Synopsis/blurb…..
Miss Arlene Bradford
hires Nameless to find her father. Fired from his government job, Charles
Bradford has become a freeloading hobo. It turns out he's inherited a lot of
money, and Arlene wants him to have it -- but her sister, Hannah, has some
different feelings.
When Nameless hits
the tracks to investigate, he discovers something very serious has happened to
Bradford, he has disappeared – for good. And when the gruesome facts of this
mysterious case come to light, Nameless has got to act quickly before the
bodies start piling up like abandoned club cars, and justice gets derailed –
permanently.
Bindlestiff is
the 10th in the Nameless
mystery series (and the definition of the word if like me you didn’t know is
hobo.)
I think what I like about this series so much is the back
story of our main man, though on occasions in earlier books when Nameless is
throwing himself a pity party it’s also what I dislike. Here though he’s on top
form.
He’s just got his PI license back after suspension, which
will save him having to dispose of too much of his 6000 strong pulp magazine
collection to pay the bills. (He’s just sold 1000 to a collector….. ouch!) His
best friend, nay only friend – Eberhardt and Nameless are going through a
difficult patch with a permanent hangover from facts revealed in our last case –
Dragonfire. Eberhardt has left the force and is pressuring Nameless for a job
with him. Despite the friendship, Nameless is a solitary man so it’s lose/lose
whatever he decides. The romance with Kerry is back on – though there’s a cloud
on the horizon with an attractive Chinese journalist (from Dragonfire) pursuing
our man for an interview (and possibly more.) Helluva lot going on and we haven’t
even got to our case.
Nameless is hired by one sister to find her father, who
after losing his job went off riding the rails. The other sister, closer to her
father in many ways, but a money-grabber tried to hire him not to look. Bradford
has surfaced after a newspaper report and picture on some railway hobos was
recently published.
Nameless goes in pursuit and after tracing Bradford’s steps
finds himself pursuing a double murderer. Trust in our man to get to the bottom
of mystery, which links back to Bradford’s family and events which occurred long
ago. A further twist in the mystery occurs later with Nameless himself at risk.
Bindlestiff is the best one I’ve read for a while and was caned
in a day over Christmas. Not the most perfect and satisfying murder mystery,
there’s a slight suspension of belief as Pronzini tweaks the boundaries of
plausibility but hey I was happy to go with it. Some of the best bits were when
Nameless took his enquiries to the hobo jungle outside Oroville.
5 from 5
10 down 35 to go, give or take. January should see me
reading Casefile, a collection of Nameless short stories also from 1983.
Purchased copy a year or two ago.
Oh, some of those Nameless stories really are excellent, aren't they, Col? When Pronzini is at the top of his form, he is very good indeed. Interesting point you make about the self-pitying, too. I think it's all too easy for some characters to indulge in that. I like it better when they don't.
ReplyDeleteMargot, I knew of the series many years ago, but only took the plunge on it a year or two ago - I'm still kind of kicking myself for the delay. Nameless certainly has his ups and downs personally - like you I prefer it when he's up!
Delete10 down 35 to go, give or take
ReplyDeleteThat makes it more like 3 down, 42 to go for me . . .
Haha - better get a move on then!
DeleteThis one sounds way too interesting to ignore. Bill Pronzini is on my list this year and I'm looking forward to reviewing it.
ReplyDeleteI hope you get to him this year, Prashant.
DeleteI remember the name of this one. A new word for me also at the time. Your reviews make me want to go back and reread them, except that I have so many to catch up on. I remember I used to read some of these in a day also. Just wonderful reads.
ReplyDeleteTracy, it's satisfying to read them in a day. Mission accomplished! And you know it's been a good book otherwise you would have done other things with your time!
DeleteThis one sounds great, and I know I will catch up on this author sometime - this should jump up the queue.
ReplyDeleteOne of the better ones. I haven't found a poor one yet, but some I like more than others.
Delete