Synopsis: 'Brad Sterling--former Harvard football player, ne'er-do-well, and Susan Silverman's long-out-of-touch ex-husband--is, by all appearances, a successful business man. But when he is charged with sexual harassment in the course of running a vast fundraiser called Galapalooza, he turns to Susan for help. Though Brad denies the charge he's desperate, behind in alimony and child support to other exes, and on the verge of dissolution. When Spenser reluctantly agrees to the case, he finds Brad denies everything. Sterling claims everything is fine--he is free of debt and free of problems.

While the harassment charge begins to look more and more specious, Spenser begins to sense there is something wrong with Galapalooza, when leads to charities turn into dead ends. Susan, meanwhile, becomes steadily more problematic as she wrestles with demons reinvigorated by the resurrection of her ex-husband. As the questions mount, Brad disappears, a body is found, and a shadowy mob connection begins to coalesce. Spenser finds himself fighting a two-front war: against some very bad men on one hand, and an increasingly difficult Susan, struggling with her own resurrection, on the other.'

Review: This is a real look into the psyche of several characters. ( )

Robert B. Parker’s Sudden Mischief is a fast-paced dash through a case handled by Private Detective Spenser at the request of his girlfriend, psychologist Susan. It begins with her plea to look into a sexual harassment suit against her ex, Brad Sterling.
Soon into his investigation, Spenser is threatened by goons who warn him to back off.
The case widens into a larger, more dangerous situation involving many dangerous suspects.
The characters feel genuine and the snappy, terse dialogue rings with subtext. Brilliantly entertaining and visually clever.
An addictive series. ( )

In Sudden Mischief Susan Silverman asks Spenser to help her ex-husband Brad Sterling who was being sued for sexual harassment. The suit was bogus but Brad was guilty of plenty of other things. Spenser uncovers those things while he and Susan struggle with their relationship. Boston in the spring with travels all over the city that might make one want to see Boston again. Many of the usual characters reappear including Rita Fiore, Captain Quirk, Hawk, Henry and some tough guy gangsters. ( )

My second encounter with Parker's Boston PI, Spenser, was OK but it has some flaws.

THIS REVIEW HAS BEEN CURTAILED IN PROTEST AT GOODREADS' CENSORSHIP POLICY

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Not every guy would respond well to his girlfriend asking him to help out her ex-husband. But Spenser isn't every guy, so he and Hawk put on their shining armor and go a-questing.

As usual, the case Spenser ends up solving isn't exactly the case he thought he was solving. And as usual, Hawk is helping him out along the way.

There's never much to differentiate one Spenser novel from the other, but they are always an amusing read, and this one is about mid-pack. ( )