"WIDOW'S WALK" by Robert B. Parker (A)

Parker is in top form in this 2002 outing starring Spenser, the topnotch Boston detective. This book is about as good as they can get with its great plot and fast-moving prose. The dialogue is sparse and to the point, but funny when the occasion calls for it. Fortunately, this is rather often as Spenser is nothing is not slightly irreverent. His quirky personality and oddball outlook on life make reading this book a pleasure. This detective story might be a good choice if you wanted to read one of Parker's series of some 30 of these Spenser novels dating all of the way back to 1973.

While Spenser can be as tough as the situation demands, he has a more well rounded background than most private eyes, having been both a cop and a prize fighter. The rough side of his nature has been softened by his having attended Harvard University before dropping out to fight in the Korean War. Spenser's upbringing and education allow him mix equally well with the swells of Beacon Hill as well as the low lifes on the street. He has been in a long term romantic relationship with a cultivated woman who is a practicing psychologist, and she is constantly analyzing the characters he interviews when he is on a case.

The theme of this novel is a common one about a rich young wife being accused of murdering her wealthy older husband mainly because she appears to be the only suspect. But thereafter the tale turns into one of multiple twists and turns with a convoluted plot where nothing is what it seems and no one is who they seem.

All of the evidence points to Mary Smith as the murderer of her far older husband. Nathan Smith, a prominent Boston banker, was shot upstairs in his bedroom while Mary claimed that she was downstairs watching television and that she hadn't heard a thing. They were alone in the house with the burglar alarm set and no sign of forced entry. Mary had plenty of motive with Nathan's $10 million dollar life insurance policy naming her as the sole beneficiary. Then minor burglar Jack DeRosa fingers her as the one who had paid him $50,000 to put her husband away. The cops figure this to be an open and shut case.

Sexy lawyer Rita Fiore with her fiery red hair and great legs hires Spenser to defend her client. The evidence seems to be overwhelming, but it also seems to be all too easy. All of Spenser's instincts tell him that it has to be a setup. The first problem is that Mary appears to be too slow to have pulled this off. She is the quintessential dumb blonde who has so much trouble formulating a sentence that she has hired Larson Graff to follow her around as her "handler."

Another curious thing is the lack of a murder weapon, which doesn't hinder the murder charge but makes Mary's claim of Nathan possibly having committed suicide seem nonsensical. More curious still is that when Spenser interviews Jack DeRosa, the man who fingered her, he finds out that this nickel-dime burglar is being represented by the most elite law firm in the city. How is a palooka like him able to afford this kind of legal talent?

Spenser's friend, Quirk, and the other homicide cops all believe that it was murder and not suicide, but they are happy to go through the motions for Spenser. The only person who isn't happy with his new client is Susan, Spenser's long time lady friend. Susan understands people and their motivations, and she knows full well that Mary's lawyer is a sexual predator who would love to start something with Spenser. Maybe Rita Fiore really wants him around to go through a different set of motions. 2002, G. Putnam's Sons, 294 pages.