Status
Available
Call number
Series
Genres
Collection
Publication
G. P. Putnam's Sons (1998), 288 pages
Description
Fiction. Mystery. HTML: Brad Sterling - former Harvard football player, ne'er-do-well, and Susan Silverman's long out-of touch ex-husband - is by all appearances a successful businessman. But when, in the course of running a vast fundraiser called Galapalooza, he is charged with sexual harassment, he turns to Susan for help. Though Brad denies the charge, he's desperate, behind in alimony and child support payments to other exes, and in the verge of insolvency. When Spencer, Susan's current lover interest, reluctantly agrees to take the case, however, Brad claims everything is fine -he's free of debt and free of problems..
User reviews
LibraryThing member raizel
Spenser books are "cozy" mysteries that they take place in the Boston area and have gangsters. This one has more character revelation than most since it involves Susan Silverman's ex-husband and her thoughts about their marriage and the types of men that interest her. There is also some shady
Show More
charity work, which, alas, sounds very true to life. Show Less
LibraryThing member unclebob53703
I'm docking this one half a star because Susan is insufferable in it.
LibraryThing member rosalita
I read so many of Parker's Spenser series back when they were new. I still remember sitting in the Knox County Public Library and devouring the entirety [Mortal Stakes], third in the series but the first I read, in one afternoon while playing hooky from high school. (Yes, that's the kind of
It didn't take long for the familiar characters to make themselves at home in my head. Spenser is still a wiseass (might be why I like him), he still pals around with ambiguously bad guy Hawk (who steals the show whenever Parker lets him, which isn't often enough), and he's still (sigh) in love with psychologist Susan Silverman (who makes navel-gazing a four-letter word). She's especially prominent in this one, as she asks Spenser to help out her ex-husband who is being sued for sexual harassment.
Inevitably, we get a lot of Susan backstory and it's sort of interesting to fill in those blanks, but boy did this book make me realize why I drifted away from the series: Every move that Spenser makes has to be talked to death by him and Susan, as they vie to see who can be the most evolved spirit on the planet. I think Parker intends these conversations to be signposts for the reader but having moved on to more sophisticated, subtle mysteries I realize how overdone and anvilicious this dialogue is. Less shrinking, more sleuthing!
Also, given the current climate surrounding the issue of sexual harassment, it irks me thatthe case that is the jumping-off point for the plot is fake, a made-up story to cover up a consensual affair. As if women don't have enough problems being believed.
Show More
juvenile delinquent I was: skip school to hang out at the library.) My love for the series has waxed and waned over the years and eventually I stopped reading, right around the time this one was published. So when Mamie and Roberta resumed their shared series read I thought I'd jump in.It didn't take long for the familiar characters to make themselves at home in my head. Spenser is still a wiseass (might be why I like him), he still pals around with ambiguously bad guy Hawk (who steals the show whenever Parker lets him, which isn't often enough), and he's still (sigh) in love with psychologist Susan Silverman (who makes navel-gazing a four-letter word). She's especially prominent in this one, as she asks Spenser to help out her ex-husband who is being sued for sexual harassment.
Inevitably, we get a lot of Susan backstory and it's sort of interesting to fill in those blanks, but boy did this book make me realize why I drifted away from the series: Every move that Spenser makes has to be talked to death by him and Susan, as they vie to see who can be the most evolved spirit on the planet. I think Parker intends these conversations to be signposts for the reader but having moved on to more sophisticated, subtle mysteries I realize how overdone and anvilicious this dialogue is. Less shrinking, more sleuthing!
Also, given the current climate surrounding the issue of sexual harassment, it irks me that
Show Less
LibraryThing member ejj1955
Spenser is asked by Susan, his lady love, to help her former husband, who seems very unworthy of her (even a past version of her). There are many of the usual folks around, including Hawk, probably my favorite character; Pearl, the wonder dog (a close second); and some of the cops and crooks that
Show More
we've met before. There's the usual mix of witty dialog, some violence, and plenty of doughnuts, beer, wine, clams, oysters, etc. All good fun. Show Less
LibraryThing member TulsaTV
One of Parker's better late-period Spenser novels.
LibraryThing member nbmars
Robert B. Parker is the author of at least 68 novels, about 15 of which I have read. Most of them, as does this one, feature a literate, funny, tough ex-boxer, ex-state cop, turned private detective named Spenser in Boston, Massachusetts. This book is the 25th in the Spenser series. All of them
“Rita started to speak and stopped and started again and stopped without saying anything. She sat silently shaking her head.
“You told Hawk [Spenser’s uber-tough occasional partner] about this yet?” she said finally.
“Yeah.”
“He have any comment?”
“He said, ‘Umm.’”
“You got any idea what he meant by that?”
“I think he was implying that this enterprise is fraught with peril.”
“Umm,” Rita said.”
Nonetheless, I have to say that I enjoyed this novel less than the others because Parker expended a high proportion of total ink on Spenser discussing his relationship with Susan, his Harvard-educated psychologist girlfriend. Susan has asked Spenser to investigate a sexual harassment suit that has been filed against her ex-husband, Brad. As Spenser and his sidekick, Hawk, trace Brad's business dealings, people with connections to Brad start turning up dead, and Brad goes missing. In the end of course, Spenser and Hawk figure it all out, and Susan reaches a better understanding of her own feelings toward both Brad and Spenser.
Evaluation: Usually, Spenser’s conversations with Susan are high quality badinage, but in this book they are just TOO SERIOUS. I lost interest with all the relationship angst.
(JAB)
Show More
feature fast-paced action, witty repartee that makes fun of racial and ethnic stereotypes, a soupçon of violence, and a bit of mystery. Sudden Mischief is no exception to that formula. As an example of dialog, try this conversation Spenser has with hot-shot defense attorney Rita Fiore:“Rita started to speak and stopped and started again and stopped without saying anything. She sat silently shaking her head.
“You told Hawk [Spenser’s uber-tough occasional partner] about this yet?” she said finally.
“Yeah.”
“He have any comment?”
“He said, ‘Umm.’”
“You got any idea what he meant by that?”
“I think he was implying that this enterprise is fraught with peril.”
“Umm,” Rita said.”
Nonetheless, I have to say that I enjoyed this novel less than the others because Parker expended a high proportion of total ink on Spenser discussing his relationship with Susan, his Harvard-educated psychologist girlfriend. Susan has asked Spenser to investigate a sexual harassment suit that has been filed against her ex-husband, Brad. As Spenser and his sidekick, Hawk, trace Brad's business dealings, people with connections to Brad start turning up dead, and Brad goes missing. In the end of course, Spenser and Hawk figure it all out, and Susan reaches a better understanding of her own feelings toward both Brad and Spenser.
Evaluation: Usually, Spenser’s conversations with Susan are high quality badinage, but in this book they are just TOO SERIOUS. I lost interest with all the relationship angst.
(JAB)
Show Less
LibraryThing member LyndaInOregon
Not every guy would respond well to his girlfriend asking him to help out her ex-husband. But Spenser isn't every guy, so he and Hawk put on their shining armor and go a-questing.
As usual, the case Spenser ends up solving isn't exactly the case he thought he was solving. And as usual, Hawk is
There's never much to differentiate one Spenser novel from the other, but they are always an amusing read, and this one is about mid-pack.
As usual, the case Spenser ends up solving isn't exactly the case he thought he was solving. And as usual, Hawk is
Show More
helping him out along the way.There's never much to differentiate one Spenser novel from the other, but they are always an amusing read, and this one is about mid-pack.
Show Less
LibraryThing member JoniMFisher
Robert B. Parker’s Sudden Mischief is a fast-paced dash through a case handled by Private Detective Spenser at the request of his girlfriend, psychologist Susan. It begins with her plea to look into a sexual harassment suit against her ex, Brad Sterling.
Soon into his investigation, Spenser is
The case widens into a larger, more dangerous situation involving many dangerous suspects.
The characters feel genuine and the snappy, terse dialogue rings with subtext. Brilliantly entertaining and visually clever.
An addictive series.
Soon into his investigation, Spenser is
Show More
threatened by goons who warn him to back off.The case widens into a larger, more dangerous situation involving many dangerous suspects.
The characters feel genuine and the snappy, terse dialogue rings with subtext. Brilliantly entertaining and visually clever.
An addictive series.
Show Less
Subjects
Original language
English
Original publication date
1998
ISBN
039914370X / 9780399143700