Rating: 
Summary: usual Parker
Review: The plot is weak. The characters are uncompelling.
There's not a lot of mystery or suspense.
The description of the region in Georgia where most of
the action occurs is undistinctive and uninformative.A dud, right? If so, why did I enjoy it so much? It's Parker. He could write a book about Spenser
watching paint dry, and I'd be riveted. He pace, his
dialog, his style -- one is completely drawn into the
character and the scene. True, sometimes it seems Parker's a bit tired --
running on autopilot, perhaps stretched too thin by
his accelerated writing schedule of recent years.
But Hugger Mugger's still a good read -- a chance
to once again indulge in the work of a master of his
craft.
Rating:
Summary: Quick, verbal, vaguely intelligent
Review: Hugger Mugger is a horse, that much is clear. The rest of the facts, as they appear to Spenser and us, at the beginning of this fine book anyway, are not so clear or straightforward. Someone might be trying to kill Hugger Mugger, or they might not. There might be some oddities in the family of Spenser's client. The South might be an unhealthy place for him to practise. Slowly, very slowly, much becomes clearer, as a murder takes place and muddies the waters. As usual, at least half the pleasure in a Parker is the quality of writing and dialogue. Spenser is in fine form, both physically and mentally, and shows off just the right amount to remind us how much we love him ~ and don't think he doesn't know it. Susan is beautiful as ever, and, though tempted (oh, what it would be to be tempted in such ways) Spenser ramains faithful to her. Another successful Parker.
Rating: 
Summary: Hugger Mugger great read but....
Review: As usual Robert Parker comes through again with a good Spenser novel. For a Spenser fan this is a definite buy. But Spenser without Hawk is like peanut butter without Jelly. I liked Tedy but I sure was hoping it was his dry wisecracking side kick coming to the rescue. Also I missed Spenser's culinary skills in this issue. A little less sex, and a little more cooking. Loved the Susan in the sink. My fondest wish is Mr. Parker could write as fast as I can read them. Just bought his two new characters hope that can keep me busy.
Rating: 
Summary: Time and Again
Review: Another Robert B. Parker novel. Gee, what could it be about? How 'bout this?: Spenser (time-tested & true, sensitive, but macho hero) + Susan (randy talk & sound advice) + dysfunctional family (garden variety) + manly sidekick (oh heavens, a gay guy, this time!) + "snappy" dialogue (eat your hearts out, Nora & Nick) + less-than-obscure mastermind criminal (another woman!) + a dash of shotgun justice (always cathartic) = by gosh, another Spenser novel. Missing in action: Hawk (out to lunch in Europe, or someplace, with a presumably sexy Harvard professor. Yeah, right!). Less than usual: cooking (that's a relief) & dog antics (that's also a relief). Sum total: same-old same-old. "Old" being the key word.
Rating:
Summary: Detective Lite
Review: Reading one of Robert Parker's Spenser novels is like drinking a brand-name Lite beer. It's frothy, without much substance but enjoyable nevertheless, and you always know exactly what you are getting. No micro-brewery idiosyncrasies, delights, or surprises, pleasant or otherwise. But as I get older, I get more and more tired of the same old thing. Obviously Parker doesn't, nor do his readers, who never seem to demand more of him. Spenser never ages and nothing ever really changes in his universe. In Hugger Mugger, he's gone down to my home state of Georgia to solve a mystery--it doesn't really matter what the mystery is, frankly. Spenser's investigative technique is simple--he asks questions of people who in real life would never give him the information he seeks. From a bouncer at a gay bar he elucidates information about one of their patrons, and from a madam, he not only gains material about one of her prostitutes, but her clients as well--and not a penny changed hands. He finally manages to figure out that the villains of the piece are both the most and least obvious people, operating in collusion, and any halfway astute reader will be chapters ahead of him. The conclusion is totally ludicrous, with one of the villains "luring" Spenser to the most obvious of ambushes, and Spenser going along to ambush the nominal ambushers--somehow he neglects to inform the police, even though he has a perfectly decent contact with them. Frankly, it's just a poorly thought-out excuse for Spenser to shoot people, since he hasn't had such an opportunity to do so previously in this expedition. Whatever would a Spenser novel be without gunplay? He's no Miss Marple, but oddly enough Parker even includes an old-fashioned denoument after the flying bullets, in which Spenser confronts everyone involved in a single room and says who dunnit. And the thing of it is, that in spite of a non-plot and a non-mystery and the most annoyingly stereotypical cast of characters--they've all stepped right off the plane from the set of Dallas--we don't really mind much. Spenser is about snappy dialogue, and it is light escapist reading without question. So pop open the lid, pour yourself a glass, and admire the quips bubbling to the top. It's less filling, and tastes, well, okay.
Rating:
Summary: Giddy-up
Review: Hugger Mugger is a racehorse and a potentially valuable one at that. When someone starts shooting his stable mates and makes an attempt on him, his owners decide that it's time to bring in the big guns. Enter Spenser, imported from Boston down to Georgia to try to weave his magic. When he arrives, he realises that things don't add up. The horses that were shot aren't particularly valuable, no-one appears overly concerned that the shooter will strike again, and the family who hired him are, quite frankly, full of weirdos. Once again we are treated to a mystery that is investigated Spenser-style, which is to say, humorously, capably and never, ever dully. Ever quick with the snappy line, Spenser is always in control and although at times it seems that the investigation is going nowhere, you find that you're having so much fun you don't really mind.
Rating:
Summary: Spencer All Over Again
Review: Typical Spencer novel. It is so similar to all other Spencer novels that I almost thought I had read it before. Again we get to learn how tough Spencer is and yet how unprejudiced he is towards women (represented by Susan as usual) and all types of minorities. Yet again, I just love Spencer novels. I should probably be bored with them by now but I am not. Just a perfect reading for a lazy sunny Sunday, if you like Spencer that is.
Rating:
Summary: Not quite the winner's circle, but close!
Review: Like other prolific writers, Robert B. Parker has a recipe for constructing a novel--lots of action, violence, rich and powerful criminals, and the characters of Spenser and his entourage. This novel is no different, as other reviewers have pointed out. But what saves it is Parker's wonderful writing style: the ability to draw characters with a few simple brushstrokes, the wry humor and innate morality of Spenser, and the wealth of detail and background. Hugger Mugger is one of the best Spenser-recipe novels Parker has written. I recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Hugger Mugger entertains....
Review: but it is not as polished as most of the Spenser series. It's hard not to enjoy all of Parker's wisecracking characters, (Susan is featured in the cast, and brings her own style & humor to the forefront) but the wordplay between Spenser & Susan in this book is a little too much like foreplay, and the female villain is not believable. The ending has a twist, because not all of the guilty are made to pay. There is some good character support to supplant the missing Hawk (Spenser stories are never as good without Hawk!) in the form of Deputy Sheriff Becker and Tedy Sapp, a gay bouncer who Spenser befriends in his latest out of state foray, this time to Georgia. The Clive family is drawn too broadly as goofy, indulgent southerners, but all in all, the novel moves fast and a middle of the road Spenser novel is usually more entertaining than much of the other detective genre. Read on a road trip...it will keep you entertained!
Rating:
Summary: A Horse of Another Color
Review: "Hugger Mugger," the 27th in the venerable Spenser series offers a bit of a change of pace from other recent Spenser tales. The wise cracking detective plays most of this novel solo. Susan makes several guest experiences, but Hawk is off with a lady friend in the wilds of Europe and plays no part. Most of the story takes place in Lamarr, Georgia, in and around the Three Fillies Stables, home of a horse racing dynasty, the Clives, and Hugger Mugger, the horse who is expected to be the next Triple Crown champion. Walter Clive, the head of the family, hires Spenser to investigate several horse shootings at his Georgia stables, the last of which was an attempt on Hugger Mugger. Spenser discovers that his clients, Walter, Walter's daughter Penny, who manages the stables, his other daughters (Suesue and Stonie), as well as their husbands are wealthy as can be, and three times as dysfunctional. Spenser gets his choice of alcoholics, sexual peccadilloes, myriad weird compulsive behaviors, and a psychotic security chief as he sorts through a mystery which makes little or no sense. Suddenly the story turns serious when Walter Clive is murdered. Penny, the daughter in charge promptly fires Spenser and sends him home. But nothing keeps a good P.I. down for long. Dolly, Walter's not quite wife, rehires Spencer to investigate further. She believes that her son, whom DNA testing has proved to be Walter's, is being cheated of his inheritance. Spenser, helped by Deputy Sheriff Becker and a bouncer at the local bar (both of whom are no slouches at wisecracking), begin the work of finding the mind behind the murder. In truth, "Hugger Mugger" is a bit light on plot, and the mystery is more about Spenser figuring out 'how' not discovering 'who.' Everybody in the book wisecracks, except for the poor psychopathic security chief. This is funny, but wears thin in high doses. For some reason, feeling it necessary to include Susan, Parker seems compelled to make most of her and Spenser's moments overtly sexual, which overbalances their relationship, and make it ring a bit false. While this is not the perfect Spenser story, the reader needs to keep in mind that even a bad novel by Robert Parker is going to be an enjoyable read. And this is by no means a bad novel. The Clive husbands and the bar bouncer are very fine characterizations. In addition, Parker shows himself capable of taking on some controversial themes. This is well worth the reading, and is one of the later Spenser novels that can stand alone, making it a good starter for those interested in the series.
|
