Jason Koivu's Reviews > Valediction

A dancer disappears into a religious cult and her former boyfriend wants her out of there and back with him. That's the window dressing for this installment of Robert B. Parker's Spenser detective series, but the real story is that tough guy Spenser gets all kinds of vulnerable when his newly-minted doctor girlfriend Susan goes splitsville and leaves their relationship up in the air.

Parker does his best to show the heart of his rock of a PI torn asunder. That comes across. The portrayal of a lovesick dude is locked in, however, I'm not sure I buy Spenser's suicidal tendencies here. He LONGS for Susan as the only woman for him, then he sleeps with the most readily available woman he can find. "He's trying to get over her," you'll say. Fine. That's a reason for his behavior. But as a reader, it leaves me with questions. Plus, I think the real dubious nature of the scenario is that Susan never actually says that it's definitely over between them, so he should have some hope remaining. The truly suicidal are hopeless, at least the ones who will act upon it, as is my understanding. So, when Spenser needlessly throws himself into the line of fire, it comes off as more melodramatic rather than heroic.

Other than that, this is another solid installment in the long-running series, and a vital one at that. There's not a huge amount of character development in these slender books (more so than most detective fiction I've read, I'll grant you that) so get it while you can and don't skip this one!