It’s ten degree above the average, no clouds and the wind is down, here in SoCal just past Thanksgiving and I’m stuck inside an apartment doing respite for my father’s girlfriend while she takes some time off for herself and also to have some fun with her girlfriends. My father is ninety-one, and just had a pace maker installed on turkey day (also my birthday) and so here I sit – inside without even a view of the ocean, much less all the beautiful sights and sounds and smells that accompany the beach on holidays especially; and his library consists of mostly poorly written, self-aggrandizing, political and war autobiographies, Nora Roberts’ novels (his favorite) and the only other author’s books he reads every page of—Robert B. Parker’s. Thank goodness! We have that one thing in common – a fancy for Spenser, indomitable private eye keeping an eye on who did what to whom in Boston for thirty some years and fighting to make right wrongs. Ah, Spenser. My hero. Ah, Parker. My role model. Widow’s Walk is the 29th Spenser novel, which made our hero about sixty years old (close enough to my age now) at the time he unraveled this murder with his pals’ help: Hawk and Vinnie, friends who always have his back; detectives Quirk and Belson, who are on the same side as Spenser – Justice’s; and his long-time psychotherapist girl friend, Susan, and her trusty pooch, Pearl, both who are also on the same side as Spenser – The Rescuers. (Insert dramatic champion music.) Parker doesn’t have to bother much with much of anything now - except for the plot, which he is a master of revealing with snappy dialogue, and a little first person narrative. Example: I ate a donut. But, and this is important – Parker always inserts some deep philosophical ideas and social issues in his story telling via that snappy dialogue. Things like the man/woman thing [see The Man/Woman/ Freedom/Happiness Thing ], corruption in high places [The List: Hawk—“A banker, a financial guy, a real estate developer, and a lawyer. All connected in some way to a homicide. … The jailbird? Why him? … ’Least he fit on the list. Right after lawyer.” (pg. 172) Hahahoowee. Some things never change. Suicide. Homosexuality. And then with Spenser and Susan you always get gems about life, cooking/recipies, fashion, love, and, of course, psychotherapy: “Pretending to be what you are not fills people with self-loathing.” (pg. 116) So true. And this beaut: Spenser—“The more I investigate, the more I learn. And the more I learn, the more I don’t know what’s going on.” Susan—“That happens to me often in therapy. I know something’s in there in the dark and I keep groping for it.” Spenser—“That would be me … groping.” (pg.140) And this: Spenser— “She’s a living testament to the power of dumb.” Susan—“Seems kind of smart to me.” (pg.142) Then: Spenser— “She gets by with dumb. She uses it. She may even rely on it.” (pg. 172) … Followed by the ‘List.’ So there is all of life’s mysteries told so simply without literary tricks. Just the soft-hearted, funny, smart, tough guy Spenser – detecting and righting wrong. And always the rain – warm, cold, soft, hard and “merciless.” (Insert dramatic foreboding, or soothing, music.) Widow’s Walk is a perfect way to pass the time while watching and waiting (Spenser’s methodology of detecting) someone you love heal. (It’s working.)
This was an enjoyable enough listen, but nothing to get excited over. It is pretty standard hardboiled private eye stuff. Spenser, Parker's hero, is a tough but decent private eye and ex-cop. He seems like he could be played by Bogart. He trades quips with his even tougher Black sidekick, Hawk, as the two of them investigate the murder of a prominent banker. This is one of these procedural mysteries in which not enough information is provided to solve the crime, but you could take an intelligent guess. The reader follows along with the hero as he begins to go down some mean streets and tries to force a nasty situation into the daylight. New characters are introduced, and hidden forces clearly want to shut down the inquiry.In this case, a banker turns up dead in his bedroom, and his much younger, and seemingly dimwitted, wife is the only suspect. Spenser is hired to try to clear her. A series of intrigues appears that involves the dead man's business associates, and possibly the old pals of the young lady (who are not exactly from the posh side of town.) There are revelations of homosexuality, fraud, violence, et cetera. There is a nice twist near the end that involves the behavior of the widow.A slightly stale air surrounds this tale. I was surprised to find that this was written in 2002, since the dialogue and attitudes struck me as being more 1970s or early 80s. For example, hotshot Spenser flirts openly, and in a somewhat sexist manner, with the ladies that he works with, something that would be unlikely to occur in the 2000s. Parker sometimes steps back to show Spenser at home with his lady, Susan. They have lunch, play with their dog, and discuss their work. It is not very interesting. Nor are the dialogue and character particularly attention-grabbing. And neither is the local color, surprisingly enough, since Parker is known for being a Boston writer. He certainly knows the town, but he does not paint an interesting picture of it. What is good here is the plotting and structure of the story - that, along with Joe Mantegna's able narration, kept me in it to the end. Mantegna is a good choice, but he is a Chicago guy - I did wonder how it might have sounded with a real Boston actor reading it.
What do You think about Widow's Walk (2002)?
Spenser is hired by Rita Fiore to find proof that Mary Smith did not kill her rich banker husband, Nathan. When Spenser begins investigating and more people end up dead, the plot thickens and the trail seems to be leading back to one of Boston's elite criminal lawyers.This is the first book I finished in 2008. I actually began it on audio book in 2007, but it's still my first read of '08. I laughed hysterically through the entire novel. I did not realize this installment was so far into the series. It is the first Spenser novel I have read, so I'm going back to start at the beginning of the series. I loved it. There were a couple things that bothered me. The first was the conversation throughout the novel. The constant use of "he said", "she said", "I said", "Quirk said", "Hawk said". Even if a character was asking a question, it was "he said." I think listening to the book on audio brought that overuse more acutely. When physically reading you can simply read past those parts. The other part that bothered me was Spenser "significant other" Susan - who is a psychologist - wanting to help a gay patient become straight. I'm sure this is just a personal issue for me, but the idea of a trained professional trying to help the boy change instead of be comfortable with who is is bothersome to me. It's not like this book was published back in the 60s or 70s. It was published in 2002. The knowledge we have in this day and age; I can't imagine a psychologist thinking that way, but I could be entirely wrong. That's just a very minimal part of the book, so it didn't change my overall enjoyment.
—Jen
I enjoyed the Spenser for Hire TV series, and was excited to recently learn that it had been based on a book series. This book was my first foray into the Robert B. Parker version of the "real" Spenser. It turns out that the TV series was pretty faithful to the spirit of the characters, and Parker's writing is quite engaging. I plan to read the rest of the books in the series as well!As for the story, I have to say that the client is a hoot. I normally have a low tolerance for stupidity, but Parker was able to keep you guessing as to whether she was genuinely stupid or just acting that way. The interactions between the client and the other characters provided many moments of comic relief.
—James
This was a random book my MIL lent me. I almost didn't read it, but right away I was hooked into the storyline. It's very much dialogue-based, but this is a good thing. The author sets his world very matter-of-factly, and it is really interesting. The main character, Spenser, who I didn't discover his name until mid-book is likeable, even though his obvious woman-appreciating skills are a little annoying. But it helps that he loves the woman he's with, and they have a dog (animal-likers are always a plus). He's witty and intelligent, and seems like a good guy.The story kept me guessing until the end (although I got a little confused when the whole cast of characters involved with the murder was summarized).The only bothersome kind of writing in this novel is the author's excessive use of "some" when describing the eating habits of the characters.But I enjoyed this novel a lot and am already on another Spenser novel my MIL lent me.
—Laura
