Gravedigger

Gravedigger, the sixth Dave Brandstetter mystery, has our likeable insurance claims investigator looking into the murder of a young girl, believed to be the victim of a serial murderer with a cult following. However the body has not been found, and when Dave starts his investigation neither can the girl's father who lodged the insurance claim. Dave sets out to find the father and along the way unearths a few surprises related to the claimant's family. This is a particularly appealing episode in the Brandstetter mysteries, and what makes it so are developments in Dave's private life, and in Gravedigger they occupy a larger part of the story than is usually the case. With the unexpected reappearance of a brief lover from the past Dave's life takes a turn for the better. There are developments too in his widowed step-mother's life which also affect Dave in a surprising way. The events in his private life are particularly heart-warming and are heightened with the greater than usual dangers of his professional life. Gravedigger is certainly one of the best Brandstetter mysteries to date.

This is book number six in Hansen's acclaimed series of Dave Brandstetter mysteries. Brandstetter is the tough, no nonsense but highly cosmopolitan insurance claims adjuster in southern California who loves a good martini, listens to string quartets, and solves complicated murders.In this outing a young woman is missing and believed murdered by the crazed leader of a sex cult. Her father has attempted to cash in on an insurance policy taken out on his daughter, and this leaves Brandstetter in considerable doubt, especially since the father himself is no where to be found. He sets out to put all the pieces of the puzzle in place.This is my favorite so far of the series. It's an absorbing read from beginning to its (literally) explosive ending and is much more gory and gruesome than previous entries. All the Hansen felicities are here: terrific pace, expert characterization, snappy dialogue, and absolutely flawless depictions of scene and atmosphere. An extra treat is the sidelight on Dave's love life, his growing relationship with TV journalist Cecil Harris, thirty years Dave's junior and with ambitions of his own. Their rocky relationship shows a tender side to Dave glimpsed only fleetingly in earlier books. Hansen is a rare bird among writers of all stripes: he's a stylist who can also tell a story that grips you. Read him, enjoy him, savor him.