Deadfall

Pronzini's tough but likable Nameless Detective is back in another baffling and entertaining mystery that begins when the San Francisco PI witnesses the brutal shooting of Leonard Purcell, a prominent bisexual lawyer. Called upon by the dead man's live-in lover to investigate, Nameless attempts to find a link between the murder and the strange death of Purcell's brother six months earlier. Kenneth Purcell had fallen from a cliff; was it accidentalas the police and almost everyone involved believeor was it murder? As Nameless relentlessly interviews Purcell's wealthy but sinister associates, he realizes that the answer may lie with an unassumingand elusivedeliveryman. Pronzini's loving descriptions of the Bay Area and its eccentric denizens make this series delightful reading. (July 28)