Customer Reviews

Painted Ladies (Spenser Mysteries, No. 39)

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

...is not what I would have hoped for from the first of the impromptu trilogy of Spenser's final adventures. But Robert B. Parker wasn't planning on the heart attack that took him away.

The primary hole in this book is: no Hawk. He's said to be in Central Asia (presumably Afghanistan though it isn't stated) working for the CIA. As a result, the dialogue suffers from a lack of Parker's trademark repartee. There's also at least one minor continuity breach but nothing that mars the book. It's reminiscent of the earliest books were Spenser referred to the mother who had, in the later books, died while giving him birth.

The plot also, at least in the first 2/3rds of the book, almost reads like a re-write of the previous Spenser novel, "Rough Weather": really bad guy reappears to reclaim a long-lost daughter. But the two novels are alike only in bare outline. The villain is one of Parker's weaker ones. Unlike Rugar, or Joe Broz or Marty Anaheim, there's almost nothing to distinguish him from The Generic Standard Bad Guy from Central Casting. He's not painted with the complex palette that Parker's best villains and anti-heroes usually have. Instead he's essentially one color and a drab one at that.

As I said, tho' it resembles "Rough Weather" it takes a sharp turn, presenting Spenser with one of his trademark dilemmas. The solution, however, is not.

While, to reiterate, I would have preferred a stronger book, this one, despite the flaws listed above, meets all, if not exceeds, the standards we've come to expect from Parker. The crisp, crackling writing; the colorful names (although, thankfully, he doesn't push this to the point of parody as did Lawrence Sanders) and many of the usual cast of characters that have populated Spenser's Boston for the past 25 years.

If you're a dedicated Spenser fan like I am (been reading the novels for 24 years), then I think you'll be filled if not full. If you've never read one of the books before, I highly suggest you either start at the beginning, "The Godwulf Manuscript" or plunge in, mid-stream, with the best of the novels, A Catskill Eagle (Spenser Novels (Dell)).

What maybe the last full-length Spenser novel will be published next May called Sixkill (Spenser Mystery)

Before "Sixkill" there is an "Untitled Spenser Holiday Story" scheduled for publication next month. Whether this is another full length novel or the last one of the "young adult" books that began with "Chasing the Bear" isn't made clear. I certainly hope it's the former and not the latter.

Robert B. Parker's Spenser has been my favorite tough guy private eye for decades. Based in Boston, the ex-boxer has faced several rounds with bad guys of every stripe, and confronted all the moral ills of our society. I love Parker's dialogue in the books, and I love the cast of characters that have become part of my extended family.

Painted Ladies starts off with a bang - literally. The art professor Spenser agrees to bodyguard during a buyback from art thieves gets blown to smithereens in Robert B. Parker's latest (and sadly, one of his last) novels. Of course, Spenser being Spenser, the detective needs to do something to square the balance. He sets off to figure out who killed Ashton Prince, and that's going to require finding out why and what the stakes are.

The novel doesn't really introduce anything new into Spenser's world, or into the reading experience of a long-time reader. There are a lot of good one-liners, but fans have come to expect them, and there are the relationship discussions with Susan, and fans have come to expect those as well.

Spenser does his sleuthing in a round-about fashion, something the series has become known for, and gradually steps on the toes of the menacing killer waiting in the wings. There's even some gunplay, which is over entirely too quickly for my tastes, and a boxing sequence that is well done.

I enjoyed seeing Quirk and Belson, seeing how Spenser shared points of view with both men, and I enjoyed seeing Rita Fiore again, though the comparison Susan did with Rita was a bit off-putting. I don't know where that came from and it went on too long and lingered more than it probably should have.

Parker introduces a lot of material in the book regarding painting and the Holocaust, though I'd thought that bit of dark history a bit too far back. He does a good enough job with it, but the exposure is mostly cursory and only tooled to serve the plot.

I sat and read the book in a single sitting, which is what happens when I usually sit down with a Spenser novel, and I was aware of how quickly the pages turned. I wasn't let down by the reading experience, but I was grimly aware that there will be no more Parker novels in the very near future.

As of this writing, I know that Sixkill is coming next year. If something isn't done, if some long-buried Spenser novel isn't uncovered, the fortieth book in the long-running series is destined to be the last.

I lament, but Philip Marlowe didn't have the literary run that Spenser did. Neither did Travis McGee or Lew Archer or Sam Spade. But I'm going to miss new Spenser books. They've been a part of my life since I found my first one in 1978.

The plot of Parker's latest novel, Painted Ladies, which centres on the theft of a Dutch masterpiece, is handled with all of Parker's customary deftness, tautly maintaining the tension and interspersing typically sharp Spenserian dialogue with scenes of sudden, shocking violence. But is the new novel a success? Would we pay much attention to it if it had appeared without the context of the preceding series? The two great strengths of the earlier Spenser books - that delving into Spenser's own persona and also into the layers of American society - are largely missing. Despite its Jewish elements the novel makes no real attempt to penetrate the cultural and moral maze of Jewish America. And perhaps it would be unrealistic and over-demanding to expect it.

However there are characteristic and welcome Parker touches, such as his sympathy for the young and vulnerable, which typically even extends as far as the villains. Even the bad guy Herzberg started out with good intentions and, as Susan points out in the closing pages, his descent into crime was in part driven by the historical damage inflicted on him and his family.

Also characteristic is Parker's merciless skewering of the phoneyness and pomposity of academe. What the novel does succeed in doing is to explore and link various kinds of deception and bad faith. Its dominant theme is fraudulence and inauthenticity, themes that perhaps spoke particularly to Parker in age. The `painted ladies' are not just the figures in the genuine and fake paintings but false-seeming characters. No-one is as they seem. Set against their falseness is Spenser's gritty integrity - but even Spenser's occasional attempts to masquerade as a cop in order to get information is emphasised in order to underscore the central theme.

In this new novel Spenser stands somewhat apart as a character. He makes clear his determination to solve the mystery entirely through his own efforts in an attempt to prove and justify himself. Those familiar cops, Quirk , Belson and Healy, put in an appearance, but not Hawk, apparently undertaking a CIA mission in central Asia, and other `friendly' villains - Vinnie, Chollo, etc - are similarly absent. Susan lends emotional and analytical support but is also much more unobtrusive than usual.

Not only does Spenser stand in greater isolation but also in a more retrospective light. It may be the effect of hindsight in the wake of Parker's death, but there seems something nostalgic and, one might add, almost terminal, about the figure of Spenser in this novel. Did Parker, one wonders, have the sense of an ending for Spenser and perhaps also for himself? Apparently there are two more works in the posthumous pipeline - an as yet untitled `Spenser holiday' novel due shortly, and finally Sixkill, scheduled for May next year. It will be interesting to see what further they can add to Parker's notable canon.

PAINTED LADIES opens with the Boston PI with no first name, Spenser, wise-cracking with a potential client who has arrived in his Boylston Street office in need of help. Many of these novels have started in this office the same way. But this time a priceless painting has been stolen from The Hammond Museum, and Dr. Ashton Prince needs to hire Spenser to accompany him and provide security during the ransom exchange.

Simple and familiar enough. But readers and longtime fans know that there is nothing ordinary about this 38th Spenser novel. This is the first book released in the series since Robert B. Parker's death in January. Hence, it might be what we hoped we would never have to read: the last Spenser story. Befitting the author called the dean of American crime fiction, there was a little mystery surrounding the announcement of his passing. It was mentioned that Parker had completed several unpublished works before his death. Two of those books have already come out this year: SPLIT IMAGE, a Jesse Stone novel, was published in February, and BLUE-EYED DEVIL, a Virgil Cole western, arrived last spring. So there is no mention if PAINTED LADIES will be the last adventure for Spenser. We will have to wait and see.

At the risk of reading too much into it, this book has a valedictory feel to it. Can a great writer and artist sense when his greatest literary creation is reaching the end of the road? Well, Spenser shows no signs of aging here. He has not seemingly aged a day or lost a step since his first appearance in THE GODWULF MANUSCRIPT in 1973. But there is an unavoidable sense of mortality in these pages.

First the bad news. Longtime fans will be disappointed that Hawk is not present here at the possible end of the series. When the story starts, he is off in Central Asia working for the "Gray Man," the CIA agent who nearly killed Spenser once. So with Hawk off presumably working as a professional government assassin, the bulk of PAINTED LADIES features Spenser and the love of his life, Susan. But the book delivers everything else we expect from a Spenser story, such as the crisp dialogue and short chapters. The joy of these novels has really never been about solving the mystery. Nor were they hard-boiled noir fiction. The fun was to spend time with Spenser, to be the fly on the wall observing a knight errant in the modern world. For in his decency, strength and taste --- here we find that he knows Auden's "Musee des Beaux Arts" --- Spenser reassured us in an ever-changing world that the good guys can still win in the end, at least once in a while.

So what's different about this story? The ransom exchange for the painting goes wrong, and Spenser's client is blown up by a bomb in front of his eyes. Of course, he cannot let it go. He feels responsible for not doing his job of protecting Dr. Prince or the painting. Or, as Captain Healy, another series regular, says, "And he won't let go until he makes this right." Nobody involved --- not the museum or insurance company or the dead man's wife --- seems very interested in making it right, which simply makes Spenser push harder. Twice, he comes within seconds of being killed. And without Hawk to watch his back, it is simply plain luck that keeps our hero alive.

Throughout the series, Spenser has dealt with killers and thugs, but there is something different this time. These killers are professional, with military links tracking back to the Middle East. And it is almost as if the terror of the improvised explosive devise (IED), a direct consequence of our invasion of Iraq, has now come home to haunt Spenser. No, this story has nothing to do with America's current wars, and the politics here traces back to the hatreds of the mid-20th century. But Spenser and Susan seem to have a sense that it all could end in an instant, which of course it did last January in real life.

"I couldn't bare it if they killed you," Susan tells him at one point. And Spenser, being Spenser, simply grins at her and says, "Me, either." So, of course, Spenser uses himself as bait to break the case. And he takes the precaution of writing down all the details of the case and mailing it to Healy to be opened should anything happen to him. He says, "Expect the best...Plan for the worst." Healy responds, "Well, at least I'll have a keepsake."

What results is a Spenser book that builds with tension and foreboding right up until the end. And if this is the conclusion of the series, longtime fans of Parker should say "Bravo." We have marked the autumns of our lives with a new installment in the series like clockwork each and every year for decades. And we have witnessed and enjoyed one of the greatest fictional creations in American literature.

Writers such as Hammett, Chandler and Ross MacDonald created the fictional PI in the mid-years of the American century. Then, when it seemed that noir had become a tired cliché and the optimism of that century was shaken by war abroad and upheaval at home, along came Spenser. (Oh, by the way, Parker teases us about the first name here when Spenser is asked for it by somebody. He tells them. But not us!) We can take comfort in the fact that these books will be read for as long as the works of the earlier masters of mystery are read. Plus, we can go back to the beginning and enjoy them all over again.

Parker writes in PAINTED LADIES, "It had snowed during the night, and the world looked very clean, which I knew it not to be. But illusion is nice sometimes." It sure is. Thank you, Robert B. Parker, for the great reads.

--- Reviewed by Tom Callahan

My old friends are back, Spenser and Susan and Pearl. Quirk and Belson, but no Hawk this time, why ? A great book, buy it, read it, love it !

Have to admit it - seeing the name Joe Mantegna on an audio book sells me immediately. His incredibly compelling reading of Boardwalk Empire is one of my all-time favorites and the same can be said of PAINTED LADIES.

A 40 year show business veteran he is an accomplished, versatile actor as evidenced in over 100 films (The Godfather Part 3, Forget Paris, etc.) In addition, his television appearances have garnered critical praise (The Rat Pack, The Last Don. Criminal Minds).

This wealth of experience is obvious in his stellar narration of what regrettably is one of the last Robert Parker Spenser novels. Mr. Parker will be greatly missed, and I join millions of others in remembering him for the many hours of listening/reading pleasure his books have brought.

In his inimitable way Parker grabs us from the beginning with PAINTED LADIES. Spenser has agreed to guard art professor Ashton Prince during a ransom payoff - thieves are being paid for the return of a stolen painting. As it turns out Prince really needed a guard as he's blown to bits during the procedure.

We all know that Spenser can't let that pass so he determines to find out exactly who stole the painting, why the ransom wasn't simply accepted and the painting returned, and why and by whom Prince was so explosively dispatched.

We're treated to the return of some of the characters we've learned to appreciate in previous Spenser tales as well as some intricate sleuthing on Spenser's part.

As I understand it there is one more Spenser novel due out next year. Meanwhile, enjoy PAINTED LADIES and the narration of Joe Mantegna.

Highly recommended.

- Gail Cooke

I've read almost all the Spenser novels, and I'm pleased to say PAINTED LADIES -- the second-to-last entry in the series -- is one of the better ones. This is a fun piece of entertainment.

I mainly read the Spenser novels for the witty dialogue and sharp prose. But in PAINTED LADIES, author Robert B. Parker also delivers a surprisingly complex plot with a lot of surprises. It seems to me that Parker decided to challenge himself a little with this novel, and the result is a satisfying pageturner.

If you're new to Parker's work, my advice is to first read the initial ten Spenser novels, which were written during the 1970s and 1980s. In those books, Spenser was a younger and more conflicted man, and the plotlines had more depth to them. I also recommend the first few entries in the Jesse Stone series, as well as the baseball novel DOUBLE PLAY. These books represent Parker -- who died earlier this year -- at his very best.

But the later Spenser novels are fun as well, and PAINTED LADIES is a strong effort. I look forward to reading the final Spenser novel -- SIXKILL -- next May.

Three and a half stars.

Back in the early 70s Parker's first Spenser,'The Godwulf Manuscript', put Spenser in among Eng Lit majors and a mobster. Then Parker started playing the the contrast between Psych jargon and street slang, and it worked really well, and everyone followed his lead. The Sopranoes, Analyze This, some good stuff. Now Parker's dead, and in his second to last Spenser he sticks a little MMA in his boxing set-piece, throws in an almost-un-PC crook, puts out the old moxie: but mostly he's back to playing Eng Lit jargon versus street talk. It's a fabric he knows well how to weave. And the poem his antiheroine comes up with? Pretty good. Painted Ladies, page 237.

Plato said some of the best poems are made, not just by the worst men, but by the worst poets. Sticking your maiden effort at poetry in the mouth of a bathetic fool in the middle of a detective story is about as bashful as you'd expect a fine old English Literature professor to be, after a lifetime enduring the Eng Lit racket.

Spenser is hired to bodyguard the life of a college professor, 48 year old Dr. Ashton Prince, who was instructed by thieves to bring money to ransom a valuable painting stolen from the college museum, but Spenser fails and the professor is killed with a bomb, which seemed to be rapped together with the painting. This novel was completed by Parker a year before his death in January 2010. The book has more of the usual Parker "wise-guy" answers than in his other Spenser novels, or so it appears. They are clever and funny and the novel itself is very engaging.

Spenser is understandably embarrassed by his failure to protect his client. He returns his fee to the museum and decides to investigate the murder pro-bono. Since he has no other lead and since it is clear that the thieves intended to kill the professor before he delivered the money, it was not a last minute decision, Spenser begins his investigation by looking into the life of Ashton Prince.

He discovers early on that the professor has had a sexual liaison with many of his students and that his "girl friend" of the moment, quite a beauty, is the daughter of the insurance investigator who is looking into the theft for the insurance company. Both the investigator and her daughter refuse to disclose to Spenser who is the father of the daughter. Spenser's investigation prompts two people to try to kill him. He kills them before they kill him. A tattoo of numbers, similar to numbers engraved on the arms of Jewish concentration camp inmates by the Nazis are on the arms of the two men. However, the tattoo was clearly not placed on their arms by the Nazis because they were too young to be alive during the holocaust. Both have the same number, so it appears to be a commemoration of sorts. The two men are not Americans. One is wearing shoes from Holland that did not reach America yet. In an interview with the professor's wife, she tells Spenser that Prince told her that he is a Jew who is alienated from Judaism.

The museum has an attorney who advised the museum officials not to cooperate with Spenser. Spenser discovers that the lawyer was also hired by the professor.

What is going on? Why was the professor killed? Is he Jewish as he claims? Is he the father of his student? What is the significance of the numbers on the potential assassins? Why did they want to kill Spenser? Was the painting really stolen? What does the painting have to do with the murder of the professor? What is the involvement of the lawyer?

As a faithful reader of the Spenser series - albeit a reader who has written some one-star reviews in recent years-- I was almost afraid to buy this, the last to be published in a year when Parker was alive. (Who knows if his estate plans a Ludlum-esque after-life for him.) But I can report, gladly, that this is a good read for fans of the man of few, if polysyllabic, words.

Although not rising to the level of the great novels of the middle of the series - A Catskill Eagle standing above the others - this is a tremendous improvement over the last few books, where the reader could develop a case of whip-lashed déjà vu after page 10. Here Susan and Spenser converse in whole sentences, sometimes even paragraphs, and occasionally talk about something besides each other. Quirk and Belson and Healy discuss the case, not just the intractability of our hero. (Hawk, sadly, is absent, as are Vinnie, Chollo, Rachel Wallace and other helpers.) There isn't much suspense, but there's more attention to motive than in recent years -- the motives of several characters, not just Spenser.

Toward the middle of the book I began to get irritated with the patronizing dismissal of the Holocaust, something that Parker himself seems to have noticed, as he has Spenser ask Susan if he's an anti-Semite. (She says no, big surprise.) But - although this issue could use some more ink - I think that Parker is simply making the logical point that even the children of Survivors can be bad people. Gruesome history doesn't buy anyone the right to murder, or at least not to murder casually.

But, having put both art theft and Auschwitz on the table, Parker could have spent a few more pages giving us a look at the inner workings of his bad guys and placing the action in a larger ethical context than Spenser's usual Faulkner metaphor, the bear and the dark liquor. And the title promises more art than the plot disappointingly delivers, but Parker never goes into much detail about new topics, however fascinating. Here I especially wish he had, since it's interesting to watch Spenser's brain access and appreciate/evaluate other people's moral and intellectual universes. In many ways, Spenser is an early version of the wonderful Armand Gamache in the exquisite novels of Louise Penny. Reading about people who take the time to think through ethical dilemmas gives me hope that Tess was wrong and it's not a blighted universe, little brother.

So sure, as some reviewers have already observed, this could have been better. But if you are - as I nearly was - hesitating to read it: don't. It's B+/B Spenser, which is better than much of what's on bookshelves today.