Narrator: Keith Szarabajka

Death claims insurance investigator Dave Brandstetter is suspicious of the apparent drowning of John Oats. The superb swimmer was found washed up on a beach along the Californian coastline. John recently called the insurance copy to change the beneficiary on his policy, but the paperwork hadn't been completed yet. Does his death have anything to do with John’s recent desire to change the beneficiary on his life insurance policy? And now the beneficiary, Oats's son Peter, has disappeared. Dave takes nothing at face value. He is intent on discovering the truth and doesn't mind hurting people along the way. The case is, of course, much more complicated than it seems. It turns out John and almost everyone in his sphere were keeping secrets and Dave is good at finding connections, at understanding what people are hiding. We also get to know about Dave's life away from the case. He and his lover, Doug, who he met in the first book of...

Dave Brandstetter, insurance investigator, is looking into the death of local radio star and mayoral candidate Fox Olson, who crashed his car through a bridge railing on a rainy night. Fox's body has not yet been found, and Brandstetter finds more than one reason to be suspicious. As Dave spends time interviewing the Olson family members and gathering evidence, he comes to the conclusion that Fox is still alive. Brandstetter is a tough, smart detective. He's openly gay and mourning the loss of his long-time partner to cancer. He's a good character, with strengths and flaws. The story moves along quickly and we get several unlikeable suspects and a bit of local politics. The writing is spare but the author does a fabulous job at painting pictures and describing characters with few words. Fadeout is not a fun book with its underlying sadness, but it is engrossing. I will probably listen to more in the series. It doesn't hurt that they're...