Gravedigger

'After forty years, Hammett has a worthy successor' The Times

Dave Brandstetter stands alongside Philip Marlowe, Sam Spade and Lew Archer as one of the best fictional PIs in the business. Like them, he was tough, determined, and ruthless when the case demanded it. Unlike them, he was gay.

Joseph Hansen's groundbreaking novels follow Brandstetter as he investigates cases in which motives are murky, passions run high, and nothing is ever as simple as it looks. Set in 1970s and 80s California, the series is a fascinating portrait of a time and a place, with mysteries to match Chandler and MacDonald.

A father claims on his daughter's life insurance - the girl is feared to be a victim of cultist and killer Azrael. But before the claim can be investigated, the man has disappeared - and Dave has to follow the clues through the canyons of LA to a truly terrifying climax.