This book shows that Spenser is changing. Which mostly works, but he has to go to Susan Silverman to talk things out and convince himself he did the right thing. Yes, he’s wracked with guilt-physically ill-but he’s able to justify it to himself. Yet in this book, Spenser arranges to outright kill two people. Parker goes out of his way to show Spenser’s conscience. In a fit of pique following a botched stakeout for the ransom delivery in God Save the Child, Spenser breaks the handle of the rake he was using as a prop and feels so bad that he leaves money to pay for it. Each incident is followed by Spenser berating himself. In The Godwulf Manuscript we saw Spenser physically rough up a couple of college kids and verbally push around an older man. She will reappear several times in this series (and will make appearances in related series)-a reliable source of information as well as a resource. She does remember where she came from, and can occasionally be counted on to display a bit of sentimentality. She’s a businesswoman first and foremost. She’s no “hooker with a heart of gold,” by any means. On the expanding Spenser-verse front, we meet New York Madam, Patricia Utley. Parker will often use clients to shine a light on an aspect of Spenser’s character, usually by way of contrast-but with athletes, it’s because of similarity. Spenser will later look into a similar case in Playmates, and he’ll meet a similar athlete-only his sport is College Basketball.

Spenser sees a lot of himself in Rabb-they share the same values, sense of honor, sense of play.

The bulk of the novel is Spenser’s attempt to learn who is blackmailing Rabb to do this and then to extricate him from their grip before it ruins his career and/or marriage. It takes no time at all for Spenser to determine that he is-and why. If so, he wants to address it quitely, If Rabb’s clean, he wants to know that quietly. There’s a hint of a suggestion of a rumor that he’s shaving points on behalf of gamblers, and the executive wants to know if it’s true. Spenser is hired by a Boston Red Sox executive to investigate their best pitcher, Marty Rabb. Re-reading this one is always like coming home. Between Parker’s voice, Spenser’s wit, and the kind of story it told, I was sold and spent the next few months getting my hands on every one of the series I could. This wasn’t the first “adult” novel or mystery that I’d tried, but it was the best. Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!Īfter stumbling onto Spenser: For Hire-I think during season 2 summer re-runs, I headed to my local library and grabbed the earliest in the series they had- Mortal Stakes. Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller.

Mortal Stakes by Robert B. Parker