Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Jun 2007
304 pages
Genre: Mysteries
Publication Information
When a serial murderer dubbed "The Spare Change Killer" by the Boston press surfaces after three decades in hiding, the police immediately seek out the cop, now retired, who headed the original task force: Phil Randall. As a sharp-eyed investigator and a doting parent ("You're smart. You're tough. You, too, are a paradigm of law enforcement perfection, and you're my kid"), Phil calls on his daughter, Sunny, to help catch the criminal who eluded him so many years before.
Sunny is certain that she's found her man after interviewing just a handful of suspects. Though she has no evidence against Bob Johnson, she trusts her intuition. And she knows the power she has over him - she can feel the skittishness and sexual tension that he radiates when he's around her - but persuading her father and the rest of the task force is a different story.
"The outcome is never in doubt, but Parker hits most of the right notes, and there's still ingenuity to his cat-and-mouse." - PW.
"Parker's ruminations on romance are sometimes--not always--wearisome, but he never fails to entertain with humor and recurring characters whom we welcome back into our lives like old friends." - Booklist.
"The case, starved for mystery, devolves into a cat-and-mouse game with a perp whose florid behavior is notably in excess of any explanation...what's left is ...the knowing, laconic dialogue, the endless posturing, the nuggets of hard-won wisdom you never could've come up with yourself." - Kirkus.
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Robert B. Parker was the author of more than 60 books including westerns and young-adult novels, but is best known for his detective novels featuring Boston private-eye Spenser. In recent years he introduced a new protagonist, Jesse Stone, an alcoholic ex-ballplayer turned small-town chief of police.
Parker's novels featuring the wise-cracking, street-smart Boston private-eye Spenser earned him a devoted following and reams of critical acclaim, typified by R.W.B. Lewis’ comment, "We are witnessing one of the great series in the history of the American detective story" (The New York Times Book Review).
"I read Parker’s Spenser series in college," the best-selling writer Harlan Coben said in a 2007 interview with The Atlantic Monthly. "...
... Full Biography
Author Interview
Link to Robert B. Parker's Website
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