Strangers -- Bill Pronzini

Bill Pronzini's formerly nameless detective was first named (I think) way back in 1978 in Twospot, a collaborative novel with Collin Wilcox, a forgotten writer worth rediscovery.  I could be wrong about that, but that's the way I remember it.  Which means that it was about 7 years after the first "Nameless" book that the name appeared (it's Bill, by the way).  It's been 36 years, but some of us still think of him as "Nameless."   Or maybe I'm just making all this up.  Anyway, I read The Snatch, the first book in the series, when it came out in paperback in the early '70s, and here I am, still reading the series today.  It's certainly one of the best p.i. series ever, and the latest entry is a good example of why.

Over the years, Nameless has aged and gone through all sorts of things.  He's an old guy now, but he's still as honest, as tough, as devoted to his job as ever.  In Strangers, we have a classic situation, the stranger (that would be Nameless) rides into a little western town. He's there to help out an old friend (and lover) whose son has been accused of three rapes.  His mother's convinced he's not guilty.  Everyone else in town is convinced that he is, including the sheriff.  Nobody likes it that Nameless is there.  People insult him, key his car, shoot at him, and try other ways to get him to leave.  He doesn't.  He controls his temper (mostly) and goes about his investigation in his quiet, competent way.  Pretty soon he's uncovered things that the local law has missed.

This is a pretty bleak novel to begin with, and just when things appear to be all wrapped up, Pronzini throws in several more twists, like little bombs going off, boom, boom, boom, and each one of them deepens the darkness.  Forty-three years after The Snatch, MWA Gand Master Pronzini's still showing us how it's done.  Check it out.