Sixkill by Robert B. Parker
Pros: last of an era
Cons: dull story – the “case” is a total dud!
Sixkill is the 39th book in Robert Parker’s Spencer series. Sadly, it’s last book penned by Parker, himself. Parker passed away after this book came out. And while the Spencer series lives on through other authors, Sixkill is that last true Parker/Spencer adventure.
Too bad last doesn’t equate to great, in this instance.
In terms of his personal life, Spencer is definitely settled down with Susan. And while that’s lovely for him, it’s dull for me. Especially since the two of them have the most bland discussions I’ve ever heard two people have. “You know I would walk into a fire to save you, right”. “Yes, I know that. And I, you”. That’s nice, really, but that sentiment repeated over and over throughout the book just gets tedious.
In terms of the case, this one is a real dud. It seems there’s this big movie star named Jumbo. Big in both senses of the word. He takes a girl to his hotel room, and she ends up dead. How? We really have no idea. There were only two people in that room that night. One is saying he has no idea how it happened – he was in the bathroom at the time, and she must have simply “expired”. And the other one, well she’s not going to be talking ever again.
The media is making a huge to-do over this. Calling Jumbo a rapist and murderer. Do they know something the rest of the world doesn’t? No, of course not. But it sells more newspapers if you use those ugly terms. The public is up in arms, too. They want Jumbo’s head on a platter for what he did. And, yet, no one can really say what happened that night.
Spencer is on the case, but there’s really not a whole lot to “investigate”. The ME’s report is inconclusive, and there’s no evidence, one way or another. What’s he to do?
Well, in this book, he doesn’t do a whole lot. He befriends a man named Sixkill and teaches him the ways of the world. He has inane conversations with Susan, and eventually, the book ends.
Like I said, dull.
There are far better Parker novels out there. Read any of them, but skip this one.