Robert B. Parker - Hush Money

Pros: The wit and style of Spencer and his friends
Cons: Homosexual theme of this one might be a turn-off to some

For those of you who don't know it, this series by Robert B. Parker is the source of the TV show "Spencer of Hire." Robert Urich starred in the show, as the detective Spencer. (I don't think he ever reveals a first name!) I loved the TV show and I love...

Pros: The novel moves quickly
Cons: Spenser is an obnoxious caricature

Robert Parker's Hush Money is a type of book that I like to call "in-betweeners." It's the k ...

Pros: Spenser, Hawk, Susan and (definitely) Pearl.
Cons: A few milliseconds slower than the usual Spenser

Maybe that's what I like about Parker -- the fact that he's so plain (read that 'homely') he could be me! Oh, I know, he's got the smoothest patter this side of a dictionary, and a self-image only slightly more inflated than Muhammad Ali, but he's...

Pros: Spenser & Hawk are a better duo than Batman & Robin!
Cons: Parker needs to be more prolific... I can't get enough!

I gotta admit it. I'm cheap. As much as I love Robert B. Parker's "Spenser" series, I wait until a new title comes out in paperback before I spring for it. The soft edition of "Hush Money" just came out, and now I am immersed in...

Pros: Spencer and Hawk in action again
Cons: waiting for the next Spencer novel

The Spencer novels of Robert Parker are always a delight, and this one is no different. Well, actually it is different. In this outing, Spencer takes on the case of a Harvard professor denied tenure. This is not exactly the typical fare for a private...

Pros: It is Spenser, after all. It needs nothing else to recommend it.
Cons: Subplot is cumbersome but almost redeems itself.

I started reading the Spenser novels after I was assigned *Early Autumn* in high school, and I still read and re-read every one of them at least once a year. *Hush Money* isn't my favorite, but it may yet grow on me, and I've never once read a volume of...

Pros: Spenser, Hawk, Susan, humor, plot
Cons: If you are only looking for the sensitive, introspective detective who works from the drawing room, you won't like Spenser.

Robert Parker's Spenser novels rarely disappoint, but Hush Money is truly a standout! Spenser and Hawk are hired to deal with a dispute over tenure at the local university--not their usual milieu, but Parker handles the insertion of his hard-boiled...