Celebrated foreign correspondent Adam Streeter is found shot dead in his elegant LA condo. The cops say suicide, but the company that insured his life thinks otherwise and sends in crack death-claims investigator Dave Brandstetter. As he pushes deeper into the case, he unearths three more deaths seemingly linked to Streeter's. Little by little, Brandstetter narrows the hunt for the killer - only to find he himself has become the hunted, his enemy more powerful and ruthless than any he has faced before.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
This is the eighth novel by Joseph Hansen (Death Claims featuring independently wealthy, cultivated, fearlessand gayinsurance claims-death investigator Dave Brandstetter. His private life is low key and strictly background, and the intricate story line is what keeps the reader engrossed. When the body of Adam Streeter, a prominent journalist, is found by his blind, 17-year-old daughter Chrissie, suicide is at first suspected and then ruled out, but Brandstetter tenaciously follows the case. Utilizing a network of knowledgeable but offbeat friends, Brandstetter discovers that Streeter was about to disclose the whereabouts of the missing Interior Minister of the Central American country Los Inocente, General Cortez-Ortiz, a man so reknowned for his savagery that his nickname is El Carnicero, the Butcher. As Brandstetter probes deeper into the case, uncovering conspiracies and fraud in high places, he awakens powerful enemies and becomes the hunted rather than the hunter. Set in Southern California, the stylish and absorbing novel is supported by a cast of intelligent, spunky secondary characters. Brandstetter defies advice to drop the case and persists in his hunt for Streeter's killer, leading not only to a solution to the murder, but to an explosive and highly satisfying finale.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
"The most exciting and effective writer of the classic private-eye novel working today." - L.A. Times "After 40 years, Hammett has a worthy successor." - The Times "Hansen is a strong unflinching writer and everything in his taut prose is real" - Boston Globe
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
No 8 of the Brandstetter mysteries,
By
This review is from: Little Dog Laughed (A Brandstetter Mystery) (Paperback)
The Little Dog Laughed, the eight Dave Brandstetter mysteries, takes the likeable insurance death claims investigator on a very different mission. While he fairly soon confirms that the death an internationally famous news reporter is murder to the satisfaction of the insurance company; he remains on the case in order to find the real culprits, believing the man the police have arrested for the crime to be innocent. Dave soon finds himself on dangerous ground as he becomes involved with politics and terrorism.
Along with the intricate plot we have Dave's interesting private life to follow too. One very appealing aspect of this is that over the series of these mysteries Dave grows older as in real time parallel with the original publication of the novels, in addition to the advances in technology, we find that Dave is no longer young and agile, and while he maintains his good looks and trim appearance he is beginning to feel the years; but he still has his admirers including, so far, the lithe young black guy who shares his life and bed.
3.0 out of 5 stars
a rather weak effort...,
By lazza (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Little Dog Laughed (A Brandstetter Mystery) (Paperback)
'The Little Dog Laughed' is perhaps the weakest of the several Joseph Hansen books I've read. In it we have Dave Brandstetter, an insurance investigator, out to unravel a murder of one of his clients. He first works through some suspicious characters closely associated with the victim before being hurled into the middle of a mysterious and incomprehensible Latino terrorist organization. None of it made much sense, and the plot seemed rather sloppily constructed. I wish I could say that the characterizations were wonderful and the dialogue sharp but that would be a lie. The best thing about this book is that it is very short in length.Bottom line: the book seems to be the product of Joseph Hansen on an off day(s). Not recommended.
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