The book is one of Parker’s “Spenser” novels
(the first I’ve read) featuring the Boston-based (Boston Mass. not Boston
Lincs.) private investigator.
Here he is called in by attractive defence
attorney Rita Fiore, and after some flirting (she is available and interested,
he is appreciative but otherwise committed) the case is set out. The client is
Mary Smith, who is accused of murdering her husband, found shot dead in his
room while only the two of them were in the house. The now rich widow seems to
be the archetypical dumb blonde – or is she cleverly playing dumb – unable to
explain what happened or the whereabouts of the missing gun.
Spenser sets out to crack this variation on
the ‘locked room’ puzzle and soon unearths enough murky secrets and dodgy
dealing to implicate a rage of ill-wishers, if only he could place them in the
room. As he digs up the dirt, people get hurt, some killed, leading to a tense
denouement and a clever reveal.
Parker’s style is bright and snappy,
dialogue driven and narrated throughout by the wise-cracking Spenser, straight
from the Sam Spade / Philip Marlowe tradition. He networks effectively with the
cops and the lawyers but takes no crap from anyone else; for back-up he has the
mononymous Hawk – big, black and, when necessary, brutal. With these
ingredients the story unfolds at pace, but not unrelentingly as time out is
occasionally taken for some homely and reflective moments with sassy girlfriend
Susan and aging pooch Pearl.
The complexities of the case and the
multiple characters are handled without muddle, the twists and turns are
plausible, and the outcome is satisfying enough to put Spenser firmly on my
‘good cop’ list.
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