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A review by brianlokker
Bad Business by Robert B. Parker
4.0
This Spenser novel, the thirty-first in the series, did not engage me much at first. Spenser is hired by the attractive but shallow Marlene Rowley to get evidence that her husband is cheating on her. It’s a run-of-the-mill divorce case. The work is dull, but the pay is good (especially considering that Spenser's fee for his last case, recounted in Back Story, was a half dozen Krispy Kreme donuts). So I’m thinking this case isn’t really worthy of Spenser.
But shortly after Spenser gets into the case, he finds that another private detective is tailing the husband’s lover, and yet another is conducting surveillance on Marlene. As Susan Silverman describes it, it’s a “gaggle of private detectives.” Maybe there’s something more than suspicion of marital infidelity involved? Murder and financial shenanigans, maybe? Ah, that’s more like it. As Spenser says, “What had begun as a no-brainer of a divorce tail was showing every sign of turning into a hairball.”
The plot of Bad Business is quite complex, with colorful characters and a lot of moving parts. It kept me guessing most of the way. It kept Spenser guessing too: “My head felt overtaxed. I was thinking too much about too much and concluding too little. I wasn’t used to it. I was much more adept at thinking too little and drawing conclusions from no information.”
Fortunately, Spenser has Hawk at his side to help him with the legwork. (Hawk does not appear until almost the halfway point in the book—and it’s no surprise to me that I enjoyed the second half of the book more than the first.) And he has Susan to bounce ideas off of as he develops a theory of the case. In my opinion, this book has one of the best denouements in the series, as Spenser and Hawk gather the suspects in a room and sort things out. (It reminds me of the way Nick Charles typically reveals the murderer in the Thin Man movies.)
I was going to say that the Susan and Pearl the Wonder Dog annoyance factors were relatively low, but then Susan had to spoil it all in the last chapter when she decides to take Pearl for a walk and says in her inimitably precious way, “‘I’ll stroll the baby about.’” Just take the darn dog for a walk, like a normal person.
But Susan and Pearl aside, this is an excellent Spenser mystery. A complex plot that develops out of a seemingly simple assignment, interesting and entertaining characters, great banter between Spenser and Hawk, and lots of literary references and philosophical musings from Spenser. Any Spenser fan is sure to enjoy it.
But shortly after Spenser gets into the case, he finds that another private detective is tailing the husband’s lover, and yet another is conducting surveillance on Marlene. As Susan Silverman describes it, it’s a “gaggle of private detectives.” Maybe there’s something more than suspicion of marital infidelity involved? Murder and financial shenanigans, maybe? Ah, that’s more like it. As Spenser says, “What had begun as a no-brainer of a divorce tail was showing every sign of turning into a hairball.”
The plot of Bad Business is quite complex, with colorful characters and a lot of moving parts. It kept me guessing most of the way. It kept Spenser guessing too: “My head felt overtaxed. I was thinking too much about too much and concluding too little. I wasn’t used to it. I was much more adept at thinking too little and drawing conclusions from no information.”
Fortunately, Spenser has Hawk at his side to help him with the legwork. (Hawk does not appear until almost the halfway point in the book—and it’s no surprise to me that I enjoyed the second half of the book more than the first.) And he has Susan to bounce ideas off of as he develops a theory of the case. In my opinion, this book has one of the best denouements in the series, as Spenser and Hawk gather the suspects in a room and sort things out. (It reminds me of the way Nick Charles typically reveals the murderer in the Thin Man movies.)
I was going to say that the Susan and Pearl the Wonder Dog annoyance factors were relatively low, but then Susan had to spoil it all in the last chapter when she decides to take Pearl for a walk and says in her inimitably precious way, “‘I’ll stroll the baby about.’” Just take the darn dog for a walk, like a normal person.
But Susan and Pearl aside, this is an excellent Spenser mystery. A complex plot that develops out of a seemingly simple assignment, interesting and entertaining characters, great banter between Spenser and Hawk, and lots of literary references and philosophical musings from Spenser. Any Spenser fan is sure to enjoy it.