Product Description

Spenser's lady love calls on her stout-hearted hero to help her ex-husband, a successful businessman charged with sexual harassment.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #160098 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-01
• Formats: Audiobook, CD
• Original language: English
• Binding: Audio CD

From Amazon.com
Sudden Mischief, the 25th Spenser novel, finds Robert B. Parker's seemingly ageless sleuth once again engaging Boston's bad guys and sorting out life's moral dilemmas, all (or mostly) in the name of love. When Spenser's girlfriend, psychiatrist Susan Silverman, asks him to investigate charges of sexual harassment leveled against her ex-husband, Brad Sterling, the detective agrees, though the assignment "shows every sign of not working out well." As the sexual harassment allegations melt like April snow, Sterling drops out of sight, a dead body appears in his office, and Spenser discovers a murky slush of clues that suggest Sterling's work as a marketing genius for local charities has been a front for some truly despicable criminal activities. As always, the more-than-slightly-shady Hawk is on hand to help Spenser sort the good from the bad, but Spenser is left to his own devices when it comes to making sense of the emotional havoc the case creates in his relationship with Susan. And what devices they are: emotionally mature and physically dynamic, Spenser once again proves himself as detective, friend, lover, and human being as Sterling's reappearance forces Susan to examine her past and her conscience while searching for her own autonomy. As always, Spenser endures as an intelligent, ethical, and poetic private eye, even if his endless middle age seems a bit supernatural. Parker's nimble, Spartan prose suits a character who carries his years in wisdom rather than body fat. If the heart of any truly great detective series is a truly great detective, Sudden Mischief and the rest of Parker's Spenser novels surely fit the bill. --L.A. Smith

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From Publishers Weekly
The 25th Spenser novel isn't a romance, but it's all about love. In early springtime, Susan Silverman, the elegant psychologist and lover who long ago softened the heart of Boston's preeminent thug-sized PI, asks Spenser to investigate the sexual harassment suit that has been filed against her first husband, Brad Sterling. Susan's ambivalence about Brad's predicament doesn't make the case easy for Spenser; nor does the gradually disclosed involvement of the noted Harvard Law School professor whose young wife is one of the plaintiffs. As Spenser and his sidekick, Hawk, trace Brad's business dealings (he's a professional fund-raiser who's hired to run mammoth charity events), they also come up against a lawyer employed by the local organized crime crowd and some hired muscle associated with same, one of whom is found fatally shot in Brad's office. The next murder victim, a woman, turns out to be the director of a counseling service for ex-cons, which was also listed as benefiting from the most recent charity bash. What's more, the dead woman had her own connection to the still-missing Brad. Threatened repeatedly with fists and guns while coping with Susan's rare emotional uncertainty, Spenser stays the course to a resolution in which he and Susan both prevail. The mystery in this valentine may be insubstantial, but readers who pick up Parker's bestselling series for its characters and atmosphere will be delighted. BOMC main selection.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Here's the scoop- It's awesome
The book moves quickly, and ever so you get a clear picture of not only Spenser but more history on Susan as well. I will not spoil it for the die-hard fans out there who haven't come across this book. The chapters are short and focused, and what I liked most about it is that each chapter it focuses on a one-on-one talk between Spenser and some other person. Mostly-- 90% of the time, which I greatly appreciate. It focuses a lot on Spenser, and his puzzle pieces which he puts together in order to emit the true picture of the mystery from all the alibi. Further more the chapters are short, focused, and the vocabulary is easy to pick up.

I personally like Spenser and Susan because their attitudes are so professional. Also, this book is best read throughout a period of time, instead of just one day. It's even better if the reader can somehow imagine himself as Spenser-- or Susan-- for the matter. They're technically the same. Anima vs. Animus. Honestly this book also suits those who are "full of themselves", how else would you be able to connect with the main characters anyways?!

It has been such a long time since I have read a book that compels this aggressively. This honestly is my first look on the Spenser series, and I appologize that I'm not a long-time fan or so (This series has been going on longer than I've lived!) but it's great. I find it most effective reading it while picturing it like a movie. And also for all the guys,if you imagine that YoU'rE Spenser, and you've got a parrallell attitude with him (like I do), it blows your mind. Honestly.

Susan Silverman's ex-husband, now known as Brad "Sterling" is on charge with sexual harassment and later on with murder. The case in itself is slow, but it's everything that's stirred in the middle that makes this book well worth the read. Not only does Spenser have this attitude that speaks out to the reader as "I'm untouchable" but he has his equally arrogant lover "Susan" and they make an awesome couple. It's Romantic... also in the sense of the writing style, which is a bit Romanticist. I mean, c'mon, Spenser tops every bad guy with a swift move and a kick in the groin. It's cheap, and repetitive... and it's a little too cheesy to win against the baddies. Especially the part when Susan gets in some action as well later in the story. Oh yeah, that's the main highlight, I believe. Susan gets to kick ass! Haha, check it out. I don't know enough about the series to know whether if this occurs often or not, but it was great! Ok, what are you waiting for?! Read this book. I promise you won't be dissapointed.

bad first time, wonderful second time
I guess I was in a bad mood when I read this installment in the Spenser series. Because I often trashed it for not being very good. Then I went back years later to read it again. I was wrong.
I loved this book. It was a little bit different, but not some stupid want-to-be cowboy novel. You get to know Susan a little bit more, action, wise-cracks, Spenser novel stuff. Read with pleasure.

It all began with Susan Silverman's ex-husband
"Be well aware, " quoth that lady mild,
"Lest sudden mischief ye too rash provoke"
- Spenser's Faerie Queen

If you're interested in an audio edition, I enthusiastically recommend the unabridged recording narrated by William Windom. The exchanges between Hawk and Spenser come out very well indeed; so does everything, in fact, including some truly slimy characters. (Didn't know that Windom could play creepy roles? See him as the prosecutor in _To Kill a Mockingbird_.)

Welcome to one of Spenser's cases where a friend has asked him to take on an unpaid job: Susan Silverman, on behalf of her ex-husband. She kept his name, but he changed it - he's now Brad Sterling. He's trying to be a Yankee success story - Harvard graduate, PR guy with his own business and a corner office - but he's now facing a lawsuit that can ruin him even if he wins.

A group of women volunteers from a fund-raiser he organized the previous year - Galapalooza, a big event put on collectively for a lot of charities too small to have their own fund-raisers - are suing him for sexual harassment. Unfortunately, one of the plaintiffs is Jeanette Ronin, the trophy wife of Francis Ronin, one of the most famous trial lawyers in the U.S. None of the defendants will talk to Spenser about the case, and even Sterling is evasive. But for Susan's sake, Spenser perseveres - and sudden mischief is indeed provoked...

Most of the usual supporting players appear: Hawk decides to hang around, after 2 thugs try to chase him away ("I made $200,000 last week in Miami, and I don't much like people threatenin' me"), Rita Fiore (knowledgeable about Ronin, having argued cases before him); Rachel Wallace; and Pearl the Wonder Dog. Even Tony Marcus is back ("Should've been life, and you out in 3 years.")