Finished: Robert Parker's 'Silent Night'

They call Robert B. Parker the Dean of American Crime Fiction. He's most famous for his 40 novels featuring private detective Spenser. Many people know of the TV series Jesse Stone, with Tom Selleck, but don't know it's based on Parker novels. He shows his versatility as a western writer as well, with Appaloosa to his credit.

Unfortunately, he died in 2010.

Fortunately, his agent kept his spirit alive by finishing the Spenser novel he was working on at the time of his death.

And I just finished it. I'll call it my Christmas read "Silent Night," though it probably has a few too many murders in it to be considered real Christmassy. It is set during the Christmas season though and loosely uses a drug dealer as Scrooge.

It's December in Boston, and Spenser is busy planning the menu for Christmas dinner when he's confronted in his office by a young boy named Slide. Homeless and alone, Slide has found refuge with an organization named Street Business, which gives shelter and seeks job opportunities for the homeless and lost. Slide's mentor, Jackie Alvarez, is being threatened, and Street Business is in danger of losing its tenuous foothold in the community, turning Slide and many others like him back on the street. But it's not a simple case of intimidation — Spenser, aided by Hawk, finds a trail that leads to a dangerous drug kingpin, whose hold on the at-risk community Street Business serves threatens not just the boys' safety and security, but their lives as well.

I liked it. I love RBP. Sad to know there won't be any new novels of his, but happy to know I've got about 30 left to read.

I gave "Silent Night" a 6+ on the Haugenometer. Goodreaders gave it 3.8 and B&Ners a 3.5 on their 5-point scales.