Terry Ambrose

Home of Mysteries with Character

Review of Robert B. Parker’s Little White Lies by Ace Atkins

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Little White LiesFrom the publisher

Boston PI Spenser and right hand Hawk follow a con man’s trail of smoke and mirrors in the latest entry of the iconic crime series. After conning everyone from the cable news shows to the local cops, it looks like the grifter’s latest double cross may be his last.

My review of Little White Lies

Let’s begin with the fact that Robert B. Parker’s Spenser is one of those staples of the PI mystery genre that has been around a very long time. And Ace Atkins took over the series at the request of the Robert B. Parker Estate. It would have been easy for Little White Lies and this series to go south. It’s done anything but.

The latest Spenser novel begins with a woman in love looking for the man of her dreams after she wrote him a check for $300,000. That’s a lot of cash and so when Connie Kelly asks Spenser to find her man and money, he willingly dives in.

Spenser’s dogged determination keeps him going as the stakes get higher and the lies deeper. He soon discovers the mystery man, M. Brooks Welles, is a supposed military hotshot, may be a CIA operative, and has ties to militant gun runners in the Deep South. He might also just be a con man who woos rich women for their money.

With typical Spenser dialogue and action, the latest Spenser novel pleased this long-time fan of the series. Atkins has included a few changes to the Spenser character that an avid fan might recognize or disagree with, but for those of us just interested in a good read with humor and a touch of classic Spenser toughness, this one hits the mark.

About Terry

I started out as a skip tracer. Just in case you don’t know, that’s the guy who finds the people who don’t want to be found. It was the little things—getting paid to lie—that made skip tracing the fun part of the job.

Those years of chasing deadbeats taught me many valuable life lessons, such as liars come from all walks of life, and always keep your car in the garage.

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Comments

  1. Michael Helms says

    I haven’t read any Spenser books since Ace Atkins took over. I do like Ace’s books and I’ve read several. Not so sure I like the idea of Atkins taking liberties with changing Spenser’s character. Yeah, I know, people can change as they grow older and meet new experiences, but still . . . Good review!
    –Michael