I came at this having not read any entries in the Nameless Detective for many years. Though solidly written, as you'd expect from Pronzini, I came away with mixed feelings about where the series is at now. Every series changes as the character grows older — and hopefully wiser — and this one certainly has. Having more characters, being semi-retired and sharing the business with Tamara, was not my problem with this, however. It was missing the atmosphere of San Francisco, the lean toward the hardboiled while remaining human negligible, and just any general spark to these stories, that while not a roaring flame, made my recollection of earlier books in the series quite fond.

It isn’t that I didn’t enjoy it to a fair degree, but I definitely recommend it more for fans of the series than anyone approaching the series for the first time. To anyone who hasn’t read a Nameless story, I’d urge them to go further back in this series. Some series get better as they go along, yet others either peter out or go on too long. Having not kept up with Nameless over the years, I can’t say with certainty that the latter is the case here, but I do recommend trying the earlier books in the series before this one. Now, the short stories in this collection:

The two shorter stories is where Pronzini and Nameless Detective shined for me. The second short story, NIGHTSCAPE, begins on a rainy night in a diner where Nameless and his pal Jake Runyon are waiting to make a nab. But then a couple come in to get out of the rain, and Nameless realizes something isn’t right about them. This is an atmospheric little short story with a twist, and a touch of irony. This started off the read great for me, because I skipped to the two short stories sandwiched between the two novellas, which bookend the collection.

The other short story, GRAPPLIN’, is the real gem, not just of the two short stories, but of this collection. It’s about an old and sick black trumpeter who wants Tamara — and Nameless — to find his niece Robin. I won’t reveal more, but will say this is sad and moving, and truly vintage stuff.

Okay, onto the novellas. ZIG ZAG, like most of Pronzini’s stuff, is well-plotted, so I can’t give much away. It starts out as a simple insurance claim, but ends up being much more. It takes a while to get going, but it’s solid, and as I mentioned, well-plotted. It didn’t have that moment, as the briefer Grapplin’ did, however, which gave it a spark, or made me feel like telling someone else about it.

The final novella was the story I had the most problems with. REVENANT had Pronzini taking Nameless into X-Files territory, as it’s all about a guy named Vox who may have risen from the dead — or not. There’s all kinds of occult stuff thrown into the story, including Devil worship, but of course in the end — well, I can’t tell you that, but you’ll probably easily figure it out, as this one is more about atmosphere. Even after the case is solved, Pronzini leaves something up in the air as to the occult stuff at the end, but it just felt forced and artificial to me.

Two good short stories, one fairly good novella, and one novella I just didn’t care for much, so 3.5 for me. Normally, I round up, but I think in this instance I’ll go with three, because of Revenant, and because I think this will be far more appealing to die-hard fans who have followed Nameless from the beginning, rather than a reader coming at it cold, or perhaps returning to it after many years as I did. I remember both short stories well, the first novella not quite as much, and would rather forget the last. So a mixed bag for me. ( )