Mark's Reviews > Robert B. Parker's Old Black Magic

This is the most recent of the post Robert B. Parker Spenser novels and it well worthy of some praise.

Some of the late Parker written novels were meandering more about Parker and his dame. The continuation novels show a far leaner and more PI oriented approach towards Spenser and they feel far more adventurous somehow.

Anyhow Spenser gets approached by a collegae in the PI trade to pickup his work concerning a twenty year old robbery concerning three paintings being stolen form the Boston museum. The man has run out of time as he is dying and wants a decent PI finishing of his work. When Spenser decides to honor the mans request he'll quickly finds out that the board of the museum make a vipers nest look friendly. And in essence the board would prefer an English PI with more art experience to solve this old crime. The mans best work is following Spenser and having an aftershave that is crime against nature.
Quickly Spenser finds that this investigation is a more or less who is who of the Boston underworld of old and everybody seems to know something and somebody about a missing Greco painting. All want their cut and yet nobody can deliver or knows enough. In his investigation Spenser is end around a few times and does need his "friend" Vinnie's expertise to find his way and keep him alive. With Hawk being in South America and Z in LA, he turns out to be brilliantly chosen character as guide in the Boston underworld.

It is a really well written whodunit that gets it solution that seems to fit to search and worthy of a Spenser book.

Very well written and with a wicked sense of humor that fits Spenser so well. Atkins is more than worthy continuation writer for Robert B. Parker. I spend some fun time with this book.