- Hardcover: 211 pages
- Publisher: Delacorte Pr; First Edition edition (May 1988)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0385296517
- ISBN-13: 978-0385296519
- Product Dimensions: 20.8 x 14.5 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 694,017 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
Three girls obscenely murdered by a serial killer, and after two more, someone confesses, but Spenser is suspicious and investigates - the murderer could be a policeman seeing a psychiatrist. This is the latest Spenser novel, by the author of "A Catskill Eagle" and "The Godwulf Manuscript".
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First Sentence
Sheridan Street in Jamaica Plain goes uphill from Center Street for about two hundred yards, crests, and heads down toward Chestnut Avenue. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
Sheridan Street in Jamaica Plain goes uphill from Center Street for about two hundred yards, crests, and heads down toward Chestnut Avenue. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
There's more than one interesting twist in this installment of the Spenser series, evidence that Parker's working hard to stay out of a rut.
First, this is a bit more serious than usual in that the unknown killer is a psychopathic serial killer. Our hero isn't quite up to his usual quota of wisecracks.
First, this is a bit more serious than usual in that the unknown killer is a psychopathic serial killer. Our hero isn't quite up to his usual quota of wisecracks.
Secondly, some of the narrative is from the killer's viewpoint, a first for a Spenser novel.
Thirdly, there is a hint at the Harry Bosch type conflict between solving a case and playing police politics & protecting the police image. (This was written 4 years before the first of the Connolly series)
And fourth, there's a real testing of Spenser's relationship with Susan as there's a serious conflict between his need to protect her and her need for autonomy & adherence to her profession's practice of condifentiality between doctor & patient.
The reader might have a bit of trouble suspending disbelief over the points of Spenser's openly working with the Boston police and of the extreme coincidental factor, but it is an entertaining read up to the average Spenser.
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
The usual cast of characters is all here: Spenser and his partner Hawk, Susan the shrink and the two lenient cops, Belson and Quirk, who often turn a blind eye on the hero's shenanigans. This time Spenser doesn't have to travel far to identify the murderer. Vintage Robert B. Parker, enough said.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
26 reviews
21 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Hooked on Spenser
7 April 1998
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I'll start with a confession: I've never read Robert B. Parker before. And I didn't know anything about Spenser before I met him in Crimson Joy. I don't know - I thought maybe Sam Spade; dark, rainy nights, bare light bulbs in a dingy office.
Boy, was I wrong.
In this book, Spenser and friends are up against the Red Rose killer. The bad guy is quite obviously a psychological case, so Spenser's psychologist girlfriend gets to be a partner in crime as well as in bed, with delightful humor and good will. They're both such really great people, it's fun to be around them.
Spenser is in great physical shape; he's brave and witty; he's a gourmet cook. He's never ruffled. Faced with a slime talk show host or a five-thug citizen pressure group, his wit, strength, and courage save the day.
Okay, it might all be too good to be true, but this is a story. It's comfortable, funny, fast-paced, breezy and uncomplicated. The plot is clever enough to interest, even if the outcome is surly a foregone conclusion.
In Spenser's words, "To be who I was and do what I did had to assume I'd win." That's how I felt from the start and I was glad he was who he was and did what he did and I loved every minute of it.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Parker at his best
3 Jun 2000
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I have been reading Spenser since I was a teenager and this is one of the best I have read.
The case in the story, a serail killer who leaves a red rose at the scene of the crime, is a heart wrenching one. As the case developes the novel gets more intense and more belivable.
Then when the reader thinks the case is resolved Parker throws one last heart wrenching detail at his readers. This is parker at the top of his craft. A must read for any Spenser fan.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Top notch!
13 Jun 2001
Format:Mass Market Paperback
What a relief! After reading A Catskill Eagle I started to worry that Parker was losing me with his "Spencer as Rambo" style. But Crimson Joy gets back to what made Parker a superb mystery novelist: Spencer solving a mystery and tracking down the criminal. There is a lot of police involvement in this one as Spencer agrees to help out our favorite detective, Martin Quirk. Hawk helps out, which is always a plus, and there is the added suspense of Susan being put in the path of danger as she becomes involved in her role as psychotherapist.
A Crimson Joy is a top notch Spenser novel and I highly recommend it for all fans of the crime novel. I can't wait to read the next in the Spenser saga!
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