muddypuddle's review against another edition
4.0
I have always been a Spenser fan. This one was typical Spenser and included a healthy dose of Hawk and (a little too much) of Susan Silverman. Good story, great locale. It's time to try one of the books that have been written since Parker passed. I wonder how they compare?
scott_a_miller's review against another edition
3.0
Just average. But with Spenser, Hawk and the rest of Parker’s characters, average is still pretty good.
jenvb's review against another edition
4.0
Love this series!
You don't have to read them all to get the gist of the characters. Dialogue is great between them.
You don't have to read them all to get the gist of the characters. Dialogue is great between them.
brianlokker's review against another edition
4.0
This Spenser novel, the thirty-first in the series, did not engage me much at first. Spenser is hired by the attractive but shallow Marlene Rowley to get evidence that her husband is cheating on her. It’s a run-of-the-mill divorce case. The work is dull, but the pay is good (especially considering that Spenser's fee for his last case, recounted in Back Story, was a half dozen Krispy Kreme donuts). So I’m thinking this case isn’t really worthy of Spenser.
But shortly after Spenser gets into the case, he finds that another private detective is tailing the husband’s lover, and yet another is conducting surveillance on Marlene. As Susan Silverman describes it, it’s a “gaggle of private detectives.” Maybe there’s something more than suspicion of marital infidelity involved? Murder and financial shenanigans, maybe? Ah, that’s more like it. As Spenser says, “What had begun as a no-brainer of a divorce tail was showing every sign of turning into a hairball.”
The plot of Bad Business is quite complex, with colorful characters and a lot of moving parts. It kept me guessing most of the way. It kept Spenser guessing too: “My head felt overtaxed. I was thinking too much about too much and concluding too little. I wasn’t used to it. I was much more adept at thinking too little and drawing conclusions from no information.”
Fortunately, Spenser has Hawk at his side to help him with the legwork. (Hawk does not appear until almost the halfway point in the book—and it’s no surprise to me that I enjoyed the second half of the book more than the first.) And he has Susan to bounce ideas off of as he develops a theory of the case. In my opinion, this book has one of the best denouements in the series, as Spenser and Hawk gather the suspects in a room and sort things out. (It reminds me of the way Nick Charles typically reveals the murderer in the Thin Man movies.)
I was going to say that the Susan and Pearl the Wonder Dog annoyance factors were relatively low, but then Susan had to spoil it all in the last chapter when she decides to take Pearl for a walk and says in her inimitably precious way, “‘I’ll stroll the baby about.’” Just take the darn dog for a walk, like a normal person.
But Susan and Pearl aside, this is an excellent Spenser mystery. A complex plot that develops out of a seemingly simple assignment, interesting and entertaining characters, great banter between Spenser and Hawk, and lots of literary references and philosophical musings from Spenser. Any Spenser fan is sure to enjoy it.
But shortly after Spenser gets into the case, he finds that another private detective is tailing the husband’s lover, and yet another is conducting surveillance on Marlene. As Susan Silverman describes it, it’s a “gaggle of private detectives.” Maybe there’s something more than suspicion of marital infidelity involved? Murder and financial shenanigans, maybe? Ah, that’s more like it. As Spenser says, “What had begun as a no-brainer of a divorce tail was showing every sign of turning into a hairball.”
The plot of Bad Business is quite complex, with colorful characters and a lot of moving parts. It kept me guessing most of the way. It kept Spenser guessing too: “My head felt overtaxed. I was thinking too much about too much and concluding too little. I wasn’t used to it. I was much more adept at thinking too little and drawing conclusions from no information.”
Fortunately, Spenser has Hawk at his side to help him with the legwork. (Hawk does not appear until almost the halfway point in the book—and it’s no surprise to me that I enjoyed the second half of the book more than the first.) And he has Susan to bounce ideas off of as he develops a theory of the case. In my opinion, this book has one of the best denouements in the series, as Spenser and Hawk gather the suspects in a room and sort things out. (It reminds me of the way Nick Charles typically reveals the murderer in the Thin Man movies.)
I was going to say that the Susan and Pearl the Wonder Dog annoyance factors were relatively low, but then Susan had to spoil it all in the last chapter when she decides to take Pearl for a walk and says in her inimitably precious way, “‘I’ll stroll the baby about.’” Just take the darn dog for a walk, like a normal person.
But Susan and Pearl aside, this is an excellent Spenser mystery. A complex plot that develops out of a seemingly simple assignment, interesting and entertaining characters, great banter between Spenser and Hawk, and lots of literary references and philosophical musings from Spenser. Any Spenser fan is sure to enjoy it.
cwebb's review against another edition
4.0
Spenser flutscht dahin, das kann man immer schnell mal lesen.
slapshottechnology's review against another edition
3.0
Classic Spenser book. This time he infiltrates a wife swapping, gay radio personality, energy trading business.
mackenzierm's review against another edition
3.0
I don't really have much to say about this book. It's the first book I read by Parker and I can't say he's an author I'd like to read from again. I didn't really find that the book had much substance. The characters, in my opinion, weren't all that strong, meaning I wouldn't have really cared if they were all killed, lol! Anyways, I gave this book three stars just because it wasn't horrible, it was just not what I was expecting really.
bartlebygrynn's review against another edition
2.0
As far as detective stories go, this was pretty bland. At no point did it feel like the protagonist wouldn't be able to snark or hit his way into a neat little solution. While the plot tried pretty hard to be convoluted, it was almost telegraphing that it would come together neatly. The dialogue at the denouement was pretty alright, but the author managed to hit just about every racist trope in the book when it came to writing Hawk.
This is apparently one of the weaker books in the Spenser series, and that shows. There are better quick and easy reads out there.
This is apparently one of the weaker books in the Spenser series, and that shows. There are better quick and easy reads out there.
cheriekg's review against another edition
2.0
I happened to be listening to the audiobook of this 2004 Spenser novel at the same time I was reading a 1982 Spenser novel and, well, I became utterly depressed at the clear decline of the series. I guess I shouldn't abuse an author as prolific as Parker over slacking--who wouldn't get lazy?--but this cliched, repetitive, and downright dull entry into the series was a bit of a wake up call. Maybe I should just stop in the 80s.
UPDATE: Reader, she did not stop in the 80s. She read the entire series all the way through to this one. It's more forgivable in print--or maybe the slow decline of my standards throughout made it more palatable. But it's still a solid "meh." Only a few more to get through before I can put a stake in Spenser.
UPDATE: Reader, she did not stop in the 80s. She read the entire series all the way through to this one. It's more forgivable in print--or maybe the slow decline of my standards throughout made it more palatable. But it's still a solid "meh." Only a few more to get through before I can put a stake in Spenser.
papi's review against another edition
3.0
I thought I had read all of Parker's novels, and with his passing, had lost interest. His family or estate seems to have sought out several authors to continue writing novels based on Parker's characters, but having read a couple of them, they are but a shadow of the man's own writing, IMHO.
While visiting my daughter and new grandchild, I was browsing the used book section at a local thrift shop when I ran across Bad Business, and to my surprise, it was a Parker original that I had not read. So, I picked it up for only $.20 and read it on the beach at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. It wasn't among his best, but it was pretty good, and far better than the imitators. Full of neurotic and annoying clients, and loyal and manly hoodlums helping out their friend, the intrepid and literary detective, Spenser. Not to mention an Enron look-alike company, complete with criminally stupid C-level executives, insipidly amoral spouses, and venal "life consultants," all stirred together in a soupçon of greed and financial manipulation. Not remotely like the business people, consultants, and institutions with which I work regularly, but it would certainly appeal to the causal reader in search of a mystery about the scum of the business world.
While visiting my daughter and new grandchild, I was browsing the used book section at a local thrift shop when I ran across Bad Business, and to my surprise, it was a Parker original that I had not read. So, I picked it up for only $.20 and read it on the beach at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. It wasn't among his best, but it was pretty good, and far better than the imitators. Full of neurotic and annoying clients, and loyal and manly hoodlums helping out their friend, the intrepid and literary detective, Spenser. Not to mention an Enron look-alike company, complete with criminally stupid C-level executives, insipidly amoral spouses, and venal "life consultants," all stirred together in a soupçon of greed and financial manipulation. Not remotely like the business people, consultants, and institutions with which I work regularly, but it would certainly appeal to the causal reader in search of a mystery about the scum of the business world.