Pun Salad

According to Amazon, this is #51 in "Robert B. Parker's" Spenser series. And they helpfully tell me I can buy "All 40 remaining for you in this series" for a mere $331.20! No thanks, Jeff; I bought many of those before there even was an Amazon. And you don't seem to remember all the hardcovers I bought from you.

Anyway: Mike Lupica takes over from Ace Atkins as the chronicler of our favorite Boston private eye. And things start out pretty normal: the "wife of the sixth-richest man in America", Laura Crain, shows up at his office door, recommended by Susan Silverman (who just happens to be Laura's good friend). Laura's husband, Andrew, has been acting erratically of late, and she'd like to know why, before he ruins his own life, their marriage and the company.

And then after a bizarre episode at a fancy restaurant, Andrew goes missing on page 53. And then (finally, on page 93) a body shows up.

I think I've mentioned in the past that a disquieting number of people that hire Spenser wind up being sorry they did so. That tradition continues.

So, how does Lupica do? Not bad. Although Lupica's a well-known sports journalist, Spenser's sports musings here are confined to the Red Sox, their dismal season, and the loss of Mookie Betts. The Spenserian wisecrack amps are turned up to 11 or so, and they're pretty good. Maybe there's a little too much about food, drink, restaurants, sex, exercise, and Boston geography. Hawk plays a major role, and there are cameos from Zebulon Sixkill, Tony Marcus, Vinnie Morris, Quirk, Belson, and more. As usual, Spenser's method is to go around bothering people until someone tries to kill him. But (truth be told) he does do some actual detective work to eventually discover the truth.