Robert Parker, author of the Spenser private detective novels and several other mystery series, has died, reports the Washington Post here. Parker's detective Spenser was a lover of good food, and during his searches for clues and witnesses, he often stopped to eat. He enjoyed a good donut with police friends or high-level gourmet food with his girlfriend Susan. I wrote about food as used in one of the Parker books here: Tuna-Noodle Casserole, Literary Version.
Parker was incredibly prolific, and I'll miss his regularly appearing books. According to the Post article Parker "was still at work, and preliminary reports indicated that he died at his desk."
4 comments:
Robert B. Parker was one of the true literary lights of Boston. With his wife, Joan, he was also a leading philanthropist. He will be missed.
I haven't read anything by Parker, but from the sound of it, he sounds a bit like Rex Stout, who wrote the Nero Wolfe series, which I utterly loved. Looks like I'm going to the library very soon to get some of Parker's books ...
Hi Cindy,
I've read several Nero Wolfe/Rex Stout mysteries in the last few weeks (have blogged on a few) and I would not really compare them to the Parker books. Parker's are much more active and varied in setting and character study, with the food themes used in a variety of ways.
Nero Wolfe is an eccentric genius (as he tells everyone) and his relationship to detecting is so different that the books are really utterly different. I'm groping for clarity on just what is different, but it's dramatic.
I'll read a few and we can compare notes.
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