Have you ever considered that buildings might get wanderlust just as people do? In this story, all the buildings in Boston decide to head out of town over a long weekend (after all of the people and animals have left on vacations of their own, of course). Boston gets a hankering to visit, of all things, its old friend Portland, Maine. (Needless to say, Portland is "very surprised" to see Boston!) The buildings visit with each other, then make it back to their home and settle onto their foundations just in time for the return of the Bostonians. My daughter is now almost 8 and has enjoyed this book for 5 years. It makes me laugh every time I read it with her. And since we are from the Boston area we can identify some of the individual buildings in the graphically-unique illustrations. This book is very much recommended, especially for local Bostonians.

Parker likes to change up the Spenser series. He gets stuck in a formula just chugging along in Boston, and likes to mix it up every few novels. He writes a basic Spenser novel, and they complain hes just going through the motions. If he writes something different they complain he should stick to what he writes best. Give me a break!
Here's why you should read Double Deuce. The classic stand off. Yes, we get to learn alot more about Hawk, but not too much as to deflate the mystery about the caracter. But the boasting that goes on between Hawk and the Gangs is interesting.
There isnt alot of mystery in this one, some of the Spenser novels arent so much a who-done-it but more of a how-will-you-resolve-it kind of book. I've read this book many times, there are better in the series, but if your reading them in order, don't skip this one!

A fourteen-year old girl, named Devona, and her three-month old daughter, Crystal, were shot and murdered in a drive-by shooting outside of a project housing called "Double Deuce". Police Detective Hawk asked Police Detective Spenser to help him investigate. While it is obvious that the murders were gang-related, it is the jobs of Hawk and Spenser to drive out the gang, The Hobarts, out of Double Deuce. Throughout their steakout, they are sometimes accompanied by a news reporter named Jackie, whose relationship with Hawk is a bit unclear. As for Spenser's love life, he struggles with his now live-in girlfriend, Susan. Through it all, Hawk and Spenser learn more about themselves than expected.

I enjoyed this book because there was so much real dialogue. The things that were said by Hawk,Spenser, and the gang members is much like the slang that is used in the real world. I also enjoyed it because the author showed a great contrast between the lives of those living in Double Deuce, and the life of Spenser. Robert Parker showed how Spenser went from staying in the ghetto during the day, to living a very comfortable life at home with his girlfriend, Susan, and their dog, Pearl. The chapters were short and to the point. It made me interested in what was going to happen in the chapters ahead. I recommend this book to anyone who likes a good mystery novel. Though it does not keep you guessing, it does keep you wanting to learn more.

Parker has succeeded in writing crime thrillers that are entertaining and fast reads and yet give you issues to think about. "Double Deuce" is no exception, and this time, the issues are racial relations and gang psychology.

This novel has a more intense than usual opening for Spenser, because we get to sorta know the young girl and her baby daughter just before they're killed, and to have a feeling of the life they were leading.

From there, as other reviews have pointed out, Hawk is the principal character this time, though Spenser does provide him with valuable information just before the climax. And hey, Hawk is involved in a relationship too, as if trying to clear a housing project in the ghetto of a gang isn't enough.

The romantic side plot this time takes up the question as to whether Spenser & Susan should be living together or not.

Especially good here is the portrayal of the attitude of the project residents and the activist preacher helping them towards Spencer. Also good is the portrayal of the grudging mutual respect between Hawk and the gang leader. On top of that, we're given an idea of how Hawk, in his own way, rose above his childhood beginnings.

HUSH MONEY Robert B. Parker Putnam $22.95 309 pp.

In this latest installment, Spenser hooks up with Hawk for the entire novel: he also hooks up with Susan Silverman enough times to turn foreplay into fiveplay, sixplay, even sevenplay. Spenser fans need read no further to know that a lot of fun is in store for them.

However, readers less familiar with this venerable series may need a few more facts. Spenser, the one-named private eye, has beaten up bad guys and bandied about bon mots on the bestseller lists for some twenty-odd years, in some twenty-odd novels. A poetry-spouting ex-pugilist with a gastronomic flair, he and his sidekick Hawk could waltz through the entire WWF stable without soiling their sartorial splendor. Hawk, imperturbable quick-tongued African American, was Spenser's "homey" before there was such a word. In HUSH MONEY, Hawk asks Spenser to help an African American professor at Harvard, denied tenure for spurious reasons; he supposedly spurned a young man who then committed suicide. As Spenser soon discovers, the professor was straight, and the boy was killed. Then, while Spenser carefully skirts the pitfalls of political correctness in the groves of academe, his main squeeze Susan entreats him to take on a stalking case for a friend of hers. Before long, Spenser finds himself treading lightly around the grounds of sexual harrassment, as the beautiful stalkee becomes his stalker. Spenser sets up the boy's murderer for he and Hawk to take out, while he sets up his stalker for Susan to take on.

The plot here is as thin as the "villain." However, the real pleasure, the power actually, lies in Parker's wordplay, a form of homage to Spenser's namesake, the great English poet. When Spenser's stalker demands to know what's so great about Susan, he replies without a beat, "The way she wears her hat,...the way she sips her tea." When his nemesis calls him an "unutterable" unnameable, Spenser admires the epithet rather than be insulted. At his best here, Parker spins a three-page tension-filled stake-out around the word "guileful." And, as always, he has a way with the vernacular: Spenser notes that what they have "...almost sounds like a plan; "'Do,' Hawk said, 'don't it.'"

Good writing about people who are good company makes for a good time, and a great read.

This time Spenser takes on two cases for the price of one, which is zero. He even mentions in passing another case he had that he didn't get paid for. When was the last time he made any money? I don't think he is independently wealthy, so I guess he just makes money off the boring cases that we don't read about. Or maybe Susan is supporting him? That aside, this was a good story with lots of twists and surprises. I would like to have seen a bit more of a confrontation with the guys who threaten to kill Spenser and Hawk. They do get theirs in the end, but that is largely offstage. The strength of this book, as always, is the interplay among the characters. The resolution of the stalking subplot was really good, we get to see an unexpected side of Susan. I enjoyed this book, but I still wonder if Parker would keep writing them if his financial arrangements were the same as Spenser's.

A Spenser novel. Not much else to say. Parker can, as far as i'm concerned, write about Spenser for as long as he writes. An imperfect gentleman, an oddly-techniqued Boston detective, a good friend, a human being, Spenser is fun to read about and commiserate with. As pleasurable as himself are his friends, Hawk and Susan Silverman; both intelligent, knowledgable about people (from the opposite ends of the spectrum), and loyal to a fault, they make Spenser's life easier. There cannot be much higher praise for supporting characters. The story itself here involves Spenser taking on two separate cases pro bono for the sake of Hawk and Susan. Susan's concerns a friend who is being stalked; this provides much of the humour in the book as Spenser becomes stalked himself after she transfers her affections to him. Hawk's is the meat of the plot; it revolves around a professor, the son of Hawk's mentor, who has been unjustly denied tenure. This plot encompasses black/white, homo-/heterosexual, activist tensions and political correctness. Naturally, Spenser and Hawk are able eventually to penetrate the fog of anger, fear, and secrecy surroundig the denial of tenure. The actual resolution itself was a little disappointing to me, just your standard climactic twist, but this is really a minor quibble, since one does not read Parker for the plot but the characters; here he does not fail.

While I am a die hard Spenser fan, I can grow to very much appreciate Sunny Randall and her crew (Richie & Spike). I found the book to be written in the typical Parker style - witty and funny one liners and great character build ups, and of course having the plot take place in and around the Boston area is just icing on the cake. I appreciated learning more about who Tony Marcus is and what makes him tick. While this book reminded me of Thin Air, it was just different enough to have kept me turning the pages (I read it in one day). The only bad thing about Family Honor (as I find with all Parker books) is when I'm finished - and it usually takes me no more than two days to read his books, is I have now got to wait XXX months before a new one comes out. Please keep writing the Spenser novels and if it not asking too much, come out with at least two books (Spenser, Jesse or Sunny) a year.

Robert Parker has a winner with his new detective, Sunny Randall, a divorced, former cop turned Boston P.I. who owns a miniature bull terrier and really wants to be a professional painter. She's smart, tough and very good at her job. This story revolves around the disappearance of a wealthy teenager, Millicent Patton and Sunny works her way through a violent pimp, murder and government conspiracy to solve the case. In the process, she gets help from her ex-husband Richie, the son of a mobster and her dearest friend, Spike, a colorful, tough gay man. Together this threesome make things happen. Parker has put together a terrific and memorable cast of characters and has no equals when it comes to his witty one-liners and irreverent dialogue. The story is fast paced and entertaining with a strong climax and satisfying ending. Sunny Randall is a fresh new character and hopefully, we'll be seeing more of her in the future.

It is absolutely true that "Family Honor" recycles plot & other elements from Parker's previous work... hey, it's HIS previous work, & he can use it any way he wants, right? Sunny is a character perfectly capable of standing on her own, any comparison with Spenser aside. Her life is far from perfect and her ethics convenient enough to accomodate the unpleasant people she is dealing with, but her confusion and compromises ring very true to me and probably to many other women in my age group. Hard to believe she's written by a man.

I sat in the library and read "Family Honor" cover-to-cover and enjoyed every minute of it. Sunny is likeable, honorable and very human, the plot is, as ever, fascinating, and as a Bull Terrier breeder and owner, I can tell you that Rosie is a masterpiece of true representation. I have this Mini Bull named Archie who is dying to meet her.

If I'm looking for a complete escape, I can always count on Parker to take me right into another world for a good two hours, and be sure that I'll totally enjoy the trip.

Let me state it clearly upfront -- I love Spenser. I also hold Hawk in high esteem. And Pearl never fails to charm me. I always consider time spent with these characters time well spent. I enjoyed the twists this plot took me on and appreciated that Spenser and Parker both respected the Asian/American community depicted here. HOWEVER, most of the female characters in this book were more than a little hard to like. Susan seems almost oblivious to the danger she perpetually puts her lover in. And, while I don't want to give too much of the plot away, let's just say that a lot of the story hinges on the selfish, shallow motives of women, as well. The misogyny of this work almost gave me the creeps. Of the new characters, DeSpain is the most intriguing.

Port City must be the most dreary place on planet Earth. I've never been there, but I feel like I have. Spenser somehow escaped pneumonia in this twisted thriller, not too mention being the #1 target of the Chinese mafia. This unusual story starts with a Greek theater director, who thinks he's being stalked. Then it takes off with murder, illegal immigration, and some whacky women. Spenser needs more help than Hawk can give him, so he finds a thug named Vinnie and a Chinese grad student to help him navigate through the streets of Port City in this curious adventure. The book reads well, and the plot twists keep you entertained. Robert Parker knows how to write a book that reads fast.

By the time you get to "Walking Shadow," the twenty-first Spenser novel by Robert B. Parker, you expect there to be a certain escalation in the dangers confronting our hero. The clearest sign of that this particular time around the block is that Spenser needs the backup of both Hawk and Vinnie Morris the defrocked mobster. Having faced down billionaire eccentrics, syndicate bosses and homicidal maniacs, Spenser is now facing what might be his greatest danger, a Chinese tong. As with the life in the projects portrayed in "Double Deuces," Parker has been reading up on Chinese-American culture, continuing to expand Spenser's horizons. Certainly the extent to which this novel is concerned with the problems of illegal Chinese immigration makes it far and away the most socially conscious Spenser story. At one point Hawk tells Spenser this is the silliest case they have ever worked together, but by the end that proves most decidedly not to be true.

Susan Silverman, a board member of the Port City Theater Company, asks our hero to discover the identity of the figure in black who has been stalking the Artistic Director. During a performance of an obtuse play that makes "Waiting for Godot" a paragon of clear reason, a figure in black shoots dead one of the actors on stage. The square peg to be pounded into the round hole this time around is how these two acts are connected. After all, Spenser does not believe in coincidence, especially when he starts nosing around and is quickly threatened by the head of the tong. Toss into the mix the local chief of police, a former state cop who appears to have sold his good name to obtain a small measure of power in this world. "Walking Shadow" is probably the Spenser novel in which our hero seems most like a duck out of water, because, after all, this time around its Chinatown (supply your own dramatic music). Fortunately the man knows how to be patient. On the home front there is not much cooking in this novel (lots of sandwiches and picnic lunches), but Spenser and Susan are busy restoring a cottage for their weekends together where Pearl gets to chase squirrels. "Walking Shadow" is certainly an above average Spenser novel with some of Parker's better twists at the end of the ride.

Robert B. Parker is an excellent author -- he could pull three stars out of a description of Spenser getting audited on his income taxes. Maybe four.

But of his recent work, Chance is a bit of a disappointment. Mystery? There isn't really a mystery here the reader can solve. Character? The new characters are all rather shallow, structureless, and uncompelling. This may be a statement about the type of people attracted to Vegas, a city which plays a promonent role in the story, yet no insight is gained into the shallowness, no real new perspective is offered. Suspense? There really isn't much. Drama? No, not much of that either.

Really there isn't much here, globally. Locally, it's better. The interactions between Spenser and the others is, as usual, a joy to read. And Spenser's verbal quips, cultural references, and interesting insights are worth the read. But the book needs a bit more. And Parker's shown before that he can provide it.

Note : This review is based on the book as a part of the Spenser series. The Spenser books are best read in chronological sequence. As a standalone book, this is probably only two stars.

I had a good enough time with this book -- partly because I always enjoy Spenser and partly because I recently travelled to Vegas for the first time in a decade. Parker's observations on the Strip and its denizens are very accurate, and very funny. And all the essentials that give the Spenser saga its charm are all here: banter between Spenser and Hawk, Susan's idiosyncracies, even Pearl eating Chinese food. It's the mystery, such as it is, and the characters that are lacking. Shallow, dumb thugs and their pathetic womenfolk get themselves all tangled up, and Hawk and Spenser unravel it. Yawn.

One problem that many authors have is keeping audiences interested after dozens of books. We become accustomed to a certain style of writing, a certain cast of characters, and it's easy to get bored. Robert B. Parker is one of the few (only?) authors that can successfully write novel after novel in the same way with the same main characters and still weave an engaging story.

Chance is your basic Spenser novel; if you've read a few of them, you know just what to expect. Our hero is hired to find an errant husband, and ends up focusing on a damsel in distress. Most of the way he has no idea what he's doing. It's refreshing, actually, to have the investigation end at one point, with Spenser more clueless than when he began. Of course he figures it all out in the end, but more by luck than anything else. There isn't too much byplay with Susan here, so if you're interested more in that relationship than in Spenser's wisecracking and dogged persistence, try another book (perhaps Small Vices).

I hope Mr. Parker keeps Spenser going for a long long time.

Let me say, first off, that I really like Robert B. Parker's Spenser novels. His Jesse Stone books I find a bit uninteresting and dull (though have only read the first one), and I was still undecided about Sunny Randall - that is, until I read this new book, the third in her series. I have read before that one of the reasons Parker created Sunny Randall was for Helen Hunt to play in the film versions - I think Hunt, talented as she is, would be an AWFUL Sunny Randall, but there you are. The point is, I really enjoyed this book very much.

Sunny is hired by a flowery romance novelist (who is not as flowery as she may appear to her public) as a bodyguard; seems the novelist is being stalked by her ex-husband, a psychiatrist named John Melvin who constantly shows up at her booksignings, luncheon engagements, etc. - Melanie Joan is terribly afraid of her ex, though each time he shows he never seems to do more than act menacingly and provide some verbal threats that never truly seem to pass. Nevertheless, Melanie Joan is terrified of him, and it's only after delving a bit more into the good doctor's past that Sunny learns of a very different side of the relationship her client and the shrink had - and, perhaps, that Dr. Melvin is now having with his lady patients.

The usual gang are here - Spike, Sunny's friend/confidante who may be gay but is her "muscle" when needed; Julie, her best friend and another psychiatrist that sends Sunny to a shrink that might help her to catch Melvin (and maybe even get her own head cleared); Richie, Sunny's own ex-husband that she can't quite get over; and of course, Rosie, Sunny's English bull terrier that figures as prominantly as any human character in the book - and rightly so.

But this time, what I liked about the book most, was that we really see more into the character of Sunny Randall. I thought she seemed cool in the two previous novels in this series, but with "Shrink Rap" I really can now say: I LIKE HER. She's tough but vulnerable, together on the outside and sometimes a mess on the inside, very independent yet just learning she also has needs of her own. What starts off as research to catch the sick Dr. Melvin develops into Sunny's getting some therapy of her own, and learning more about herself - maybe, to some extent, more than she wanted to realize.

I agree with the reviewer that the disguise aspect was just totally unbelievable - Sunny, in a dark wig, able to continue to fool Dr. Melvin as his newest patient, when he'd already had a few in-person run-ins with her as Sunny Randall -- well, let's just say I kept waiting for Melvin to reveal that he'd known it was her all along. In fact, for me, that's the only reason I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 - that was a HUGELY unbelievable plot point in an otherwise one heck of a good book.

Private investigator Sunny Randall is hired by best-selling novelist Melanie Joan to protect her from her psychiatrist ex-husband John Melvin, who has been stalking her throughout her book tour. In her effort to protect herself and her client, Sunny embarks on an investigation of Dr. Melvin and discovers how he has been able to maintain such a psychological hold over Melanie. In the course of her research, Sunny consults with both Dr. Melvin and another counselor, gaining uncomfortable insights into her own relationship with her ex-husband. Among the returning characters are tough, smart, cute Sunny; ambivalent, cute ex-husband Richie; and the very cute bull terrier Rosie. Do you get the idea there is a lot of cute in this book? There is also a surprising depth of character for such a breezy fast read, lots of action, and snappy dialogue presented in brief chapters that will have you turning the pages as fast as you can and looking forward to the next installment in the series.

Romance author Melanie Joan Hall hires Private Investigator Sunny Randall to help guard her against the the author's stalking ex-husband. Sunny wants to do more than guard--but as she begins to investigate the ex-husband, psychiatrist John Melvin, she begins to discover hints that Melvin is doing more than stalking. A psychiatrist whose practice seems to consist solely of beautiful women has plenty of opportunities to do evil. Sunny's investigations soon lead her to trouble--and danger. Sunny's personal problems form a reverse image of Melanie Joan's. Like Melanie Joan, Sunny can't get over her ex-husband and, as she investigates Melvin, she starts to work on her own issues.

Author Robert B. Parker delivers an enjoyable mystery. Fans of Parker will be familiar with the issues of being unable to live with, or without, a particular relationship, but here Sunny's problems and their mirror image problems with Melanie Jone add rather than detract from the story. Parker does a good job showing the positive as well as dangers of psychiatry, avoiding a fall into cliche.

Sunny's dialogue doesn't pack the impact of Parker's more famous Spenser series but this character remains fresh and interesting. Her mix of toughness and vulnerability makes Sunny sympathetic even when she doesn't make the most logical decisions.

After Small Vices, perhaps the best of Parker's Spenser series, a letdown was expected. It would have been inappropriate to have so intense a story follow so quickly -- the suspension of disbelief would have been been unsustainable.

So Sudden Mischief focuses on relationships more than action. While Pastimes illuminated Spenser's childhood, details of Susan's pre-Spenser history are exposed in Mischief. This isn't as bad as it might seem. Earlier in the series, I found Susan to be so self-absorbed I almost stopped reading. However, she's since matured, developed, and become more an asset to Spenser's work than a liability. I actually found her presence enjoyable here.

The "mystery" part of the book is more ordinary by Spenser standards. As others have pointed out, there's all the usual Spenser elements, including his annual rejection of supermonogamous temptations. But the story is hardly very compelling. There isn't much mystery there. The reader is left in a more passive role, turning the pages to see what will happen next, without much speculation into or concern over what that will be. Still, the story isn't overtly bad.

Even if it was, Parker's writing is always a joy. So, if you're a fan of the Spenser series, Sudden Mischief is a worthwhile investment of your time, and not only for the development of Susan's character.

While enjoyable most of the time, this book reminded me of a "This Is Your Life" episode.

Without any real reason, Spenser runs into any number of people from previous books (e.g., Rachel Wallace). It's the equivalent of a class reunion, completed with bored significant-other (Susan).

I enjoyed the book because Spenser spends a lot of time with Hawk. The plot isn't very flash (e.g., he beats up thugs in his office, he tries to intimidate various tough guys), but the dialogue with Hawk is fantastic.

Susan whinges a bit less than usual. Unlike books where she's carrying on like a pork chop, I didn't have to turn each page hoping for a hostage drama involving Susan which goes horribly wrong (albeit only from Spenser's point of view).

If you're going to start reading Spenser books, there are better ones. However, if you like Hawk's comments, I think this one is definitely worthwhile reading.

It would be accurate to describe "Sudden Mischief" as the Spenser novel in which our hero has a client who refuses to tell him much about the subject under investigation and when Spenser starts poking his nose around in things people show up and tell him to drop the case or they will beat him up. Eventually he finds out the truth and attempts to do the right thing. Of course this describes a whole bunch of Robert B. Parker's novels in this series and the fact that I have been reading them straight through in order probably magnifies the redundancies. That being said, there are certainly some interesting developments in this 25th Spenser story, although most of them focus on the always fascinating relationship between our hero and Susan Silverman. Especially when Susan gets to hit a guy in the head with a brick.

Out of a clear blue sky Susan has received a visit from her ex-husband Brad Sterling (the joke is HE changed his name after Susan nee Hirsch Silverman divorced him). Brad tells Susan he has financial difficulties and a sexual harassment suit that will ruin him. Susan asks our hero to look into the latter, but Brad does not seem too worried about things even though one of the nation's most prominent lawyers is out to get him. Susan, to say the least in an example of gross understatement, is conflicted over the fact she has asked her lover to help her ex-husband. In "Sudden Mischief" we find out more about Susan's past, the way we did about Spenser in "Pastime." The main question on the psychologist's couch is why Susan has been drawn to the men who have complicated her lives. Against this interpersonal drama the case under investigation seems rather incidental, even though there are corpses showing up that do not always have their tongues. "Sudden Mischief" is one of those Spenser novels that make you realize the Spenser series is really an epic love story where our hero and Susan just get distracted by these pesky little cases.

Potshot is an improvement over recent Spenser novels. There's more mystery here, the dialogue is in top form, and many characters you haven't read about in years are brought together. I particularly liked the way that Mr. Parker arranged the plot so that Spenser's strong feelings about the right way to do things would be apparent in a new way. My only complaint (why the book got four stars instead of five) is that the last two pages of the ending made no sense to me . . . except as an extreme form of irony. Surely, Mr. Parker isn't as ironic as this seems. Or is he? You'll have to see what you think. Those pages remind me of the ending of The Maltese Falcon in some ways.

Spenser is comfortably encased in his office in Boston when a new client enters, from Potshot, Arizona. The attractive Ms. Mary Lou Buckman has been recently widowed. Her husband was shot after having been threatened by a mysterious gang leader called The Preacher, who runs a protection racket. "They killed my husband." "He wouldn't pay the Dell any money." The local police are making no headway, and a mutual friend from the L.A.P.D., Lieutenant Samuelson, has recommended Spenser.

Arriving in Potshot (a cross between a refurbished ghost town for yuppies and biker heaven in the weeds), everyone praises the late Mr. Buckman, agrees that The Preacher had him killed, and offers no hard evidence. A woman in town begins vamping Spenser, and he gets a sense that some things are not as portrayed. During an interview with The Preacher, he becomes convinced that someone other than the gang killed Buckman.

Taking Susan for a West Coast swing to check things out, Spenser finds that the case is even hotter than he imagined.

Soon, he is assembling the ultimate A-Team of shooters to take on the 40 bad guys in the Dell (The Preacher's gang). You will find Vinnie Morris, Bobby Horse, Chollo, Bernard J. Fortunato, Tedy Sapp, and Hawk on the team. This section is a little briefer than would have been ideal, but there's good fun here.

The mystery and its resolution fit nicely into a typical small town Western plot.

Overall, the book has quite a range. Some sections are like shoot-outs in old Westerns while other parts have funny French and literary plays on words. As a result, this book has something for almost everyone and should be quite popular.

After you finish, ask yourself the question of how you can spot situations where there are more red herrings than real clues to the motives of those you are dealing with. How can you get past the red herrings? What questions should you ask? Mr. Parker's answer is that character will out. I suspect he's right. Look for character clues. If you can't find any, set up the situation to develop some. That's what Spenser's approach to sticking out his neck is all about.

Bang! Who's dead now?

As an avid Spenser fan for the past 15 years, I bought this book the day it came out. After devouring it in one sitting - my son went to bed early that night! - I am left with very mixed emotions.

The story itself is good, but not great. Mary Lou Buckman hires Spenser to find out what happened to her husband in the half tourist trap/half backwater town of Potshot, AZ. As always, the beautiful blonde client is honesty-challenged, the wife of the local real estate broker is after him, and the head cop is involved (think Walking Shadow). This is not one of his better plot lines - see Sudden Mischief or Ceremony for a true mystery/whodunnit type book.

Reading Parker, however, always involves much more than the plot. His clean, elegant writing style and story pacing is without par, and no one delivers the dry humor the way Parker does. If Potshot were simply another in the Spenser series, I would be inclined to rate it three stars and chalk it up as a solid but not terrificaly distinguished entry.

I have read some of the other reviews of this book, and a few people seemed to catch on to the fact that something is changing in the world of Spenser. This book has the feel of a farewell, and speaking as someone who has read this series since my teen years, that really bothers me. The clues are there: Spenser rounded up EVERYONE of distinction from his previous novels (he even included a brief reference to Mei Ling, the Chinese student who served as a translator and Hawk's girlfriend in Walking Shadow), he mentions that the beloved Pearl is getting old, and even Susan contributes to the feeling by giving up shopping (!) to take a long drive with Spenser. Minor details, I realize, but it definitely gives the book a different flavor from all the previous entries.

If you are new to Spenser, I'd really recommend that you start with a different book. The Godwulf Manuscript is the first, but if you aren't interested in starting that early (the time frame is early 70's), try starting at Ceremony or Valediction. These offer great writing without the angst of Susan's midlife crisis, which is interesting but better understood if you are a Parker fan. Even Hugger Mugger - the book just prior to Potshot - would introduce you to standard Parker stories.

If you are a fan, get ready to start mourning the loss of Spenser. While he may do one more Spenser book, Parker has expanded his writings, and the new series seems to be replacing Spenser (although retaining a few of the same characters).

With his sharper-than-a-machette dialogue, Robert Parker just can't write a bad book and this is certainly a very good one. But let's start first with the quibbles that separate very good from great, or 5 stars from 4 stars. This reviewer has two. The continual dirty innuendo talk with Susan (otherwise almost invisible in this book) has turned from cute to uncomfortable, and, for the third straight Parker novel, some of the villains escape justice. As he ages, is Parker just talking about sex and is he seeing the world in less certain terms? Whatever, his writing is as brilliant as ever and his plotting in this one is very good indeed, complicated and varied. Mary Lou Buckman, a beautiful blonde damsel in distress, comes to Spenser after her husband is murdered, she says, by a gang of outlaws terrorizing the idle rich in the getaway community of Potshot, Arizona. Spenser, drawing from his past adventures (read that novels), enlists the redoubtable Hawk and five other good-guy villains as a posse and the magnificent seven set out to clean up potshot. Of course they do and of course things aren't quite as they seem, but it's a journey you will be glad to have been along on when you reach the conclusion of this easy read.

Decades ago with his GODWULF MANUSCRIPT, Robert B. Parker largely reinvented the mystery sub-genre of the tough-guy private eye novel. He showed us all how to update this traditional American prototypical character for today's sensibilities, and Parker's Spenser has earned a place among the most popular of our age's PIs.

As does his beloved Red Sox, Parker sends a fresh Spenser mystery onto the field of play every year. Each spring, Spenser seems like a championship creation. Every novel is consistently thrilling, witty, unpredictable, and, in the end, a bit heartbreaking. This series is obviously written by a Red Sox fan. One knows when they begin that in the end all will not be idyllic.

WIDOW'S WALK fits this Spenser mold perfectly. Parker is amazingly consistent. In this novel, Spenser is hired by Rita Fiore (an series semi-regular)to help build her defense for her client Mary Smith. Mary's husband, Nathan, of Mayflower lineage, is murdered. Mary, his much younger and terribly unfaithful, widow is everyone's, including Rita's, favorite suspect.

Spenser springs into action. Pearl the Wonder Dog is on hand. Susan is here, and, of course, so is Hawk. WIDOW'S WALK has all we have grown to expect from Parker's series. The witty dialog snaps rapidly throughout. Parker's social observations are astute. The true origin of the crime rests with a real estate scam. As one reads WIDOW'S WALK, one has to hope that this year the Red Sox will actually find a way to win the World Series in October. The last time Parker's team won it, the Series was played in September.

WIDOW'S WALK is an excellent novel.

If you like Spenser you will love this book! He's back and at it again with his long-time love,Susan,and Hawk,who plays a large roll in this book. It's worth reading just for the clever repartee between Spenser and Hawk. Nathan Smith,a millionaire,is murdered and his dumber than dumb wife,Mary, is suspected of killing him. Her lawyer,Rita,hires Spenser to investigate,along with the police. What follows is a cast of characters who all seem to die after Spenser talks to them. The development of each of these is so well done,as always. Unless you read this book in one sitting it is hard to remember who is who and on pp.244 when Spenser is telling Susan about the case she replies "You're giving me a headache." Exactly!! This does not deter from the book as it all falls nicely in place,as do all of Robert Parker's books. Spenser is the consummate Renaissance man,discussing the advantages of chopped chives in egg salad with Susan, to breaking a man's nose in a parking garage. It is hard to resolve the fact that this is a detective novel with many murders,as it often reads like something out of Comedy Central. I loved this book;I love Spenser; I love Hawk,Susan, and even Pearl,the dog. Robert Parker's talent for witty conversation between his characters is unsurpassed,as is his ability to write an exciting novel. I always look forward to his next book. He never lets us down

Robert B. Parker's pithy and literate private detective Spenser, with an S" like the English poet, is back with his street smart sidekick Hawk for a thrilling novel that will fill you up like a fine meal at Spenser's favorite restaurant the East Coast Grill. Startling accusations against his "main squeeze" Susan Silverman provide an interesting side story to the already brilliant and flexuous mystery into the matter of just who killed banker Nathan Smith? Spenser and Hawk's usual descants on issues of the day also make this a novel to remember.
Also brought up again in this novel are the issues of homosexuality. Although this is no surprise given what we know about Dr. Parker's sons, it is always a treat to hear Dr. Parker's moderate yet enlightened vista on this touchy question. Any fan of Parker, Spenser, mysteries, or just a good book should read this fabulous novel.