Melancholy Baby (Hardcover)

by Robert B. Parker (Author) "My ex-husband was getting married to a woman I wanted to kill..." (more)
Key Phrases: Lolly Drake, New York, George Markham (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Some of Robert B. Parker's most distinctive novels over the years (God Save the Child, Early Autumn, Ceremony, etc.) have centered on young people in trouble, so his return to that theme in Melancholy Baby is hardly a surprise. What's more remarkable is how deftly he uses the case of an angry, confused college student searching for the facts about her family background as a means to pry open the hardly less troubled psyche of Boston private eye Sonya "Sunny" Randall, a character at serious risk of one day outshining Parker's better-known but less reflective gumshoe, Spenser.

Twenty-one-year-old trust-fund kid Sarah Markham suspects that her parents aren't really related to her at all. "They can't find my birth certificate," she tells Sunny in amazement. "They don’t remember which hospital I was born in." This isn't the sort of inquiry Sunny likes to take on, especially not now, when her ex-husband of five years, Richie Burke--whom she still hasn't given up loving--is marrying another woman. However, Sunny needs a distraction from self-pity, and she can see that "everything about Sarah and her parents seemed fraudulent ... like something that had been built on the cheap, with shoddy materials and no craft, to conceal something unhealthy and mean." As she tears at this façade, though, traveling to Illinois and New York City in order to expose secrets not only in Sarah's father's past but in the history of a holier-than-thou radio celeb, Sunny discovers that her client isn't the only person being kept in the dark. But is it worth destroying Sarah's sense of herself--not to mention attracting the malicious notice of well-armed thugs--to set the record straight? And can Sunny even accomplish this, while struggling (with help from Spenser's psychiatrist girlfriend, Susan Silverman) to understand why she's 37 years old and "just can’t be married"?

Any halfway-conscious reader will spot the solution to this story's mystery from miles off, and Parker's use of central-casting figures--the hypocritical moralizer, the oleaginous but natty shyster--should earn him free admission to a "How to Create Credible Characters" seminar. Still, it's hard not to be charmed by a novel that's as willing as Melancholy Baby is to knock the pins out from under its protagonist, and see where the angst falls. At Dr. Silverman's rates, Sunny had better figure her life out soon. --J. Kingston Pierce

From Publishers Weekly
The title refers to two characters: Boston college student Sarah Markham, convinced that her parents adopted her, and Boston PI Sunny Randall, hired by Sarah to certify her parentage. Sarah is melancholy because her parents refuse to take a DNA test to settle the issue and seem furtive; Sunny, because her ex-husband, Richie, has just remarried. In this excellent fourth Sunny Randall PI tale (after Shrink Rap), Sarah's sadness leads to murder, as Sunny's questioning of the parents results in one of their deaths at the hands of the person who would suffer most if the truth comes out. Sunny's own blues lead her to Dr. Susan Silverman and sessions on the couch that, however well observed, will have fans of Parker's PI Spenser who are terminally tired of Susan (Spenser's longtime girlfriend) gritting their teeth at her intrusion into another series. Still, Sunny's own regulars, particularly tough gay pal Spike, hold their own in the tale. There's little here that Parker hasn't done before, like his protagonist's side trip to New York and her tangling with venal lawyers and reptilian celebrities as well as Parker's sensitive exploration of the meaning of family and maturity and of the tension between self-reliance and love for another, but he does it so well here, with his impeccable prose and charismatic heroine, that fans will tremble with delight.
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons; 1st Edition edition (September 23, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399152180
• ISBN-13: 978-0399152184
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #436,199 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 4 in The Sunny Randall /  Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Susan Silverman Shrinks Sunny Randall, September 23, 2004

By	Tucker Andersen (Wall Street) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

CAVEAT: if you are looking for a mystery laden straightforward detective story filled with surprising twists, in all likelihood this will be only a two star story for you. Furthermore, if you have not previously read some of Robert Parker's books, don't start with this one. While sufficient background information is interwoven into the story to make it work as a standalone novel, any potential reader has the advantage that despite Parker's approximately fifty books in print, this is only the fourth book in the recently created Sunny (Sonya) Randall series. Thus, given the fact that all Parker's books are incredibly fast reads, it makes sense to start with FAMILY HONOR and meet Sunny's friends, family, and bull terrier Rosie as her cases and the complications of her life unfold. New readers will miss some of the crossover references to the Spenser series in this book, but even many longtime Spenser fans such as myself, the task of reading all the early books in that series (which is responsible for the legion of readers that he has today) is still incomplete. But for me, this is the most enjoyable Sunny Randall book to date.

The plot is simplicity itself, Sarah Markham (a college student) is referred to Sunny because Sarah has become increasingly convinced that the couple who have raised her are not her parents. (While they are adamant that she is her daughter they refuse to submit to a DNA test for "religious reasons" and out of privacy concerns.) Sonny has just been notified by Ritchie, her ex-husband, that given Sonny's reluctance to remarry (anyone -she still loves him) and have children, he is about to marry another woman. Thus, Sarah's case provides a possible distraction for Sunny as she attempts to sort out why she is still so psychologically conflicted about her personal relationships at thirty seven years of age. As soon as Sunny starts detecting (no more an unusual word than Sunny's use of the adjective the griefy or describing her therapy as shrinkage), she realizes what an emotional cripple Sarah is and how totally weird her parents are. Thus, the stage is set. Repairing Sarah's life will be juxtaposed with Sunny's attempt to repair her own. (The plot is simple but the storyline complex.)

Of course, violence soon erupts, and the case becomes the standard Parker detective procedural, heavy on the character relationships rather than the plot. But even for Parker, this plot is thin and the question is how the story will be resolved, not the mystery of Sarah's parentage. Of course, there are the usual few homicides, just to up the stakes and inject an element of physical danger as well as mystery and psychological stress. In addition to Ritchie's brief appearance but central importance both to the story and also to Sunny's future, Spike is once again an important supporting actor and Tony Marcus makes a cameo appearance. During one of Sunny's visits to NYC, series newcomer Detective Sal Corsetti suddenly assumes a key role in the case, and wonderfully plays his character of a surprisingly (to the bad guys) clever cop willing to take on anyone who gets in his way. We even get to meet Lolly Drake, one of the multitude of talk radio icons with whom by now we are all passingly familiar. Most importantly, however, Sunny's attempt to solve Sarah's case combined with her own personal identity crisis helps her to connect with her father (an ex-cop) and provides previously lacking insight concerning his relationship with her mother.

And now the final element of the story that will capture the interest of long time Parker readers and Spenser fans. Sunny's personal crisis finally leads her to seek professional help in an attempt to move on with her life, and who is recommended as a therapist - none other than Dr. Susan Silverman. Sunny's reaction to their initial meetings and subsequent visits is fascinating, as we suddenly see Susan from the viewpoint of a woman with Spenser's powers of observation but with an objectivity which he lacks and with the remoteness which is often the case early in the therapist - patient relationship. Never have I seen Parker spend so much time on detailed descriptions of someone who is many ways a secondary character to the story, but of course it is because of the fact that Sunny's perception of Susan's competence and their developing relationship is crucial to her future. She comes to realize that Susan cannot provide the answers either to her case or to her future.

There are many wonderful moments in this book, but most of them are only peripherally about the case. Rather, they are about the impact of the case on everyone around Sarah and Sunny, along with a few moments of pure fun with Rosie for all dog lovers. And while the case is eventually closed, there are plenty of loose ends to be picked up in future stories. What will be Ritchie's role in Sunny's life? Will Sarah's bond with Sunny somehow continue in other stories, similar to the reappearance of Paul Giacomin in the Spenser series? Will Sunny find out that Dr. Silverman's partner is also a private detective (her father obviously knows this fact but she doesn't have a clue) and how will this change their relationship? And finally, of course, the ultimate fantasy, will Sunny and Spenser's pursuit of their careers somehow cause them to be thrown into contact and collaborate on a case? We'll have to await future stories for the answers to these questions, and given the author's writing methodology he may not yet know himself. Meanwhile, I wholeheartedly recommend this book subject to the caveat at the beginning of this review.

Tucker Andersen

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better than some recent Parker efforts..., November 15, 2004

By	William E. Adams (Hobbs, NM USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Parker is what he is. He writes in dialogue, his books can be read in three hours or less, one would not need to read any of them twice. Sunny Randall is a young female version of his famous P.I. "Spenser", and she works in the same city, has some of the same connections, and in this episode she encounters more directly a character from Spenser's world. I agree with the prior reviewer who notes that paying $25 for such a quickly read entertainment seems steep. I get mine from the library (and I take them back!) so money is not an issue. All that said, I enjoyed this installment quite a bit. I did guess who the villain was pretty early, yet still liked it. If you like Robert B. Parker's writing style, you'll like this. If you are new to his world, it isn't a bad choice, but I'd advise you to read the Sunny Randalls and the Jesse Stone novels in the order in which they have been published instead. As for the "Spenser" series, there are probably too many out there to find them in the order of publication, so just plunge in and go backwards. I've read at least half of Parker's 40-plus published books, and enjoyed all but one or two. He does tough guy or gal quite well, understated humor well, and beloved dogs even better. The mystical bond between seemingly mismatched couples is also a specialty of his. And quirky sidekicks, too, are handled well. "Melancholy Baby" may not be a noir masterpiece, but it is nothing to be ashamed of, either.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Parker's Randall now officially fun, October 15, 2005

By	David W. Nicholas (Montrose, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Melancholy Baby (Sunny Randall Novels) (Paperback)

Robert B. Parker has been writing Spenser novels for more than 3 decades now, and his two other series (Sunny Randall and Jesse Stone) are also entertaining. While they're good, the main characters especially tend to be somewhat derivative of Spenser. Sunny Randall, to this point, has been a smaller, younger, female version of Spenser. Now, with the help of Spenser's lady love Susan Silverman, Sunny goes into therapy in order to figure out why she can't fully commit to a relationship. The result is some character development (with a detour to revisit her relationship with her parents, especially her father) and finally the series begins to mature and develop.

Sunny's a fun character. Like Spenser, she was a cop but had trouble with authority. Like Spenser, she has a cute dog and lots of witticisms for clients and bad guys. Now, unlike Spenser, we see that she isn't always quite as self-confident as he is. This is interesting, and we'll see where Parker goes with it.

In the book's main plot, Sunny gets hired by a young woman who wants to find out who her parents really are. She has a couple who claim to be her birth parents, but doesn't believe them. When she asks them for DNA samples (which would prove her heritage) they both balk. She then hires Sunny, and when Sunny begins asking questions things get violent. Sunny, of course, is able to handle herself, and the result is that she works out some of what's going on.

I enjoyed this book. Parker's always got a sense of humor, and some of the secondary characters are wonderful. One of them, her gay friend Spike (Sunny's version of Hawk), calls himself "the world's toughest queer" and makes believers out of some of the bad guys. The whole thing, while being suspenseful, is very very fun too.