Silent Night

Apparently when he died in 2010, Robert Parker had begun the manuscript for this Spenser novel set at Christmas time. His literary agent of several decades, who also become the executor of his literary estate, undertook to finish it. The premise is that an 11 year old boy comes to Spenser's office to seek his help for the man running a home for street kids. When Spenser investigates further, he find that Jackie Alvarez has an unlicensed home, Street Business, that takes kids off the street and gets them started with minimum wage jobs. Someone has been roughing up the kids and stealing their money. Alvarez wants Spenser to help find who is responsible and put a stop to it. Perfect sort of case for our literate do-gooder private eye and gourmet cook. Christmas is coming and Spenser is trying to plan the menu in-between investigating. Turns out the problems is Jackie's older brother, Juan Alvarez, big-time Boston philanthropist and successful business man, who has also been providing the money to keep Street Business running. The tricky part is figuring out why Alvarez wants to shut down Street Business, and catch him in the act, without jeopardizing the home and the kids who have taken sanctuary there. Hawk, Susan, Pearl, and even Rita Fiori all make a showing. I don't think the dialogue between Spenser and Hawk is quite as sharp, but the element that ties this particular piece of pro-bono work to Hawk's past is somewhat intriguing. Kirkus did not give this a glowing review, nor did Publishers Weekly. Strictly for Parker/ Spenser die-hards; otherwise, you will get more joy from the earlier Spenser novels.