Laura Crain–wife of billionaire battery innovator Andrew Crain and friend of Susan Silverman—hires Spenser to investigate Andrew's sudden paranoia.

ROBERT B. PARKER'S BROKEN TRUST sees Mike Lupica move from Sunny Randall and Jesse Stone to Parker's best-known character, a shift that interested me more than the plot du jour. As a former English teacher, my main pleasure reading Parker novels was his eloquent yet succinct way with words, shown through Spenser most of all his characters. With Parker gone and current authors continuing his series, it's only fair I give some leeway for each author to interpret and deliver the characters. For example, Reed Farrel Coleman's style writing Jesse Stone distinctly differed from Parker's yet delivered and fleshed out the characters well enough for six novels.

Mike Lupica doesn't seem to try to emulate Spenser's internal monologue as Ace Atkins did. Lupica's sentences are longer and less mellifluous than Parker's. He describes more, gives more stage direction, explains Spenser's references. These differences are more noticeable in Spenser than in Sunny Randall or Jesse Stone because Spenser was more identified with Parker than the others. While I find the description, direction, and explanation unnecessary, they may help readers new to Spenser. And the plot I mentioned does place Spenser in a new, post-pandemic world Parker didn't know.

Despite these changes, Lupica delivers a most important aspect of Spenser's character: His client is killed early in the novel; there's no case for him to stay on; yet Spenser remains determined to find answers and honor Laura's memory.

Thanks again to Putnam for the NetGalley. ROBERT B. PARKER'S BROKEN TRUST goes on sale November 28.

I love Spenser. Reading each novel is a special treat for me. This is no exception. As many popular authors rely on the same formula and novels become plotless chases, Parker (Lupica) brings his cast into a new and arresting adventure.

Broken Trust tells the story of the super wealthy confronted by betrayal, mental illness and death. Spenser becomes involved in this morass when a friend of his beloved Susan comes to him in search of reasons that her husband’s behavior has become erratic.

I enjoyed the story and I suspect that the loose ends will be tied up in a future book. I eagerly await the next installment and look forward to reading it and continuing on my Spenser tours of Boston every time I visit.

Thank you Netgalley for this opportunity to review a book about my favorite detective and his pals.