Bindlestiff

Nameless Detective #10

by Bill Pronzini

Just getting back into action the "Nameless Detective" lands a case involving two double-dealing sisters, who require him to track down their father, a hobo riding the rails

Genres: Mystery, Detective, Fiction

180 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Mystery 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

Reviews

[Bill Kerwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Things are beginning to look up for the Nameless Detective. He has got his private detective license back, and his girlfriend Kerry too. In fact, his only worry is his old friend, the San Franciso ex-cop Eberhardt, who wants to be his business partner. Nameless is used to being a lone wolf; besides, he fears that, whatever decision he makes will further strain their already frayed friendship.

But he puts such worries on the backburner when he begins to work a new case. His mission: to find a hobo—an honest-to-god old fashioned bindlestiff—amid the railroad yards and hobo jungles of Southern California. He has inherited a little money, and his daughter wants to make sure he knows about it.

Sounds relatively simple, doesn’t it? But of course it isn’t. Nameless delves further into the case, and, although he fails to find the bindlestiff, he uncovers a series of complicated family motives, an old murder, and some new suspicions too, which seem to center on an out-of-the-way railroad museum.

This is a romantic book, bringing together Pronzini’s affections for the old detective pulp magazines and the knights of the road. The mystery is solid, the characters are interesting, and the book concludes with an exciting—and delightfully ghastly—action sequence.

[Carla Remy · Rating 4 out of 5]

From 1983
I know what a Bindlestick is, but I have never heard of a Bindlestiff. I guess it’s another word for Hobo.
Nameless just got his license back and is still suffering from getting shot in the last book. This case involves trains and winds up being quite suspenseful.

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some guy disappears from life to ride the rails as a hobo. He's got an inheritance coming. One of his daughters wants him to get it, while the other doesn't. So Nameless gallivants the town of Oroville, CA in the days before it had a stoplight and looks for him. Of course, he finds murder.

Pretty typical for the time, really.

[The Shayne-Train · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK, these books are officially becoming addicting. SOMEONE STOP ME!

Also: hobos. This book is about hobos.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

The tenth Nameless book starts out with our hero in a fair bit of financial difficulty himself. With no licence he has no income.His office is gone and worst of all he's had to fall back on his only way of making enough cash to feed himself, namely selling off some of his precious pulp collection starting with some of his less loved editions. But things are about to change. Ex-cop best friend Eberhardt has had a hand in getting Nameless' licence restored but not without asking for something in return. He wants to go into partnership. But Nameless is a lone-wolf.
His first case back involves tracking down a hobo (bindestiff) rider of the tracks. The trail leads to a town called Oroville in Butte County. It helps the book to be set in a real location, the local colour and history add a bit flavour to a fairly lifeless plot. The location moves on to the wine soaked Sonoma County, which Nameless cites as his ideal retirement location, though to my mind I doubt he'll ever have funds enough to finance such an end even if he was the retiring kind.
Not the strongest title in the series. Pronzini's plotting suffers from having to be played out by a small group of fairly two dimensional supporting characters.

[Cat. · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the reasons I love these books is that I can get through one of them in about 6 hours' reading time. At most. They're also usually fun and interesting. Who the heck knows what a bindlestiff is? I do, now.

This one is about hobos and trains and sisterly love. Very quaint, the portrayal of hoboing. Could have lived without the 'quaint' portrayal of librarians, however. grr

[Janice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written, but characters not as engaging as most of his other Nameless stories.

[EuroHackie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I want to like these stories more than I actually do. The mystery plot was decent, if workmanlike, here, but the entire thing was marred by Nameless's TSTL moments (I was ready to throttle him when he decided it was a good idea to climb down an abandoned well), the persistently pathetic male ego fantasy (nubile young ladies catfighting over our self-proclaimed overweight, scruffy, 50+ MC), and the casual misogyny, which was ramped back up to 11 in this book. Top this all off with the fact that the more we learn about Nameless, the more he seems to be a straight-up author self-insert, which takes the creepiness factor up a notch.

[D. Norman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good read. Liked hobo lifestyle and mileau descriptions.

[Brad Williams · Rating 1 out of 5]

this is the third book in a row where the main character is constantly feeling sorry for himself and wallowing in self pity.
Not a fun read at all.

[شاهنشاه‎ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spor af Mord - 9788789793429

[Clark Hallman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bindlestiff (Nameless Detective Book, No. 10) by Bill Pronzini – Nameless has retrieved his private detective license after the State Board had pulled it for two and a half months. He is now relieved to be able to function as a private detective and is quickly hired by a woman to find her missing father. Nameless discovers that the man is living the life of a bindlestiff, i.e., essentially the life of a hobo, riding the rails, sleeping in boxcars, eating mulligan stew, etc. Unfortunately, and surprisingly, his investigation leads him to several murders and entangles him in life-threatening situations. I enjoyed this Nameless Detective book very much.

[John Grazide · Rating 3 out of 5]

They can't all be home runs. Right? Nameless gets his license back and his first case is to find his clients missing father because of an inheritance. The father was seen in a newspaper article about hobos. Otherwise known as bindlestiffs. It was a little predictable but now so much so that it was a hug detractor. Nice little twist with the sister and her first husband. The hobo jungle and the well scene were really well done.

[Karl · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 Nightshades St. Martin's Press
1984 Double St. Martin's Press
1985 Bones St. Martin's Press
1985 Grave Yard Plots St. Martin's Press
1886 Dreadfall St. Martin's Press
1988 Shackles St. Martin's Press
1988 Small Fellonies St. Martin's Press
1990 Jackpot Delacorte
1991 Breakdown Delacorte
1992 Quarry Delacorte
1992 Epitaths Delacorte
1993 Demons Delacorte
1995 Hardcase Delacorte
1996 Spadework Crippen & Landru
1996 Sentinels Carroll & Graf
1997 Illusions Carroll & Graf
1998 Boobytrap Carroll & Graf
1999 Sluths Five Star
1999 Duo Five Star
2000 Crazybones Carroll & Graf
2002 Bleeders Carroll & Graf
2003 Spook Carroll & Graf
2003 Scenarios Five Star
2005 Nightcrawlers Forge
2006 Mourners Forge
2007 Savages Forge
2008 Feaver Forge
2009 Schemers Forge
2010 Betrayers Forge
2011 Camouflage Forge
2012 Hellbox Forge
2012 Kinsmen Cemetery Dance
2012 Femme Cemetery Dance
2013 Nemesis Forge

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bill Pronzini’s nameless detective has a reason to celebrate. He got his private investigator’s license back and a new assignment on the same day. Arleen Bradford wants him to locate her estranged father who’s been a hobo riding the rails for some time. The family’s come into some money and Arleen thinks her father should have his share. Her sister, Hannah, disagrees and tries to persuade Nameless not to look for him. But Arleen’s a paying client and her intentions appear to be more honorable than her sister’s. Complicating Nameless’ life is a request from an old police friend, now out of work, to become Nameless’ partner, something Nameless isn’t sure would work.

Bindlestiff is a good story about broken families and fresh starts. Although a murder doesn’t happen right away, there is plenty of mystery from the get-go and a beautifully paced ramping up of suspense. At 180 pages, the book isn’t long, the plot isn’t complicated, and the suspect list is short, but there are a couple of surprising twists and terrific story telling. I would have liked to know more about the sisters’ past and their father’s background. Still, Bindlestiff is a quick, enjoyable read.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

#10 in the Nameless Detective series. Nameless gets his license restored and gets hired for a new case on the same day. Finding a missing relative take him on an interesting trip to Oroville. As usual,the case is not entirely as it seems and entails some danger. Nameless is still not physically up to snuff since being shot in the shoulder (Dragonfire - 1982) and since he retired from the SFPD, Eberhardt is pestering him about a partnership. But love interest Kerry Wade has returned. An enjoyable series entry.

Nameless Detective series - Miss Arlene Bradford hires Nameless to find her father. Fired from his government job, Charles Bradford has become a freeloading hobo. It turns out he's inherited a lot of money, and Arlene wants him to have it -- but her sister, Hannah, has some different feelings.

[Patti · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boy, has Nameless gotten beat up in the last 2 books I've read in this series. I realize that's usual for a PI series, but good grief! In this book, the word bindlestiff refers to a hobo who rides the rails, and Nameless has a client whose father has become one, and she wants him found because he has an inheritance. Our hero begins the search, and through several coincidences (some detecting involved, but more coincidences), figures out the big picture. This one was a bit of stretch for me, and I think I'll take a break from the series for a little while.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

What the hell is a bindlestiff? A weird title but an action packed story. Nameless heads out to Oroville looking for a woman's father who has become a hobo. He gets more than he bargained for on this missing person case-not once but twice. I couldn't connect the dots as fast as Nameless on this one.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A missing person's search leads Nameless to yet another murder, and this time he almost buys the farm himself! Quick read ... more developing of the back story which keeps me coming back for more. Most of these books are out of print so I'm having to go through various resources to track them down.

[Nat Kidder · Rating 4 out of 5]

With his license restored, Nameless hunts down a latter-day hobo to inform him of a large inheritance, only to be caught up in a family feud. Solid entry in an outstanding private-eye series; would rate 5 stars if Pronzini hadn't made some gratuitous political comments.

[Sonic · Rating 1 out of 5]

waste of time

[Helen Fleischer · Rating 4 out of 5]

fast-paced, classic Nameless

[Sally Plunkett · Rating 4 out of 5]

#10 of the Nameless Detective Series

[Maddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

RATING: 3.5

[Eliana]

Old style detective series with excellent writing, plots and characters throughout