“Joseph Hansen is not only one of America’s best mystery writers, he is a great American writer. Period. Full stop. In a better world, one liberated from its idiotic prejudices, he would be recognized as such. The republication of the Brandstetter novels by Syndicate Books is a hopeful sign that this marvelous writer will, at last, find the place he deserves in the pantheon of American literature.”
COMING IN 2022: The twelve Dave Brandstetter Mysteries.
Dear Reader,
Syndicate Books is enormously proud to announce our third author restoration project. Starting in January of 2022, we will be ushering back to print and digital availability all twelve novels in the landmark and truly excellent Dave Brandstetter series by Joseph Hansen.
We think that you’ll find that the literary quality of the project, and worthiness of the author’s social contributions, very much measure up to the previous authors Syndicate Books has restored to print. Those are big words considering the previous two authors were Ted Lewis, largely considered the wellspring from which all British hardboiled fiction flows, and Margaret Millar, the MWA Grandmaster whose keen-edged mysteries both subverted and defined a golden age of socially daring mysteries.
So, who then is Joseph Hansen’s Dave Brandstetter? Tall, handsome, smart and successful is a good place to start. A native Californian, Dave is a World War II vet and the kind of serious, ruggedly independent, and above all decent man people like to celebrate when they talk about the “Greatest Generation.” He is a death claims investigator for Medallion Life Insurance and he’s damned good at his job.
There’s something of Ross Macdonald’s Lew Archer or, perhaps more appropriately, Dashiell Hammett’s Nick Charles, to Dave’s investigation style. These are books that are fun to read, with fully rendered characters and meticulous plots that sit comfortably between “whodunnit” and hard boiled. Hansen was also a poet, as capable of conjuring the pastoral beauty of a lush arroyo as he is at delivering a blistering movie-ready one-liner. These books hum with language and dialogue.
Hansen may have been a master of the genre, as evidenced by his Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, but he was equally interested in rendering his protagonist’s personal life with detail and humanity. In fact, it’s this trait that makes them such rare and special books. That is because Dave Brandstetter, like his creator, is gay and out to anyone who cares to ask.
The covers for the first three Dave Brandstetter novels being released by Syndicate Books in January of 2022. Another book will follow every month through October 2022. CLICK HERE for more information.
Fadeout, the first Dave Brandstetter novel, was published in 1970, when, as the award-winning novelist Michael Nava notes in his Introduction to our forthcoming edition, homosexuality was illegal in 49 out of 50 states. This is why the word “landmark” is so apropos. Much like Chester Himes, Joseph Hansen challenged and, well, demolished the conventional wisdom about who “mainstream” crime fiction could be written about. And he did so with panache. These books, with all the impressive world-building and character development within, are sheer delights to read. I can practically guarantee that Dave will soon be a favorite.
The twelve novels that comprise the Dave Brandstetter Mysteries take place from 1965 to the late 1980s. As each installment was written contemporaneously to the plots, the series as a whole has taken on an impressive air of social history. The slow economic decline of the United States, AIDS, and the rise of reactionary religion and politics are all grappled with in real time. There is of course also the steady antagonizing presence of homophobia, which changes too little with the times and never sits a book out.
But Dave Brandstetter doesn’t sit out any either. Dave may drink hard (but tastefully; lots of Glenlivet and Old Crow back when Old Crow was as good as bourbon gets) and have his share of romantic distractions, but he attacks a case with the fervor of an avenging angel when homophobia and lazy police work go hand in hand. Dave’s a tough opponent too. He may solve the case with his wits but when it comes time to apprehend or defend someone, he is ready and able to throw down.
I am extremely excited to be able to introduce anew this amazing character and series to readers. Joseph Hansen deserves to be considered among the greatest writers that crime fiction has produced, or as Michael Nava notes, that this country has produced. He is excellent. Enjoy.
Sincerely,
Paul Oliver
Publisher
Syndicate Books