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Nameless Detective #11
Quicksilver
The author sets his latest Nameless Detective mystery in San Francisco's Japantown, where the sleuth tries to trace the source of Mrs. Haruko Gage's lavish but anonymous gifts and discovers a grisly ritual murder in the Nippon Mafia
151 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
1 person is currently reading
92 people want to read
About the author
Bill Pronzini
627 books236 followersMystery Writers of America Awards "Grand Master" 2008
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1999) for Boobytrap
Edgar Awards Best Novel nominee (1998) for A Wasteland of Strangers
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1997) for Sentinels
Shamus Awards "The Eye" (Lifetime achievment award) 1987
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1982) for Hoodwink
Married to author Marcia Muller.
Pseudonyms:
Robert Hart Davis (collaboration with Jeffrey M. Wallmann)
Jack Foxx
William Jeffrey (collaboration with Jeffrey M. Wallmann)
Alex Saxon
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1999) for Boobytrap
Edgar Awards Best Novel nominee (1998) for A Wasteland of Strangers
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1997) for Sentinels
Shamus Awards "The Eye" (Lifetime achievment award) 1987
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1982) for Hoodwink
Married to author Marcia Muller.
Pseudonyms:
Robert Hart Davis (collaboration with Jeffrey M. Wallmann)
Jack Foxx
William Jeffrey (collaboration with Jeffrey M. Wallmann)
Alex Saxon
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
April 4, 2019
Once again I am satisfied with a Bill Pronzini “Nameless Detective” novel. The prose may be pedestrian, the plot-development workmanlike, and the regular characters just normal average types, likable individuals living their lives within the confines of a series of mystery novels, but all that is more than okay with me. The prose gets to the point, the plots never betray (and often have cool puzzles in them), and I like those regulars—Nameless, his gal Kerry, his old friend Eberhardt—quite a lot, and their averageness sort of fits in with a mystery series where the private eye has no name, struggles with his weight, and spends his spare time reading cheap detective magazines.
This Nameless outing begins with our hero having doubts about his new partnership with his old friend Eberhardt. After all, he’s been a lone wolf for years. Since they aren’t quite open for business yet (Eberhardt is moving his furniture in, and Nameless hates his partner’s yellow file cabinets), our detective is pleased to pick up a final case, just for the lone wolf he used to be.
At first it seems straightforward. Mrs. Haruko Gage apparently has a secret admire, someone who has sends her jewelry in the mail but won’t sign his name. Who is this man? Could it be an old admirer? And is this man a danger, or not? She hires Nameless, and he begins to make enquiries. Soon, though, things get complicated (don’t they always?): there’s a shooting in a Japanese bathhouse, Nameless acquires a tale, and seems the Yakuza are involved. Maybe this wasn’t the very best time to be a lone wolf after all.
The plot is a bit complicated, but fair, and well resolved, with some real excitement at the end. Yes, Quicksilver is an average mystery but a more than average pleasure. The kind of novel Bill Pronzini always delivers.
April 8, 2025
From 1984
A mystery involving Japanese Americans living in San Francisco and going back to WWII and the internment camps.
A mystery involving Japanese Americans living in San Francisco and going back to WWII and the internment camps.
October 21, 2019
Bill Pronzini's Nameless Detective books are really, really good. I did not discover them until just a few years ago. Quicksilver is Nameless's last solo case before his new partner Eberhardt joins him on Monday. He hires onto what he believes will be a simple case of finding out who is sending expensive gifts to a Japanese woman as an apparent secret admirer. This quickly leads to not one, not two but three Japanese men being murdered because of something that may have happened many years ago and Nameless being followed by the Japanese mob. Great book that keeps one guessing until the last few pages. Highly recommended. Early on I had some difficulty keeping all the Japanese names sorted but that problem quickly dissipated for me at least.
October 25, 2015
This one is notable mainly because Nameless moves into his new office with Eb as he finally goes into partnership with his old friend. He just has one last outing as a lone wolf before they start their association. The mystery seems intriguing concerning strange but valuable gifts arriving in the post for a young Japanese woman but it never really ignites and sort of fizzles out. For light relief Nameless is on a strict diet under the supervision of his girlfriend and he doesn't like it one bit.
July 6, 2021
Our intrepid hero sleuths through the seedy underbelly of SanFran's Japantown! As always, a great mystery!
October 22, 2019
I've pretty much given up on this series, and was only hanging on until I received the Dortmunder books from the library, so I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. It's a simple, straight-forward mystery that blends a yakuza storyline with the terrible history of Japanese internment in the US during WWII, a usually-forgotten wartime atrocity.
Nameless is hired by Haruko Gage to determine who is sending her jewelry through the mail in the guise of a secret admirer. Only the first gift had an accompanying note, and its starting to get a bit worrisome and creepy. Nameless meets with Mrs. Gage and she gives him a list of her past boyfriends and lovers to check out. While he's doing this, he stumbles upon a dead body in a Japanese bathhouse - and discovers that said dead man is a rather high-ranking yakuza. Mrs. Gage's ex-boyfriend worked for the dead man, and this tenuous link is apparently enough to bring Nameless under scrutiny.
The next day, Mrs. Gage receives a very familiar pendant from her secret admirer - one just like one that was owned by the dead yakuza - and Nameless begins to wonder if there's more than meets the eye: to the murder, and to the mysterious gifts suddenly showing up at this woman's door.
He eventually traces a line back to the Japanese internment during WWII, and the book doesn't shy away from this ugly episode of American (and Californian) history, or the ripple effect it has on people nearly a half-century later. I liked the way the murders and the admirer storylines eventually dovetailed together; for a writer of workmanlike stories, this one was pretty polished and slick.
I think I'm going to end my engagement with this series here, on the unexpected high note.
Nameless is hired by Haruko Gage to determine who is sending her jewelry through the mail in the guise of a secret admirer. Only the first gift had an accompanying note, and its starting to get a bit worrisome and creepy. Nameless meets with Mrs. Gage and she gives him a list of her past boyfriends and lovers to check out. While he's doing this, he stumbles upon a dead body in a Japanese bathhouse - and discovers that said dead man is a rather high-ranking yakuza. Mrs. Gage's ex-boyfriend worked for the dead man, and this tenuous link is apparently enough to bring Nameless under scrutiny.
The next day, Mrs. Gage receives a very familiar pendant from her secret admirer - one just like one that was owned by the dead yakuza - and Nameless begins to wonder if there's more than meets the eye: to the murder, and to the mysterious gifts suddenly showing up at this woman's door.
He eventually traces a line back to the Japanese internment during WWII, and the book doesn't shy away from this ugly episode of American (and Californian) history, or the ripple effect it has on people nearly a half-century later. I liked the way the murders and the admirer storylines eventually dovetailed together; for a writer of workmanlike stories, this one was pretty polished and slick.
I think I'm going to end my engagement with this series here, on the unexpected high note.
April 30, 2025
Classic PI detective novel. Novella? Anyway, great read. Easy to follow and honestly I didn’t predict the culprit. That’s the best thing about the story. I do live a good detective story and this was just that.
September 20, 2020
Good read though not as good as others.
February 20, 2024
Straightforward P.I. story with likable characters and a capable plot. Set in San Francisco and the greater bay area.
May 29, 2024
Not as good as his previous book, a bit convoluted, but still "nameless" is one cool paisan.
March 11, 2017
Another good one. Nameless and Eb start their partnership, but before they make it official Nameless has one job to do as a solo act. And it turns out to be a crazy one. Hired by a woman to find out who is secretly sending her gifts. During his investigation the bodies start to pile up. But have no fear he gets the bad guy. A little history about the Japanese internment camps during WWII also.
May 10, 2018
This was another entertaining installment of Bill Pronzini's "Nameless Detective" series. It has Nameless reluctantly obtaining a former police detective and friend as a partner. It is another entertaining crime/detective novel in the Nameless series. Of course, there are plenty of interesting investigative twists and turns that also result in some life-threatening violence
October 3, 2013
#11 in the Nameless Detective series. With great trepidation, Nameless has agreed to go into partnership with his friend, ex-cop Eberhardt. AS they are setting up a new office, Nameless has taken on his last solo case. Haruko Gage has hired him to find out who is anonymously sending her rather expensive gifts of jewelry. As Nameless tracks down her ex-boyfriends as possible sources of the jewelry, he comes across the murdered body of a local Yakuza, a Japanese gangster. He also finds a series of dead men who are missing pieces of jewelry that correspond to those received by Haruko. There is also a history lesson as the roots the mystery lie in one of the most shameful chapters of American history - the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII in relocation camps including the one at Tule Lake, CA.
Nameless Detective series - A weekend fling turns into a week-long manhunt as the Nameless Detective's last solo case involves him in a cat and mouse chase through San Francisco's Japantown that ends in a confusion of murder, rape, and suicide.
Nameless Detective series - A weekend fling turns into a week-long manhunt as the Nameless Detective's last solo case involves him in a cat and mouse chase through San Francisco's Japantown that ends in a confusion of murder, rape, and suicide.
January 31, 2016
Atmospheric, if somewhat confusing, tale where Nameless takes a case that's superficially harassment but turns out to be much worse.
Pronzini shows his superb skill making the reader experience the same feelings as his main character, and that alone makes the story a good read for any gumshoe enthusiast. But the Japanese names tend to swirl around, making the reader wonder who did what. Moreover, at the time the story was written, the word "Japanese" connoted high-tech and quality, not gangsterism as the novel implies. There's no mention of that ethnic group's former quality.
A brisk read and few noir detective fans will find the book a waste. Just take careful notes (mentally or otherwise) of the characters.
Pronzini shows his superb skill making the reader experience the same feelings as his main character, and that alone makes the story a good read for any gumshoe enthusiast. But the Japanese names tend to swirl around, making the reader wonder who did what. Moreover, at the time the story was written, the word "Japanese" connoted high-tech and quality, not gangsterism as the novel implies. There's no mention of that ethnic group's former quality.
A brisk read and few noir detective fans will find the book a waste. Just take careful notes (mentally or otherwise) of the characters.
October 20, 2010
PROTAGONIST: Nameless Detective
SETTING: San Francisco
SERIES: #12 of 37
RATING: 4.25
WHY: Nameless is entering into a partnership with former cop Eberhart and is understandably nervous about working with someone else. He has one last case before joining forces, which involves a secret admirer who is sending a young Japanese woman expensive jewels. It turns out there may be a connection to the Yakuza (Japanese Mafia). Splendid plotting in this spare book, continuing development of Nameless' relationship with Kerri, and some welcome humor in the form of Nameless trying to diet. I love Pronzini.
SETTING: San Francisco
SERIES: #12 of 37
RATING: 4.25
WHY: Nameless is entering into a partnership with former cop Eberhart and is understandably nervous about working with someone else. He has one last case before joining forces, which involves a secret admirer who is sending a young Japanese woman expensive jewels. It turns out there may be a connection to the Yakuza (Japanese Mafia). Splendid plotting in this spare book, continuing development of Nameless' relationship with Kerri, and some welcome humor in the form of Nameless trying to diet. I love Pronzini.
March 26, 2012
I had a hard time getting into this one although it had an interesting plot line involving Yakuza in San Francisco and the Japanese internment during WW II. A young Japanese American woman is receiving gifts in the mail from a secret admirer and older Japanese men are turning up dead. Slow plot and a strange ending but then some cases are like that. I read this one on an ereader while I was on vacation-probably being at the beach zapped my zeal and attention. Nameless in the later mysteries is a much more likeable and engaging guy than here in his early days.
February 20, 2014
I still like the Nameless detective series, but this one was just okay. A good read, but not a lot of excitement or action. The next book in the series I think I read under another name so moving on to Double, which is co-written with his wife, Marcia Muller.
December 22, 2009
It was kind of a long read (for such a short book) because I kept on stopping. Overall a nice book about San Francisco and a good mystery.
March 31, 2011
Nameless in Japantown ending sad but right for story
July 3, 2012
Ok book. Not a very challenging read.
March 29, 2013
I liked this book. It is straight forward and you feel like you are alongside Nameless the entire time.
February 14, 2014
Great private detective series set in San Francisco. This is the nameless detective.
Read
April 6, 2014Old style detective series with excellent writing, plots and characters throughout
November 3, 2012
#11 of The Nameless Detective Series
Read
February 8, 2019It’s rare when I feel the urge to pump the hand of a fictional book character, but my sense of camaraderie and brotherhood with this character in this particular book was that strong. You see, my friends, “Nameless” has been placed on a strict diet by his relatively new girlfriend, Kerry. He has been struggling for weeks, and the lover of good food and detective pulp novels has only lost a couple of pounds. My heart and hand just goes out to the guy regardless of his state as a non-existing person.
Not only is “Nameless” working at changing his weight, he’s changing his office situation a bit, too, and he’s not sure he likes it. His long-time friend, Eberhardt, formerly of the San Francisco Police Department, has helped “Nameless” rent a new office, and Eberhardt is moving in with him to set up shop as a private detective. “Nameless” figures he can handle one more tiny case on his own before the partnership must begin in earnest. He takes the case of Haruko Gage, a young Japanese-American woman who apparently has a secret admirer. She wants “Nameless” to figure out who it is. He finds her shallow and rather unimpressive, but her case represents easy money and quick resolution, so he jumps on it.
Before it ends, poor “Nameless” is caught up in some ugly situations. He discovers the body of a bath house owner—a body that has been hacked up with a samurai sword. He is being tailed by members of the Japanese mafia, and he is forced to do a crash-dive learning experience about the Tule Lake internment camp where Japanese-Americans were imprisoned by the Roosevelt administration in World War II. The resolution to the secret admirer mystery and the murders is entwined with events that occurred at that camp decades earlier.
This isn’t glitzy flowery literary writing; “Nameless” isn’t an urbane sophisticated guy. He’s a self-described slob who is just trying to impress heck out of the woman, and he is gamely following her soft-boiled eggs, carrots, and yogurt diet plan. He is, in short, everyman’s detective.
I’ve bounced around in this series, and in retrospect, I probably shouldn’t have. But you can read this without having done the others; it will just make more sense if you take them in order. And let’s face it, time spent with “Nameless” is never a bad experience.
Not only is “Nameless” working at changing his weight, he’s changing his office situation a bit, too, and he’s not sure he likes it. His long-time friend, Eberhardt, formerly of the San Francisco Police Department, has helped “Nameless” rent a new office, and Eberhardt is moving in with him to set up shop as a private detective. “Nameless” figures he can handle one more tiny case on his own before the partnership must begin in earnest. He takes the case of Haruko Gage, a young Japanese-American woman who apparently has a secret admirer. She wants “Nameless” to figure out who it is. He finds her shallow and rather unimpressive, but her case represents easy money and quick resolution, so he jumps on it.
Before it ends, poor “Nameless” is caught up in some ugly situations. He discovers the body of a bath house owner—a body that has been hacked up with a samurai sword. He is being tailed by members of the Japanese mafia, and he is forced to do a crash-dive learning experience about the Tule Lake internment camp where Japanese-Americans were imprisoned by the Roosevelt administration in World War II. The resolution to the secret admirer mystery and the murders is entwined with events that occurred at that camp decades earlier.
This isn’t glitzy flowery literary writing; “Nameless” isn’t an urbane sophisticated guy. He’s a self-described slob who is just trying to impress heck out of the woman, and he is gamely following her soft-boiled eggs, carrots, and yogurt diet plan. He is, in short, everyman’s detective.
I’ve bounced around in this series, and in retrospect, I probably shouldn’t have. But you can read this without having done the others; it will just make more sense if you take them in order. And let’s face it, time spent with “Nameless” is never a bad experience.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews