SixKill by Robert B. Parker

Spenser’s final story. Parker’s last book. Death was the only way to slow down Parker’s annual output of two variations a year of the same plot, same characters (sometimes by other names). Early in his long career, he fell into the trap of writing each novel with more BIFF, BAM, & ZOW than the last. He adjusted after realizing that approach wasn’t sustainable. So the pace, and fireworks, has been predictable and yet still satisfying for over twenty years now.

This iteration of the story centers around Spenser, a Phillip Marlowe type detective with modern tastes living in Boston. He is approached by a beautiful defense attorney, Rita Fiore. She, along with police captain Quirk, contrive to have Spender look into the murder of a young girl in the hotel bedroom of an on-location movie star nicknamed Jumbo. .

In Parker stories, there are two levels of bad guys: (1) dislikeable criminals who are generally there just for color and are left alone; and (2) sadistic baby-killer types with no redeeming value. The hero kills these nasty ones, usually towards the end of the book. There are many good people, and all of them are just personality variations on the hero. Parker writes a simple story, black and white, good guys and bad guys. This gives Parker a large audience that can understand and enjoy his books.

There’s a back-story on Z. Sixkill, an Indian, reminiscent of Jim Thorpe. In this book, Z is a fill in for Hawk, strong, silent sidekick to Spenser. His theme is redemption.

This is pure pulp fiction – I read it in less than 24 hours and enjoyed every moment of it. Big print – lots of blank space on the page. Funny -- and good triumphs over evil.