Death Claims

A Dave Branstetter Mystery

By: Joseph Hansen

Narrated by: Keith Szarabajka

Death Claims is the second in Joseph Hansen's acclaimed mystery series featuring the ruggedly masculine Dave Brandstetter, a gay insurance investigator.

When John Oats' body is found washed up on a beach, his young lover April Stannard is sure it was no accident. Brandstetter agrees: Oats's college-age son, the beneficiary of the life insurance policy, has gone missing.

©1973 Joseph Hansen; © 2013 by David G. Coe (P)2019 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Excellent story, great riding and fantastic characters.

I had only read the later Dave Brandstetter novels, and was thrilled to get find the series as audiobooks. Joseph Hansen writing is excellent better than most contemporary authors authors of gay fiction . He doesn’t waste language, he “shows” rather than “tells”.

The only negative I would say is in the narration. Female voices did not come out very well. April is supposed to be 24 years old, but her gravelly voice sounds like that of an elderly smoker.

Nevertheless it is a very worthwhile lesson.

Enjoyable Mystery!

_Death Claims_ by Joesph Hanson receives 4 stars from me. I enjoy the plot-driven text and the small bits of character development of the story.

The reader for this audio version was Keith Szarabajka. His raspy voice is great for mysteries. I also enjoy his interpretation of the characters. I listened to the first of the Dave Branstetter Mysteries also read by Szarabajka. I think he does a better job in this book than the first.

The plot is very straight forward. Branstetter goes person to person interviewing them to discover the truth. I like that Branstetter isn't a policeman. Being an insurance investigator adds to the tension. And surprisingly, in a modern world, this helps me get into the mystery without wondering about DNA, or trace evidence, or the like. No, it's Branstetter has an idea and just follows the trails until the truth is revealed. There is more on gay life, but not as much as the first book in the series. This one had some but not as much.

Recommended: yeah, I think so. It is short and can be read in a few hours, or listened to a lazy day at home.

To the end

What a good book. No one idea who did it until the end. All mixed up.

I am thrilled to have found this series...

I often search by narrator and have discovered some hidden gems. This is one of them. Keith Szarabajka is one of the best narrators out there with his pitch-perfect vocal talents. Add this to the intricate and highly creative talents of author Joseph Hanson and we have a complex book. Set in the 1970s, insurance investigator Brandsetter sets out to unravel a suspicious insurance claim. Surprises, twists and turns ensue. I thoroughly enjoyed this fast-paced and interesting book and I look forward to more in this this series. Thank you to Audible for adding this one to its Audible Plus catalogue at no cost. Highly recommended.

Perfection!!! Awesome series!

Perfect narration and awesome writing don’t explain the lack of a cover picture. The narration for this series is in my top 5. I can’t wait for book 3 and the rest of this series due out this year. Simply delicious reading!!!