Review of "Bad Business," by Robert B. Parker

Review of

Bad Business, by Robert B. Parker ISBN 0399151451

Four out of five stars

 Once again, the best trait in this Spenser book is the dialog, it is snappy and contains a great deal of deadpan humor. Spenser is hired by a woman to follow her husband and prove that he is guilty of infidelity. At first, it appears to be a simple job, a few days of standard shadowing and the conclusion will be clear.

 However, there are two twists, the first is that there are other private detectives working, following the wife and other people that the original married couple interact with. Furthermore, all are associated with a radio personality that proclaims that people need to expand their horizons sexually, even when married.

 In the manner typical of Parker novels, Spenser follows a path to a completely different type of crime and people are murdered for it. With the help of Hawk, Vinnie Morris, Healy, Quirk and Belson, Spenser bends the rules to track down the culprits and mete out his brand of justice, where some of the more lightly guilty are allowed to get “away” while those guilty of hard crimes are taken down.

 This book is almost totally driven by the dialog, there is little in the way of punching and shooting action and the final confrontation is decidedly lacking in violence. However, with dialog of this quality, the reader does not mind.