Our narrator never tells us his name. No one addresses him by name. We do not see anything with his name on it. But he regales us with accounts of his cases as entertainingly as Dr. John Watson relates the Sherlock Holmes stories.      

Nameless and his partner, Tamara --- a street-wise woman about half his age and many shades darker --- run a respected agency in the San Francisco metro area. They employ several part-time operatives, and right now are seeing a burst of business. So when a fairly routine auto accident investigation takes him north to wine country, Nameless doesn’t mind doing the work himself. However, it turns into anything but a routine case when witnesses are found dead. Despite his semi-retired status, Nameless still enjoys the fieldwork, allowing Tamara to shine where she’s at her best --- doing research and background. If anyone can unearth information and dig up dirt on their subjects, Tamara is the one. In “Zigzag,” she feeds the leads to Nameless, and he chases down the clues to its surprising conclusion.

"From the description of his agency and the man himself, I’d hire [Nameless] if I were in trouble. And personally, I think I’d like to be his neighbor, invite him to block parties, barbecues and such."

Next, in “Grapplin,” Nameless enters a more musical environment, and does that case more as a favor to Tamara than anything else. Or maybe he has a genuine soft spot for the old guy who comes in asking for help finding his long-lost niece. Whatever the reason, between Tamara’s computer skills and Nameless’ footwork, they wrap up the case in record time. But the wrap-up is one of the best I’ve seen. It’s guaranteed to leave readers with a smile.

Then there’s a short case Nameless handles with Jake Runyon, a fellow with as big a personality as Nameless (and that’s saying a lot) and with the advantage of youth and fitness. They need it on this one. Now, Nameless comes across as extraordinarily wise, a family man with a square work ethic, and a guy who plans to go home at the end of the day. Thus, he will do pretty much anything to survive, but at least he starts out trying to play fair. It just doesn’t always pay to hang with that strategy, so he knows when to switch tactics. Jake is a good back-up man for him and shows his value especially well in “Nightscape.”

The final story in this collection, “Revenant,” concerns a case that Nameless describes as “the weirdest damn case” he’d ever been involved in, and he soon regrets having taken it. But he’s no quitter, so he sees it through. Only, well, try as he might, he doesn’t seem to be able to time things quite right. And if you ask him, he probably would describe the outcome as just as weird as the rest of the case. But by that time, he’s almost too shocked to say anything.

Nameless is an old-fashioned private investigator with some new tricks up his sleeve, even if a few of them come in the form of his partner and his operatives. From the description of his agency and the man himself, I’d hire him if I were in trouble. And personally, I think I’d like to be his neighbor, invite him to block parties, barbecues and such. He sounds like a downright good guy. Oh, and he has a cat named Shameless. Of course. Fits right in.