PAINTED LADIES by Robert B. Parker

"You're looking to even it up," Healy said.
"Something like that," I said.
"I know," Healy said.
"I know you do," I said.

The world of crime fiction was saddened by the loss of author Robert B. Parker in January but thankfully, his work lives on.

In this 39th Spenser novel, an art guru named Ashton Prince hires the Boston private eye for protection after a rare painting (Lady with a Finch) is stolen from a local museum. 

Prince, a professor, is chosen to be the middle man between the museum and the thieves. He wants Spenser around in case things go wrong. Unfortunately for Prince, things go horribly wrong. While Spenser sits in a car, the transaction goes down, and Prince is blown to pieces on his way back to said car.

Spenser is hard-nosed and can't let it go because he failed his deceased employer (and, a mystery is a mystery). He meets the strange, poet wife of Prince and discovers that the deceased was quite a womanizer. A student named Missy who has an insurance agent mother named Winifred, who is presiding over the art case. After a couple attempts on his own life, Spenser (with help from police friends) discovers that the painting mystery traces back World War II. 

It seems that the painting belonged to a Jewish family, most of whom were murdered in the Holocaust. A young boy survived and ended up selling the painting. A foundation bearing his name seems to be involved and Spenser intends to find out how. More deaths and drama follow until everything is revealed.

The action and actual plot seemed to be a small part of this story. If the annoying banter between Spenser and his girlfriend Susan were removed and the lengthy amounts of sarcasm by the detective were taken out, the book would have been about 15 pages long. It is tough to make text involving art exciting, so kudos to Parker for trying. But I can't say that he completely succeeded.

It looks like one more Spenser novel was completed before Parker's death, so here's hoping it is a little more fun to read and doesn't leave me with more questions than answers at the end.

C+

Publisher: Putnam Adult
Release Date: October 5, 2010