Back Story

Spenser takes on a thirty twenty-eight year old case for the fee of six donuts. If he’d have known he’d end up investigating a bunch of goddamn hippies I assume he’d have demanded a full dozen. Paul Giacomin, the closest thing Spenser has to a son, brings a young actress named Daryl to the detective......more

A woman walks into Spenser's office and asks him to solve a twenty-eight year-old murder in return for a half dozen Krispy Kreme donuts. Sounds like a fair trade to me, and it certainly does to Spenser as well. Of course it helps that the client, Daryl Silver, is a friend of Spenser's surrogate son,......more

I suppose Back Story is just “the mixture as before” (as Somerset Maugham said of his later stories), but it is a good mixture, executed with precision and balance, and it kept me thoroughly entertained. Paul Giacomin, now a theater director and playwright, introduces his mentor Spenser to friend Dar......more

Revisiting a good novel from nearly a decade ago is like returning to a favorite restaurant. There’s a risk, but usually the reward is memories confirmed. So too is Robert B. Parker’s “Back Story.” It has been nearly two years since this wonderful author has passed away. It seems like less time becau......more

Another unremarkable, but entirely readable novel by Robert B. Parker. Why do his fans praise him so highly? Why do his critics dump so much crap on him when every book is a clinic on compelling dialog? People!......more