By Robert B. Parker
In the world of noir, dangerous dames are usually smart cookies. Not this time. The latest client to hire Spenser, the private eye of 28 previous Parker escapades, has the IQ of Oreo filling, making for delicious fun. The sharp-tongued Boston shamus takes on the case of Mary Smith, a social-climbing dummy whose millionaire husband has turned up with a bullet hole in his head. Police suspect the widow of ordering a hit, and so does Spenser at first—until his investigation uncovers a more complicated plot that stretches from the underworld to high society.
After his somewhat half-cocked western adventure, last year's Potshot, Spenser is back in his element out-punching and out-quipping adversaries in Beantown. An entertaining supporting cast—from loyal enforcer Hawk to gay buddy Race Witherspoon (gotta love Parker's ever-more-outré names)—puts this one on the top shelf of recent Spenser mysteries. It's also one of the author's wittier outings, with Spenser's brainy, brawny charm undiminished in the face of so much ditziness. "Whom? What kind of private detective says 'whom'?" marvels one interviewee. Replies Spenser: "Handsome intrepid ones." (Putnam, $24.95)
Bottom Line: A merry Widow
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