Hansen had long been recognized as the greatest American detective story writer of the late 20th century. As others have pointed out, this recognition came from abroad, outside the United States.

Yet his Brandstetter stories are quintessentially American, in the hardboiled, California-baked style.

I don't want to repeat the praise others have already given. Instead, I'll point out two things that are striking in this collection:
1. Because Hansen's writing reflected the times, and he allowed his chief character to age, the books are also a historical view of the changing Los Angeles and southern California scene. The "hippie canyon" referred to in the first novels was just that at the time; today, we know it as Laurel Canyon.
2. David Brandstetter is probably the only intelligent, content, mature, and mentally healthy gay character in all of fiction to this day. He has none of the neuroses -- guilt, shame, insecurity, sexual weaknesses -- that every other gay character seems saddled with.