[
Originally published at New York Journal of Books]
Fadeout marks the debut of one of the
twentieth century’s most memorable investigators. With this re-issue, a new
generation will experience both Hansen’s rich writing and taut plotting, and a
compelling view of how life may have, in many ways, changed for the better.
The
Syndicate Books re-issue of Joseph Hansen’s 12 Dave Brandstetter crime novels
begins with three titles at once, an excellent idea—because cracking open the
first one, Fadeout, is an immediate reminder of why Hansen’s writing was
startling and delectable in 1970. The Californian “death investigator” for an
insurance company has much of the authority of a police officer to nose into
questionable deaths, without having to focus on the law so intently. And he is,
as publisher Paul Oliver says, “Tall, handsome, smart and successful.”
But
author Michael Nava in his introduction to the re-issue nails the remarkable
aspect of this neglected series: “Hansen is not only one of America’s best
mystery writers, he is a great American writer. Period.” Nava asserts that the
reason crime fiction readers don’t know Hansen’s books is their focus on the
lives of gay men. Hansen’s investigator struggles with his committed
relationship to another man, and all the cases he focuses on in this series
involve men loving men.
They
also include the brassy reality of gay nightclubs, paid sex, and vulgar
drooling that objectifies both young men and older ones. But in each of the
books, the motives for crime (and the pain Brandstetter feels) are always
linked to love. A direction of love that was, at the time of writing, downright
illegal and considered immoral and “sickening” by many.
Hansen’s
writing steps away from those harsh edges through elegant description as well
as page-turning plot and action. It also provides gorgeous examples of the
Golden Age of American detective fiction, like this:
“In
twenty years you could say and do a lot you wish you hadn’t. In twenty years
you could store up a lot of regrets. And then, when it was too late, when there
was no one left to say ‘I’m sorry’ to, you could stop sleeping for regret, stop
eating, talking, working, for regret. You could stop wanting to live. You could
want to die for regret.”
Or,
of course, you could decide that killing someone else would ease your pain.
Fadeout opens with Brandstetter’s arrival in a box canyon above a
California ranch town. An insured man’s car has been found in a dangerously
flooded river, apparently accidentally landing there from a slick and risky
wooden bridge. But no body has turned up. Should Brandstetter’s company pay out
the life insurance benefit? Not if the man hasn’t died. And that’s what Dave
Brandstetter must determine, through tracking down family, friends, recent
activities, and yes, the course of love. All this, while he’s eye-deep in grief
himself at the death (from cancer) of his 20-year partner, and blaming himself
for the small things he could have done better, the added love he could have
displayed, across years of tenderness and loyalty.
This
kind of portrait of homosexual love turned preconceptions upside down when the
books came out, of course, and for many, it still may.
When
the break in the investigation arrives, it comes wrapped in the moody film
ambience of the time: “A smoldering Valentino in white riding breeches ought to
have been waiting in the motel office. It was a silent-movie set. Slot windows
in deep white walls, guarded by grilles of black iron. Black carved beams,
black chandelier. Floors of square red tiles. Tapestry-backed chairs with brass
studs and gold fringe. But it wasn’t Valentino. It was Ito in a tidy white
jacket.”
When
this motel clerk pulls out a registration card and shares the information,
Brandstetter is on his way to solving the case, although more risk and death
follow. Neatly twisted and elegantly resolved, Fadeout marks the debut
of one of the twentieth century’s most memorable investigators. With this
re-issue, a new generation will experience both Hansen’s rich writing and taut plotting,
and a compelling view of how life may have, in many ways, changed for the
better.
PS: Looking for more mystery reviews, from cozy to very dark? Browse the Kingdom Books mysteries review blog here.
NOTE: Books 2 and 3 are also out now -- and reviewed at the New York Journal of Books: DEATH CLAIMS and TROUBLEMAKER.
