I’ve been reading Robert B. Parker since 1978. He has three series currently in the works: his long-running Spenser series, the Sunny Randall series about a female private eye, and Jesse Stone, the police chief in a small town. All have commonalities and often move through the same world of supporting characters.

In addition to his mystery/suspense series, Parker has also written stand-alones and Westerns, including the recent Appaloosa. I’m looking forward to his first young adult title out next year. It’s called The Edenville Owls, and the title alone has me curious.

The first Spenser book I read was Promised Land, which was – coincidentally – the first book that introduced Spenser’s relationship with Hawk, the street-smart black enforcer who’s been Spenser’s best friend through thick and thin.

During these past 28 years I’ve grown, but Spenser still maintains the same eternal vigilance he’s always shown, and always remained more or less true to his roots. He’s the quintessential private eye, the tough guy with the smart lip, and he’s not afraid of anybody. An ex-boxer, Spenser knows his way around a physical confrontation, whether it’s with fists or with pistols. However, he’s also probably the best-read and one of the best gourmets (hats off to Nero Wolfe as the best) and best ladies’ men out there.

Spenser has a wide circle of friends. There’s Susan Silverman, his lover; Hawk, his friend; Paul Giacomin, his surrogate son; Frank Belson and Martin Quirk, the homicide guys. And dozens besides. Spenser has helped them all out of tough spots now and again.

But the one person many fans seem split over is April Kyle. In the book Ceremony, Spenser was recruited by Susan to help find a wayward teenager, one of her students. As it turned out, April ran away from home to become self-sufficient – and immediately fell into a life of prostitution. However, she was with some heavy-handed creeps that were destined to use her and lose her.

Spenser rescued April from what was doomed to be a short, unhappy life. However, since April refused to go back home and threatened only to run away again if anyone made her go home, Spenser elected an innovative course and talked to professional madam Patricia Utley. Utley agreed to move April from the streets into penthouse prostitution, at least saving her as much as they were able.

A few years later, April became a woman and fell in love. Then she was taken away again. Spenser was once more called on to rescue her in Taming A Seahorse. At the end of the novel, April kind of gave up on love and returned to the life she’d made for herself.