thedailychannel.com — recommended books

Hugger Mugger
by Robert B. Parker

How long has Robert Parker been off his food? That's the question which ultimately occurred to me when thinking about what this novel reveals. I try to review all the books I have finished reading, but along the way I think I missed one of Parker's novels. But this one is about the same in some respects. It has a beautiful bad girl who has no character or personality developed whatsoever. There is some fighting and shooting. And -- worst of all! -- there are no meals prepared or taken.

One of the most appealing characteristics of the Spenser novels used to be when Spenser cooked a meal. There was the badinage with Hawk and the persiflage with Susan, and there psychological insights of a private eye with a shrink girlfriend, examined in a way that was far from a gimmick. And Spenser would always cook a meal or two along the way. Now it seems he doesn't even have time to eat, what with the repartee and the detecting.

Sure, this novel was funny, but I laughed a lot more at P.G. Wodehouse's A Wodehouse Bestiary and I got more meal ideas besides (scrambled eggs and sardines! I say!!). And frankly, I found the writing in Cubism and Fashion a lot more thought-provoking, and the illustrations much more suggestive (note: HuggerMugger has no illustrations, but still...

Well, anyway, this is no Dick Francis novel, starring as it does a private eye and not a jockey. And it's a good thing, too, because no one gets mutilated. But with no recipes, and with Hawk on vacation in France with a professor of French Languages at B.U... well, after reading this one you'll be jealous of Hawk for his absence.

Ride on over to amazon.com and strap on the old feedbag with Hugger Mugger by Robert B. Parker.

reviewed September 2001