Early Autumn

Early Autumn made me cry from two directions. As a tween, reading about Spenser’s rescue of Paul, a shut-down, emotionally neglected boy that Spenser first assesses as “an unlovely little bastard”, I cried in sympathy and relief for Paul.

Over a summer, Spenser taught him skills, built up his strength and gave him the confidence to find his own dreams, before leaving him at the doorway to the life he now knew he wanted. As an adult, I cried with joy for Spenser, who connected with a stranger, taught what he had to teach, and changed a life.

Really helping… show more.

Robert B. Parker’s Early Autumn isn’t a new book, but it’s new to me.

In this entry in Parker’s beloved series, private detective Spenser finds himself responsible for a sullen teenage boy. The novel is a breathtaking story of the families we make, the price we pay for love, and what it means to grow up.

No big shock here, recommending a Spenser book, right? The iconic private eye is probably the most imitated in the genre and, for me, at least, his plotlines are usually secondary to his prose and his message.

In Early Autumn, Spenser takes on a case of a narcissistic woman (an outdated recurring theme in the early books) but quickly changes his focus to her neglected son. Spenser teaches the boy to be a man through carpentry, cooking, exercise, and boxing, using all as a vehicle for self-sufficiency. He encourages the boy to find a passion, and when Paul chooses modern… show more.

When I think about the interaction of my own two detectives, Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido, I know Parker’s influence is still present. The banter between his iconic private eyes Spenser and Hawk is some of the very best dialogue you will find in crime fiction. He also had the wonderful ability to make even minor characters three-dimensional and interesting.