In Deadfall Bill Pronzini's popular "Nameless Detective" returns in his most baffling—and harrowing—case to date. While staked out on a routine car repossession, Nameless all but witnesses the shooting of a San Francisco lawyer, Leonard Purcell. He arrives on the scene in time to hear Purcell's dying words, one of which is "deadfall." But Purcell dies in Nameless's arms before the cryptic word can be explained.
The mystery deepens when Nameless discovers that Leonard's brother, Kenneth, fell to his death six months earlier. Is Purcell's death linked to the apparent accidental "deadfall" of his brother? Leonard's housemate thinks so, and he hires Nameless to prove it.
The detective's search takes him into a labyrinth of bizarre relationships involving Kenneth's promiscuous widow, his unattractive daughter, her drug-addicted boyfriend, a shrewd society matron with a passion for antique snuff bottles, a bisexual Filipino, and a missing Mexican deliveryman. Before Nameless can learn the truth behind the demise of the Purcell brothers, the case takes a number of turns that leave his own life hanging in the balance.
From Publishers Weekly
Pronzini's tough but likable Nameless Detective is back in another baffling and entertaining mystery that begins when the San Francisco PI witnesses the brutal shooting of Leonard Purcell, a prominent bisexual lawyer. Called upon by the dead man's live-in lover to investigate, Nameless attempts to find a link between the murder and the strange death of Purcell's brother six months earlier. Kenneth Purcell had fallen from a cliff; was it accidentalas the police and almost everyone involved believeor was it murder? As Nameless relentlessly interviews Purcell's wealthy but sinister associates, he realizes that the answer may lie with an unassumingand elusivedeliveryman. Pronzini's loving descriptions of the Bay Area and its eccentric denizens make this series delightful reading. Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Description:
"Pronzini is a pro."
—The New York Times
In Deadfall Bill Pronzini's popular "Nameless Detective" returns in his most baffling—and harrowing—case to date. While staked out on a routine car repossession, Nameless all but witnesses the shooting of a San Francisco lawyer, Leonard Purcell. He arrives on the scene in time to hear Purcell's dying words, one of which is "deadfall." But Purcell dies in Nameless's arms before the cryptic word can be explained.
The mystery deepens when Nameless discovers that Leonard's brother, Kenneth, fell to his death six months earlier. Is Purcell's death linked to the apparent accidental "deadfall" of his brother? Leonard's housemate thinks so, and he hires Nameless to prove it.
The detective's search takes him into a labyrinth of bizarre relationships involving Kenneth's promiscuous widow, his unattractive daughter, her drug-addicted boyfriend, a shrewd society matron with a passion for antique snuff bottles, a bisexual Filipino, and a missing Mexican deliveryman. Before Nameless can learn the truth behind the demise of the Purcell brothers, the case takes a number of turns that leave his own life hanging in the balance.
From Publishers Weekly
Pronzini's tough but likable Nameless Detective is back in another baffling and entertaining mystery that begins when the San Francisco PI witnesses the brutal shooting of Leonard Purcell, a prominent bisexual lawyer. Called upon by the dead man's live-in lover to investigate, Nameless attempts to find a link between the murder and the strange death of Purcell's brother six months earlier. Kenneth Purcell had fallen from a cliff; was it accidentalas the police and almost everyone involved believeor was it murder? As Nameless relentlessly interviews Purcell's wealthy but sinister associates, he realizes that the answer may lie with an unassumingand elusivedeliveryman. Pronzini's loving descriptions of the Bay Area and its eccentric denizens make this series delightful reading.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.