Back Story (2003) Robert B. Parker is nothing if not reliable. Back Story , the Boston scribbler's 30th Spenser novel in 30 years, puts the Shakespeare-quoting PI on… Fiction Putnam
Book Review

Back Story (2003)

Robert B. Parker
Reviewed by Bruce Fretts | Mar 28, 2003
Robert B. Parker, Back Story | 'BACK' AGAIN ''Story,'' part of Parker's 30-volume Spenser series, is formulaic but reliable
Image credit: Back Story: Book Cover
'BACK' AGAIN ''Story,'' part of Parker's 30-volume Spenser series, is formulaic but reliable
EW's GRADE
B+

Details Release Date: Mar 10, 2003; Writer: Robert B. Parker; Genre: Fiction; Publisher: Putnam

Robert B. Parker is nothing if not reliable. Back Story, the Boston scribbler's 30th Spenser novel in 30 years, puts the Shakespeare-quoting PI on the cold case of a woman killed during a 1974 bank robbery. The comfortingly formulaic plot leads Spenser to the doorsteps of unrepentant hippies and mobsters. As always, the character sketches are Ginsu-sharp, and the prose leaner than a George Foreman Grill'd steak (''So far it was a good day. No one had attempted to murder me''). Bonus for Parker devotees: a crossover cameo by Paradise, Mass., police chief Jesse Stone, antihero of another of the prolific author's addictive series.

Originally posted Mar 26, 2003 Published in issue #702 Mar 28, 2003 Order article reprints