Book 1: it would’ve sucked to be a woman in the 70s.

Book 2: it would’ve sucked to be a woman or homosexual in the 70s. ( )

Oh, Parker. I swear, there must have been a standard in the 70s (1974, to be exact) where 25% of a detective novel had to be description. I think it's driving Jilly nuts over in Kinsey-Malone land, but I'm finding Parker's version of it kind of eye-watering. I mean, my idea of dressing myself back then was Garanimals, so I shouldn't judge. But just you try and see this:

He was dressed in what must have been his wife's idea of the contemporary look... He had on baggy white cuffed flares, a solid scarlet shirt with long collar points, a wide pink tie, and a red-and-white-plaid seersucker jacket with wide lapels and the waist nipped. A prefolded handkerchief in his breast pocket matched the tie. He had on black and white saddle shoes and looked as happy as a hound in a doggie sweater.

That's just the start, though; later in the book, Spenser puts on a white trench coat. Spiffy! There's also one paragraph that is literally a description of every single store seen as Spenser drives along a commercial 'canyon,' and it's actually kind of fun. I mean, had I been reading it in 1980, maybe not so much. But now, sure: "restaurants that look like log cabins, restaurants that look like sailing ships, restaurants that look like Moorish town houses, restaurants that look like car washes, car washes, shopping centers, a fish market, a skimobile shop, an automotive accessory shop..." The paragraph takes up most of a page. No joke. I can't think why it was relevant. It builds the setting of leaving the city to the Happy Sunda 'burbs, and it lets Parker sneak in a snide comment about how "Squanto might have made a mistake" (in allowing the whites to settle).

I mean, that's really why we read these oldies, right? To sort-of-sink into the mentality of the past? And I kind of dig this glimpse into the past, with Parker's Spenser's asides, except for the part where Spenser notes that the high school guidance counselor, Susan Silverman, has a "thin dark Jewish face." Um, I don't even. But onward. She does a lot of shrugging, throws in some "I don't know's" in response to his questioning and when they have dinner--and this was wonderful--has a second helping of gravy. It's truly interesting to see the first appearance of a character who will one day annoy me as she nibbles on a lettuce leaf and makes enigmatic statements.

It's also quite interesting to have a Spenser that is a bit... slow on the uptake, and who gets/allows himself to be manipulated, and doesn't intuit the solution. Oh, but then it gets slightly weird again with a homosexual angle. Spenser even hangs out at a local divey gay bar trying to run into a suspect. Is it judgey? Maybe indirectly in the descriptions, but if it is, it's less so than the implied judgement at the drunken hetro bash thrown by his clients.

Still, I'll read a few more. I'm curious to remember how Hawk comes into the picture, and when the writing starts to shift to the streamlined version. Maybe he eventually found an editor that said, "we need to take out all the description," and the 1990s Spenser is what was left. Overall, an entertaining way to spend a couple of hours, although I probably should have been more productive.

Two and-a-half-stars, rounding up because I read most of the words. ( )

As usual for these older Spenser books it's quite short.

But this is an important part of the series, as Spenser first meets Susan Silverman. ( )

Spenser sorts out why a teenage boy is missing. He meets and gets involved with Susan Silverman. His wit stays biting but in the end he solves a puzzle with more pieces than it looked like when it started. The characterization of the boy’s parents. It’s hard not to despise his mother.
There weren’t many clues about the real bad guys. Spenser keeps getting more impressive. ( )

BIBLIOGRAPHIC DETAILS
(Print: 1/1/1987)
(Digital: Yes.)
Audio: 8/17/2009; 9780307705099; Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group; Duration 5:04:32 (4 parts); Unabridged.
(Film: There was a Spenser for Hire tv series).

SERIES:
Spenser Series (Book 2)

CHARACTERS: (Not comprehensive)
Spenser – Private Investigator
Susan Silverman – High School Counselor & love interest
Lieutenant Healy – In charge of the Missing Persons case Spenser is hired to help with.
Roger Bartlett – Father of the missing child case. Person who hires Spenser.
Kevin Bartlett – The missing child.
Margery Bartlett – The missing child’s mother.

SUMMARY/ EVALUATION:
Spenser is hired to find a missing teen. The clues are quirky, but the case is none-the-less dangerous, for all that. Spenser encounters Susan Silverman, the high school counselor and they become involved. This character does quite a bit of drinking which doesn’t seem to get in the way.
There’s quite a bit of detail-I’m undecided on whether it’s too much. We know how rooms are decorated and what everyone is wearing.
I enjoy the numerous literature and media references. One being the play of this title off the song, “God BLESS the Child . . .” (“Whose Got it’s Own”) which someone plays on a record player during the course of events.

AUTHOR:
Robert B. Parker (9/17/1932 – 1/8/2010). RobertBParker.net says, “Robert B. Parker's résumé is familiar to most of his readers. Bob was renowned for his Spenser novels, featuring the wise-cracking, street-smart Boston private-eye, which earned him a devoted following and reams of critical acclaim. He also launched two other bestselling series featuring, respectively, Massachusetts police chief Jesse Stone and Boston private detective Sunny Randall.”

I do enjoy the wit. It’s not always funny, but it’s sometimes surprising what he comes up with.

NARRATOR(S):
Michael Prichard. Penguin Random House Audio Publishing says: “Michael Prichard has played several thousand characters during his career. While he has been seen performing over a hundred of them in theater and film, SmartMoney magazine named him one of the Top Ten Golden Voices.”
His voice sounds a bit mature for the age of the character, but my husband and I love that he articulates clearly, and his characterizations are good.

GENRE:
Fiction, Hardboiled Mystery

LOCATIONS:
Boston, MA

TIME FRAME:
1970’s

SUBJECTS:
Body building, Gay lifestyle, wayward teens, murder, dysfunctional families

NARRATIVE STYLE:
First person

SAMPLE QUOTATION:
From Chapter 1
“’Mr. Spenser, are you listening to us?’
I straightened my head up and looked back at Roger and Margery Bartlett.
‘Yes ma’am,’ I said. ‘You were just saying about how you never dealt with a private detective before, but this was an extreme case and there seemed no other avenue. Everybody who comes in here tends to say that same thing to me.’
‘Well, it’s true.’ She was probably older than she looked and not as heavy. Her legs were very slim, the kind women admire and men don’t. They made her plumpish upper body look heavier. Her face had a bland, spoiled, pretty look, carefully made up with eye shadow and pancake makeup and false eyelashes. She looked as though if she cried she’d erode. Her hair, freshly blond, was cut close around her face. Gaminelike, I bet her hairdresser said. Mia Farrow, I bet he said. She was wearing a paisley caftan slit up the side and black, ankle-strapped platform shoes with three-inch soles and heels. Sitting opposite me, she had crossed her legs carefully so that the caftan fell away above the knee. I wanted to say, don’t, your legs are too thin. But I knew she wouldn’t believe me. She thought they were wonderful.
Just below her rib cage I could see the little bulge where her girdle stopped and the compressed flesh spilled over the top. She was wearing huge lavender sunglasses and lavender-dyed wooden beads on a leather thong. Authentic folk art, picked them up in Morocco on our last long weekend, the naivete is charming, don’t you think?
‘We want you to find our son,’ she said.
‘Okay.’
‘He’s been gone a week. He ran away.’
‘Do you know where he might have run?’ I asked.
‘No,’ her husband answered. ‘I looked everywhere I could think of—friends, relatives, places he might hang out. I’ve asked everyone I know that knows him. He’s gone.’
‘Have you notified the police?’
They both nodded. Mr. Bartlett said, ‘I talked to the chief myself. He says they’ll do what they can, but of course it’s a small force and there isn’t much . . .’
He let his voice trail off and sat still and uncomfortable looking at me. He looked ill at ease in a shirt and tie. He was dressed in what must have been his wife’s idea of the contemporary look. You can usually tell when a guy’s wife buys his clothes. He had on bggy white cuffed flares, a solid scarlet shirt with long collar points, a wide pink tie, and a red-and-white-plaid seersucker jacket with wide lapels and the waist nipped. A prefolded handkerchief in his breast pocket matched the tie. He had on black and white saddle shoes and looked as happy as a hound in a doggie sweater. He should have been wearing coveralls and steel-toed shoes. His hands looked strong and calloused, the nails broken, and there was grime imbedded that the shower wouldn’t touch.”
RATING: 3.5 stars. Yes, sort of low by my standards, but higher than the last one. I don’t like that the hero is a bit of an anti-hero and hope that changes as the series goes on. The somewhat insulting wise-cracks aren’t likely to stop, but maybe the heavy drinking will?

STARTED-FINISHED
5/22/21-6/12/21
( )