Hush Money

Robert B. Parker

6/29/1999

Hawk asks Spenser to take on a job for him and "split the proceeds." Spenser is able to read between the lines to know there is no pay involved. The client is a friend of Hawk's, the son of a man who mentored Hawk. Spenser immediately agrees to help for Hawk's sake. Soon he is looking into the tenure function at the local conservative university. That leads Spenser and Hawk into the gay/homosexual element of the university. They soon believe a gay student's "suicide" a few months earlier was actually murder.

Susan asks Spenser to help a friend of hers. This friend believes she is being stalked by her ex-husband. Spenser immediately agrees to help for Susan's sake. Now he finds himself in the world of broken relationships and stock brokerages. This leads Spenser and Hawk to a habitual stalker and a rape victim.

This is a Spenser novel that is lighter in tone than past novels. The relationships between Spenser, Susan, and Hawk are investigated more closely. We learn a little more about Hawk's mysterious background. Secrets are revealed. Of course Spenser is threatened and people are hurt. But the violence is less than in past novels, and no one is killed during the novel itself. The language is not as graphic as normal.

The mystery is well done. The secrets remain that way until the end. Susan has a big dose of jealousy while Spenser deals with a woman coming on to him. The two cases cross but do not intertwine. Each is solved on its own. Any Spenser fan will enjoy this, and it is a good one to meet him in.

You can find more about this book at . It is also already available on audiotape read by Burt Reynolds. Reynolds also read the audiotape version of Small Vices and makes a great Spenser

The Godwulf Manuscript
God Save the Child
Mortal Stakes
Promised Land
The Judas Goat
Looking for Rachel Wallace
Early Autumn
A Savage Place
Ceremony
The Widening Gyre
Valediction
A Catskill Eagle
Taming a Sea-Horse
Pale Kings and Princes
Crimson Joy
Playmates
Stardust
Pastime
Double Deuce
Paper Doll
Walking Shadow
Thin Air
Chance
Small Vices
Sudden Mischief
Hush Money
Hugger Mugger
Potshot
Widow's Walk
Back Story
Bad Business
Cold Business
School Days
Hundred-Dollar Baby
Now and Then