--- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, Kevin Burton Smith
<kvnsmith@...> wrote:
<<And then there's Joseph Hansen, who's no longer
missing; just dead, but who for a while shared a paperback
publisher with Lyons. I don't think enough people are aware
of just how good Hansen's books featuring gay insurance
investigator Dave Brandstetter really were; Hammett-terse,
but Macdonald-nasty. Like the late Dennis Lynds, who was our
guest here a while back, he was one of those guys who quietly
but substantially changed the genre, by exploring and
exploiting possibilities people like Hammett and Chandler had
only (perhaps unintentionally) hinted at.>>
I like Hansen. I still have a couple of his novels to read...
his stories hold together beyond the crime investigation;
solid stuff, and as you say, Hansen did expand the genre in a
quiet way. Same with Lynds and Greenleaf. In fact, Greenleaf
may be the greatest of the Ross Macdonald disciples. After
his first couple of books, he greatly expanded that type of
story based on skeletons from the past. Is he still writing
or also missing? I should ask if he's publishing... writing
and publishing (getting published) are not the same
thing.
Best,
mrt
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