Death Claims (Dave Brandstetter Mysteries) [Paperback]

Joseph Hansen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 4, 2004

Death Claims is the second of Joseph Hansen's acclaimed mysteries featuring ruggedly masculine Dave Brandstetter, a gay insurance investigator. When John Oats's body is found washed up on a beach, his young lover April Stannard is sure it was no accident. Brandstetter agrees: Oats's college-age son, the beneficiary of the life insurance policy, has gone missing.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Hansen is the most exciting and effective writer of the classic private-eye novel working today."—Los Angeles Times

From the Author

Joseph Hansen is the author of more than twenty-five novels and is a renowned short story writer. The winner of the 1992 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, Hansen is also the Job's Year, and Bohannon's Country.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 170 pages
• Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press; 1 edition (November 4, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0299205649
• ISBN-13: 978-0299205645
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,148,227 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hard Boiled Gay Detective from 1973, March 18, 2005

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Death Claims (Dave Brandstetter Mysteries) (Paperback)

Sub-Title: A Dave Brandstetter Mystery

This is the second of the Dave Brandstetter novels to be reprinted. Dave was the "first and most venerable gay detective" a real shocker thirty years ago. Dave also didn't fit the image if a gay man. He was good sized and a hard boiled detective, just like the other heros of the day. All in all there were twelve Dave brandstetter mysteries. The first, Fadeout, was published in 1972. The last, A Country of Old Men, was published in 1990.

Dave's nominal gig is investigating insurance claims. But in these books it's not insurance fraud that he investigates but murder. Well it could have been an accident. And when the beneficiary of the life insurance policy has gone missing....

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pleasant read, November 9, 2006

By 

Maike "questionmarker" (Concord NH) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Death Claims (Dave Brandstetter Mysteries) (Paperback)

Ever since I got hold of the first book in the Brandstetter series, I've been wanting to read the rest as well. Unfortunately some of them are out of print and hard to come by. So I was happy I found this one.

It's a pleasant read. The characters are well built, the story is solid and it's nice to read about how people lived in the 1970s. The gay-interest bit is a nice change from the womanisers and misanthropes that populate most detective novels too.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A murder mystery to keep you guessing to the last page, December 21, 2008

By 

Benjamin (UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Death Claims (Dave Brandstetter Mysteries) (Paperback)

In Death Claims, the second Dave Brandstetter mystery, our intrepid insurance claims investigator is looking into a death that might be accident, suicide or murder. If its murder there are many suspects to choose from but number one is the victim's handsome young son who might be gay, but also include the ex-wife and a famous unmarried overtly Christian film star with a secret inclination, plus a few more possibles.

While following each lead in his quite unflappable manner Dave is also trying to rebuild his personal life. At the conclusion of the opening novel Fadeout, Dave met Doug. Now they have been living together for some months but neither seems able to forget their former loves. Dave blames Doug for hanging on to too many mementoes of the past, but is the problem all one sided?

Well observed and finely detailed Death Claims is a worthy successor to Fadeout, the balance between Dave's private life and the mystery plot is just right. (Yet there is enough information here that the story can stand on its own.) The result is a fascinating story which will keep the reader guessing right up to the last page.