The Man Everybody Was Afraid Of, Joseph Hansen
The Man Everybody Was Afraid Of, Joseph Hansen
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The Man Everybody Was Afraid Of
A Dave Brandstetter Mystery

Author: Joseph Hansen

Narrator: Keith Szarabajka

Unabridged: 5 hr 14 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/25/2019

Synopsis

In the small town of La Caleta, Dave Brandstetter investigates the murder of a very unpopular cop.When Ben Orton’s head is found bludgeoned by a heavy flower pot, the people of La Caleta are stunned—not because their police chief has been murdered, but because no one thought to do it sooner. A bruising, violent man, Ben had a commitment to order that did not always take the law into account. But as insurance investigator Dave Brandstetter is about to find out, the corruption in Ben’s police force did not die with him.By the time Dave arrives in the fading fishing town, a young activist has already been arrested for the murder. Only Dave seems to care that the evidence against the accused is laughably thin. As the people of La Caleta try their best to thwart his investigation, Dave must do whatever it takes to catch Ben’s killer.

About Joseph Hansen

Joseph Hansen (1923–2004) was the author of more than twenty-five novels and was a renowned short-story writer. The winner of the 1992 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, he was also the author of A Smile in His Lifetime, Living Upstairs, Job’s Year, and Bohannon’s Country.

About Keith Szarabajka

Keith Szarabajka has appeared in many films, including The Dark Knight, Missing, and A Perfect World, and on such television shows as The Equalizer, Angel, Cold Case, Golden Years, and Profit. Szarabajka has also appeared in several episodes of Selected Shorts for National Public Radio. He won the 2001 Audie Award for Unabridged Fiction for his reading of Tom Robbins’s Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates and has won several Earphones Awards.

Reviews

Goodreads review by James on October 29, 2017

When a small-town police chief named Ben Orton is killed, the P.D., which includes his son Jerry, wastes no time at all actually investigating the crime. Instead, they immediately arrest a gay rights activist who had threatened to kill the chief and whose tote bag was found next to the body. Case cl......more

Goodreads review by Bill on September 04, 2019

The fourth adventure of death-claims investigator David Brandstetter. Sheriff Orton has been bludgeoned to death, but is the outrageous gay activist whose knapsack was found near the body really responsible? There are many other suspects, including the adulterous sheriff's wife, the old-school homos......more

Goodreads review by Nicky on February 06, 2017

This is one of those mysteries where you can’t root for the mystery to be solved for the sake of the victim, a man who was a bully, a racist, and thoroughly unpleasant in almost all his interactions. Instead, the characters surrounding them need to get their hooks into you, and in this case that did......more

Goodreads review by Kaje on December 25, 2016

It's been a while since I read the first of these mysteries but they stand alone well, although series purists will want to follow the ongoing threads of Dave Brandstetter's life that parallel the mystery. The original publication date was 1978, and the story is a reflection of the times. The civil......more

Quotes

“Hansen is the most exciting and effective writer of the classic private-eye novel working today.” Los Angeles Times, praise for the author

“Characters with real stuffing in them.” Ellery Queen, praise for the series

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