Spenser is back

Since we're talking about the 10 Greatest Detective Novels below, I thought I'd mention that I finished the new Spenser novel last night.

It's the 34th in the series, if you can believe that, and brings back a familiar old character: April Kyle, the prostitute that Spenser rescued in Ceremony and then met up with again in Taming a Sea Horse.

(I'll admit: I had to look it up to see which books she'd been in. I vaguely remembered her, but I read those books a looong time ago.)

I'm not going to give Hundred-Dollar Baby a full review here. But I will say that I thought the book was terrific and enjoyed it a lot. This one still falls more into the category of "Spenser Lite" than some of the really meaty books in the series. But, as was the case with last year's School Days, Parker seems to have rejuvenated the series with sharper writing, a better plot and fewer of the annoying tics that plague some of his work.

Hundred-Dollar Baby is a fast and easy read, but I found it to be a very satisfying one. Parker takes his knocks, including from me on occasion, but the man is still one of the best.

Comments

[Gerald So]

As a longtime Spenser fan, I was disappointed with Parker's first few books of the decade (HUGGER MUGGER, WIDOW'S WALK, POTSHOT). BACK STORY was good; COLD SERVICE was blah. I'll see about SCHOOL DAYS in paperback. Good to hear you enjoyed HUNDRED-DOLLAR BABY. (I wish the book titles were snappier.)

[Lana Lang]

I love Robert Parker, who is probably the most talented mystery writer alive. What frustrates me is his rather casual attitude toward his talent("I never rewrite, I write more novels to make money, I never do research, it only takes me a month to write a novel" blah blah blah). No doubt about it, Parker can still write great novels. But I want more novels like DOUBLE PLAY, not anymore lame Sunny Randall books.