Hush Money (Spenser Mystery) - Hardcover

Parker, Robert B.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0399144587 ISBN 13: 9780399144585

Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1999

Synopsis

Popular Boston private investigator Spenser and his sidekick Hawk return to investigate untoward doings at a venerable university that involve politics, sex, and race and develop into a vast racial conspiracy, even as Spenser copes with stalkers and love problems. 160,000 first printing.

About this title

Review:

Twenty-five years and 26 books into the Spenser series, Hush Money dishes up another solid installment that is sure to fulfill the cravings of Parker fans new and old. This time Spenser and his buddy Hawk are helping a couple of troubled friends (i.e., they're working without a fee). The first case involves the denial of tenure for Professor Robinson Nevins. While tenure meetings are always closed-door affairs, Nevins assumes that the recent suicide of graduate student Prentice Lamont (who some claim was having an affair with Nevins) ruined his chances for a coveted permanent position. Spenser and Hawk cut a brawl-strewn path through the members of the tenure committee on their way to the surprising truth of the Nevins case. The other investigation pits Spenser against the unknown stalker of K.C. Roth. Spenser's girlfriend, Susan, has known K.C. for a while, and while the PI finds Ms. Roth a bit melodramatic, he's always eager to help a damsel in distress. The only problem is that after he's apparently resolved the case, K.C. begins a little stalking of her own--of Spenser.

The book is driven by the controversies surrounding political correctness that Parker always loves to confront, and it's fun to watch Spenser struggle (a little) to resist K.C.'s advances. It's also a (slightly disturbed) pleasure to see Spenser and Hawk address some academic hypocrisy with their own special brand of reasoning. Not a mystery for the cozy-loving palette, Hush Money's literate, tough-guy dialogue shows why Parker is the rightful heir to the throne of Chandler. --Patrick O'Kelley

About the Author:

Robert B. Parker was the author of more than fifty books. He died in January 2010.

About this edition

• Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0399144587
• ISBN 13: 9780399144585
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 309