Review of "Back Story" by Robert B. Parker, Joe Mantegna

Spenser is getting older, but he has not really slowed down. This time he sets out to solve a thirty-year-old murder. He is doing this as a favor to an old friend. The plot concerns a group that was active during 70's. They called themselves The Dread Scott Brigade. The group held up a bank and during the robbery a woman was shot and killed. With no clues and the fact that the FBI report about this group is missing, Spenser sets out on another exciting mystery. He does it with the style that only an old Spenser fan can appreciate.

What? You aren't familiar with this detective? Start now and you will be hooked and can enjoy a wealth of old stories in which Spenser is the hero. Avoid the old television series starring the late Robert Urich. While it had popular appeal, it didn't do justice to the exciting series of detecive mystery books.

From my point of view Spenser and his black cohort really do overdo the hip talk this time out. Actor Joe Mantegna is a fine reader for any Spencer story, having portrayed the detective himself in a short-lived series of TV movies, and he does this one very well. I hope that Parker can tone the fast talking pair down a shade when they return.