Dave Brandstetter Series by Joseph Hansen

3.99 · 85 ratings
  • Fadeout (Dave Brandstetter #1)
    #1

    Fadeout (Dave Brandstetter #1)

    Joseph Hansen

    Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings · published 1970

    Fadeout is the first of Joseph Hansen's twelve classic mysteries featuring rugged Dave Brandstetter, an insurance investigator who is contentedly gay. When entertainer Fox Olson's car plunges off a bridge in a storm, a death claim is filed, but where is Olson's body? As Brandstetter questions family, fans, and detractors, he grows certain Olson is still alive and that Dave must find him before the would-be killer does... more

  • Death Claims (Dave Brandstetter #2)
    #2

    Death Claims (Dave Brandstetter #2)

    Joseph Hansen

    Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings · published 1973

    Death claims investigator Dave Brandstetter enters a world thespians and booksellers as he uncovers the true story behind the death of a rare book dealer in this noir-spun masterpiece of California crime fiction. Since a burning accident that left him painfully disfigured, John Oats, a well-liked collectible book dealer, has been self-isolating at his beach house in Arena Blanca, California. An avid swimmer, John Oats had taken to night swimming to hide his injuries from daytime beachgoers... more

  • Troublemaker (Dave Brandstetter #3)
    #3

    Troublemaker (Dave Brandstetter #3)

    Joseph Hansen

    Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings · published 1975

    Who killed gay bar owner and all-around nice guy Rick Wendell? Was it Larry Johns, the attractive young man found wiping his prints off the still-smoking gun mere moments after the murder? If so, why was Johns naked? And what happened to the large sum of money Wendell had just withdrawn from the bar's bank account? Hard-boiled, openly gay insurance claims investigator Dave Brandstetter aims to find out in Troublemaker, the third volume in Joseph Hansen's legendary and critically acclaimed... more

  • The Man Everybody Was Afraid Of (Dave Brandstetter #4)
    #4

    The Man Everybody Was Afraid Of (Dave Brandstetter #4)

    Joseph Hansen

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings · published 1978

    CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF DAVE BRANDSTETTER The murder of a conservative police chief in a fishing village north of Los Angeles sends death claims investigator Dave Brandstetter into the no-man's land between cops and activists in this brilliantly plotted mystery, which perfectly captures California in the mid-1970s. A small-town Chief of Police with reactionary politics and national ambitions, Ben Orton struck fear in the hearts of anyone who fell out of line in his little fiefdom of La Caleta... more

  • Skinflick (Dave Brandstetter #5)
    #5

    Skinflick (Dave Brandstetter #5)

    Joseph Hansen

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings · published 1979

    Death claims investigator Dave Brandstetter navigates the opposing realms of evangelical Christianity and the porn business while tracking a lost girl in late 1970s Los Angeles.Lon Tooker certainly fits the profile: big, strong, a Marine Corps veteran, and recently the target of evangelical crusader Gerald Dawson’s wrath... more

  • Gravedigger (Dave Brandstetter #6)
    #6

    Gravedigger (Dave Brandstetter #6)

    Joseph Hansen

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings · published 1982

    Charles Westover, a disbarred lawyer, alleges that his runaway teenage daughter has been murdered and he files an insurance claim. And then he disappears, leaving claims investigator, Dave Brandstetter to sort through the pieces of the puzzle... more

  • Nightwork (Dave Brandstetter #7)
    #7

    Nightwork (Dave Brandstetter #7)

    Joseph Hansen

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings · published 1984

    In a remote spot outside L.A, a giant truck suddenly plunges in flames off a mountain road at midnight. It looks like an accident, but it isn't. Someone had fastened a bomb under the truck, killing owner-driver, Paul Myers who was insured for $100,000. Crack insurance investigator, Dave Brandsetter is called in to find out what happened and why... more

  • The Little Dog Laughed (Dave Brandstetter #8)
    #8

    The Little Dog Laughed (Dave Brandstetter #8)

    Joseph Hansen

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings · published 1986

    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... more

  • Early Graves (Dave Brandstetter #9)
    #9

    Early Graves (Dave Brandstetter #9)

    Joseph Hansen

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings · published 1987

    Hansen presents the ninth thrilling mystery featuring homosexual insurance investigator Dave Brandstetter. This time, Dave tracks down a serial killer whose last victim was left on his doorstep. "Well plotted and well written".--New York Times Book Review.

  • Obedience (Dave Brandstetter #10)
    #10

    Obedience (Dave Brandstetter #10)

    Joseph Hansen

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings · published 1988

    In this tenth novel in Joseph Hansen's acclaimed Dave Brandstetter detective series, Dave ventures into Los Angeles' Vietnamese subculture to prevent an innocent man from taking a murder rap. First-rate.--Time.

  • The Boy Who Was Buried this Morning (Dave Brandstetter #11)
    #11

    The Boy Who Was Buried this Morning (Dave Brandstetter #11)

    Joseph Hansen

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 4 ratings · published 1990

    Author Joseph Hansen and his fictional sleuth Dave Brandstetter are both brand-name commodities in the mystery and gay fiction genres. In this 11th novel featuring the gay detective, Brandsetetter is called out of semi-retirement to investigate the apparently accidental shotgun death of his lover's co-worker. What unfolds is a gripping tale of blackmail and murder set in a sleepy California town, where nothing is as innocent as it appears.

  • A Country of Old Men (Dave Brandstetter #12)
    #12

    A Country of Old Men (Dave Brandstetter #12)

    Joseph Hansen

    Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings · published 1991

    Hansen offers the final novel of his epic mystery series--an intricately-plotted story of action, irony, and twists. Dave Brandstetter comes to the aid of an old friend and ends up investigating a case that involves child abuse, drugs, AIDS, and victimization of the elderly.

  • The Complete Brandstetter (Dave Brandstetter #1-12)
    #1-12

    The Complete Brandstetter (Dave Brandstetter #1-12)

    Joseph Hansen

    Rated: 5.00 of 5 stars
    · 1 ratings · published 2007

    Contents:1--Fadeout2--Death claims3--Troublemaker4--The man everybody was afraid of5--Skinflick6--Gravedigger7--Nightwork8--The little dog laughed9--Early graves10--Obedience11--The boy who was buried this morning12--A country of old men.

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