The principal mystery in the 33rd entry of the Nameless Detective series involves three things dear to the hearts of Nameless and his creator Bill Pronzini: vintage literary detectives, antique book collecting, and the classic locked room mystery. Nameless is hired by investigate the theft of eight rare books (including the British first edition of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes) that have disappeared from millionaire Gregory Pollexfen’s locked, secure library, to which he possesses the only

Catching up on some of this series that I skipped. I enjoyed the two different mysteries in the book. Nameless agrees to a case where several valuable books are missing from a millionaire’s collection. Of course, he solves this clever case. Jake Runyon, the other detective in the agency takes another interesting case of two brothers being stalked. And then there is Tamara, Nameless’s partner. Sometimes she adds to the book—not so much this time. Still, another great episode!

Read 2013

Two good mysteries solved by the agency...one by Nameless and one by Jake.

Pretty interesting locked room mystery.

A nice detective story in which the main character never mentioned by name, hence the nameless, gets caught up in a closed room mystery, first a theft of priceless books [Actually appraised for half a million] and then a murder.A colleague working for the same agency is checking out a case of serious stalking which leads to the past of the families being harassed.Both stories are alright and somewhat predictable but easy to read, the solution was in both case fairly easy to solve. But Pronzini h...

Earliest "nameless" book I could get from the library for Kindle. I don't think I've missed much by starting in the middle. Structure is the type where 2 or 3 stories/mysteries are going on at the same time with characters interacting. Ok...may try some more of them.

Schemers • by Bill pronzini (Nameless Detective Series, 2009)Description: Nameless and his partner Jake Runyon.Nameless (gets a call)... The investigation was relatively simple: a multimillionaire rare books collector had reported the theft of eight volumes, worth a half million dollars. From a locked library. To which he has the only key.G.P. the millionaire hates his wife (she's a cheating whore) and he hates her brother who once tried to blackmail G.P. So G.P. plans murder for the brother and...

A friend suggested I would like Bill Pronzini’s books and now that I have read this one I agree with him. I can tell from the first that his books will be the sort of dependable easy reads I enjoy from writers like Robert Parker, Sue Grafton, and Dick Francis. Schemers, as many books do now, solves not one but two mysteries, and although I thought I had everything figured out, I didn’t, in a good way. Just enough of the characters personal situations are revealed so as to not interfere with the

First off, I'm a big fan and have been for years. This is the best Nameless P.I. title I've read in a while. Two stories are going on: Jake Runyon and Nameless (aka Bill) in alternating viewpoints solve two different cases. Less ink is devoted to Nameless' family life and more on the cases. Great use of CA setting, especially in Frisco.

Still delivering every single thing you need.

Here is a list of all the books (in order) Happy Reading.1971 The Snatch Random House 1973 The Vanished Random House 1973 Undercurrents Random House 1977 Blowback Ramdom House 1978 Twospot Putman 1980 Laybrinth St. Martin's Press 1980 A Killing In Xanadu Waves Press 1981 Hoodwinked St. Martin's Press 1982 Scattershot St. Martin's Press 1982 Dragonfire St. Martin's Press 1983 Bindlestiff St. Martin's Press 1983 Casefile St. Martin's Press 1984 Quicksilver St. Martin's Press 1984 Night...

A workmanlike mystery thriller that sets up a couple of intriguing situations but the solution for both turns out to be somewhat lacking in thrills. Ironically the two plots show off different aspects of thrillers, with one coming across as an antique approach and the other more modern.The A plot, involving the series hero who has no name, aka "The Nameless Detective," is the more gimmicky of the two and the one that resembles a Golden Age detective yarn. The detective is hired by a guy he doesn...

PROTAGONIST: Nameless DetectiveSETTING: San FranciscoSERIES: #37RATING: 3.5WHY: Now working part time, Nameless takes on a case from an insurance agency that turns out to be a locked room murder. It involves the theft of several rare first editions of crime classics. Everyone involved is quite unlikable. At the same time, Jake Runyon picks up a case where 2 brothers are being stalked, most likely as a result of a vendetta someone has against their late father. Solid detective work, but actually

The rare book mystery was the best of the two in this book. On the con side, the photography details were shameless product placement and seemed forced.

Nameless is my favorite PI due to his attitudes, vulnerability, sensitivity, doggedness and side interests. Some of his scenes here are like visits with an old friend. His case will entertain on both story and literary levels. Jake Runyon has partially inherited Nameless' role and personality in this split-narrative series installment. His case evokes the mood of the series' earlier episodes, while his personal life develops further.Office manager Tamara's doings are cursory, with strong forebod...

Nameless is brought on by an old friend to investigate an insurance claim. The claim is for eight books that were apparently stolen and insured for half a million dollars. And when a murder takes place in the middle of the investigation, Nameless has to really put on his thinking cap. While that's going on, Jake's case has him looking for a crazy person tormenting a rather ordinary pair of brothers. Oh and Tamara moved into her new apartment and finally go laid, and now has to get tested. Yeah.....

This was my fourth book in the Nameless series. Although I thought it was a good book featuring two mysterious story lines, I liked it the least of the four. One plot concerned a wealthy book collector and was a locked room mystery. I love locked room mysteries but none of the characters were good people, no one to root for, and I wasn't as invested in their story. The second plot was much more interesting to me, the threat to two families, truly scary and the weapon used by the stalker was acid...

Who doesn’t love a locked-room mystery? This won’t be the most riveting locked-room mystery you’ve ever read; leave that to the late Edward D. Hoch, who was a master if the genre. But it’s well written, compelling, and you’ll enjoy it to its rapid conclusion.The Great Western insurance company taps “Nameless” to help it find a stolen collection of rare mystery books valued at half a million dollars. That’s a plus, since “Nameless” collects pulp magazines and can at least have some understanding