Robert B. Parker

Robert B. Parker
Parker in 2006
Parker in 2006
BornRobert Brown Parker
(1932-09-17)September 17, 1932
Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedJanuary 18, 2010(2010-01-18) (aged 77)[1]
Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
OccupationNovelist
Period1974–2010
GenreDetective fiction, Western fiction
SpouseJoan Hall Parker (m. 1956)
Children2
Website
robertbparker.net

Robert Brown Parker (September 17, 1932 – January 18, 2010) was an American writer, primarily of fiction within the mystery/detective genre. His most famous works were the 40 novels written about the fictional private detective Spenser. ABC television network developed the television series Spenser: For Hire based on the character in the mid-1980s; a series of TV movies was also produced based on the character. His works incorporate encyclopedic knowledge of the Boston metropolitan area.[2] The Spenser novels have been cited as reviving and changing the detective genre by critics and bestselling authors [3] including Robert Crais, Harlan Coben, and Dennis Lehane.[4]

Parker also wrote nine novels featuring the fictional character Jesse Stone, a Los Angeles police officer who moves to a small New England town; six novels with the fictional character Sunny Randall, a female private investigator; and four Westerns starring the duo Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch. The first was Appaloosa, made into a film starring Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen.

  1. ^ "'Spenser' novelist Robert Parker dies in Cambridge". Boston Herald. Associated Press. 2010-01-19. Retrieved 2010-01-19.
  2. ^ Geherin, David (c. 1980). Sons of Sam Spade: the private-eye novel in the 70s: Robert B. Parker, Roger L. Simon, Andrew Bergman. Ungar. ISBN 0-8044-2231-1.
  3. ^ "Robert B. Parker left a mark on the detective novel" by Sarah Weinman, Los Angeles Times [1]
  4. ^ "His Spenser Novels Saved Detective Fiction" by Tom Nolan, The Wall Street Journal [2]