⋙ Read Nightwork A Brandstetter Mystery Joseph Hansen 9781901982220 Books

Nightwork A Brandstetter Mystery Joseph Hansen 9781901982220 Books

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Nightwork A Brandstetter Mystery Joseph Hansen 9781901982220 Books

Great series, great writing. I started here rather than at the beginning; it mostly didn't matter, although I'd have liked to known the backstory with Cecil. The case was interesting and topical; Dave is a standup guy; and he's an investigator who happens to be gay rather than a gay investigator, making this more like a mainstream mystery/PI story with a gay protagonist than gay fiction. His personal angst over being gay is minimal.

I marked it down a half a point for some discomfort with the terminology used in his relationship with Cecil -- as an ex-broadcaster, I'd think Cecil has to be in his late 20s (Dave's probably in his 50s), so calling Cecil, who's black, a boy -- a term used by whites, especially men, to demean adult black men -- in internal monologue doesn't sound right. Agewise, Cecil is far from a boy, and their relationship isn't an overtly daddy and boy one, either. Some tonedeafness in the beginning that comes close to equating being brown with being in gangs, especially for Latinos. The book redeems itself in that regard later on, but it still left a bad taste. Perhaps this could be chalked up to the era in which this was written, but I'm reading it now.


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Nightwork A Brandstetter Mystery Joseph Hansen 9781901982220 Books Reviews

Pinnacle insurance has issued a policy on the life of Paul Myers, a truck driver. Only a couple of months later, Myers' truck flies off a cliff and Myers is killed. As a matter of routine, Pinnacle hires crack investigator Dave Brandstetter to look into the matter.

The matter turns out to be anything but routine when investigators learn that someone had planted an explosive device under the cab of the truck and that the device was detonated just before the truck went airborne. When Dave goes to visit the widow, Angela Myers, he finds that she's been recently beaten. She claims that her husband did it just before he died, but Dave isn't buying it.

Dave also quickly learns that Paul Myers' best friend, another trucker who was hard up for cash, has also just died, apparently from a heart attack, and Dave is now convinced that something sinister is definitely going on.

Of course there is, or there would be no book. And this is a pretty good one.

Dave's lover, Cecil, is still recovering from gunshot wounds he sustained at the end of Dave's last adventure, and in and around nursing Cecil back to health, Dave sets out to determine what was going on during the last few days of Paul Myers' life and why Angela Myers is so reluctant to discuss it. It seems pretty clear that Paul Myers was involved in something shady, and before too long, Dave can only hope to stay alive long enough himself to figure out what it was.

This is one of the better books in an excellent series. As always, Hansen creates memorable characters and vividly marks out his southern California territory, in the process showing why he's a worthy successor to the writers like Raymond Chandler who first claimed this region for their own.
4.0 of 5 stars –
I love gay mysteries and romances, and this has been one of the best series combining both, and in the process rightfully became for Joseph Hansen a classic in gay literature. This seventh in the series was as good as the ones before and continued to build the story.

I liked this for the same reasons I liked each in the series. First off, for those interested, it worked well as a standalone, with its own self-contained mystery, while also further developing the character and life of the MC, his boyfriends and other supporting characters, and smoothly providing any explanations needed to bring a first-time reader up on previous happenings.

Also, it was a nice, short, easy read, with a good, well-paced plot and character development. I enjoyed the walk back in time to my earlier years, with moments of what was then current situations and culture vividly described by Hansen in a way that helped me remember those times. And I liked that the main focus was on the mystery, with the gay aspect and any romance as a major subplot. The mystery itself was engaging and suspenseful, with the investigation having realistic twists and turns. It had a refreshing approach of not featuring your typical detective or PI but an insurance investigator pursuing the clues. In this one, there was some shady corporate shenanigans, and there were also the racism and setting of the violent neighborhood that added to the tension and realness. I liked how the MC thought through the case; but I also liked how there were still some things unresolved at the end, where everything wasn’t tied up in a neat bow, rather like life.

Hansen also developed nicely the whole set of characters. Of course there was more on the MC, with Hansen really getting into the life and mindset of a hard-boiled, matter-of-fact, honorable, self-accepting, sometimes melancholy gay man who I grew to like for all his skills, heart and humanness. As for the supporting cast, I also got a good feel for who they were, with some new ones to keep things fresh. For those who read the previous books, it was nice that some characters returned; but don't worry first-time readers, they were introduced and described just as if it’s a standalone. A nice bonus has been the MC’s gay life and relationships, and I was pleased to see his relationship continuing with his new boyfriend. Not only did I appreciate the interracial, intergenerational diversity this introduced, but also the opportunity it gave Hansen to now explore the further development of a relationship for the MC.

I continue to be impressed with the level of quality that Hansen maintains in this series, and I look forward to the next one.
These books are first and foremost mysteries, but I really liked that in this book Hansen gives Dave some happiness in his personal life. He and Cecil seem to suit each other so well and I really liked that Cecil is a very smart guy and can easily be Dave's associate. The mystery was just as complicated and fun as ever, and I really liked the proenviroment motive (cannot say more without spoilers). The settings are so well drawn. I keep telling myself to slow down and savor these books, because really there is not that much material written as well as these mysteries, but I so do not want to stop ).
Great series, great writing. I started here rather than at the beginning; it mostly didn't matter, although I'd have liked to known the backstory with Cecil. The case was interesting and topical; Dave is a standup guy; and he's an investigator who happens to be gay rather than a gay investigator, making this more like a mainstream mystery/PI story with a gay protagonist than gay fiction. His personal angst over being gay is minimal.

I marked it down a half a point for some discomfort with the terminology used in his relationship with Cecil -- as an ex-broadcaster, I'd think Cecil has to be in his late 20s (Dave's probably in his 50s), so calling Cecil, who's black, a boy -- a term used by whites, especially men, to demean adult black men -- in internal monologue doesn't sound right. Agewise, Cecil is far from a boy, and their relationship isn't an overtly daddy and boy one, either. Some tonedeafness in the beginning that comes close to equating being brown with being in gangs, especially for Latinos. The book redeems itself in that regard later on, but it still left a bad taste. Perhaps this could be chalked up to the era in which this was written, but I'm reading it now.