Fadeout

CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF DAVE BRANDSTETTER

With a new Introduction by Michael Nava. 

Published fifty years ago, a time when being gay was illegal in 49 out of 50 states, Joseph Hansen s first Dave Brandstetter novel shattered stereotypes and redefined the Private Eye novel as we know it.

Five decades after its original landmark publication, Joseph Hansen s Fadeout is as fresh and important as ever. Preceded only by a handful of gay protagonists in crime fiction, Hansen s Dave Brandstetter, a ruggedly handsome World War II vet with a quick wit, faultless moral compass, and endless confidence, shattered stereotypes and won over a large reading audience, a feat previously considered impossible for queer fiction.

Set in the mid-1960s, Fadeout centers on the disappearance of a southern California radio personalitynamed Fox Olson. A failed writer, Olson finally found success as a beloved folksinger and wholesome country raconteur with a growing national audience. The community is therefore shocked when Olson s car is found wrecked, having been driven off a bridge and swept away in a fast-moving arroyo on a rainy night. A life insurance claim is filed by Olson s widow and the company holding the policy sends their best man to investigate. The problem is that Olson s body was never found. Not in the car. Not further down the river. As Dave Brandstetter begins his investigation he quickly finds that none of it adds up.