Rating: 
Summary: GOOD BUT NOT THE BEST SPENSER
Review: THIS BOOK ALONG WITH "SUDDEN MISCHIEF" ARE PARKER'S WEAKEST NOVELS. NO HAWK, LITTLE SUSAN, AND 1 TINY REFERENCE TO LEE FARRELL. NOT GOOD. THE DIALOGUE CRACKLES ENOUGH 4 ME TO RECOMMEND THIS BUT I WANTED MORE. WHY IN THE WORLD DID PARKER WASTE INK AND PAPER ON CHAPTERS 22-26 WHEN IT HAD NOTHING TO DO W/ THE WHOLE BOOK?. PARKER ALSO NEEDED TO ADD 1-2 MORE CHAPTERS TO REALLY END "HUGGER MUGGER" BECAUSE THE FINAL CHAPTER WASN'T REALLY FINAL. I GOT AN IDEA FOR THE NEXT SPENSER NOVEL: HAVE SPENSER TEAM W/ HAWK, THE MEXICAN HITMAN CHOLLO FROM "THIN AIR", SHERIFF BECKER AND EXCOP TURNED GAY BAROWNER TEDY SAPP FROM "HUGGER". SAPP AND GAY COP LEE FARRELL WOULD MAKE A GREAT PAIRING. THAT NOVEL WOULD REALLY BE SOMETHING.
Rating: 
Summary: entertaining
Review: This isn't Parker's best book, but it's good. Although writing about racing horses is a bit pointless when you've got Dick Francis doing nothing BUT horse-racing mysteries! But I suppose there are a million thrillers about Nazis (my favorite is "The Shape: A Novel of International Suspense," incidentally), so more than one suspense novelist using race-horses is ok. If you haven't read any of Parker's earliest books, read those first. But if you're a Parker fan, I don't think you'll necessarily be as disappointed as some Parker fans here were.
Rating:
Summary: Spencer out of his element
Review: It's hard not to like a Spencer novel. Those who have read any of Robert B. Parker's Spencer series would recognize any page of this book as being cut from the same mold that readers have come to expect from him; the wisecracks, the irreverant inner musings, the terse dialogue, the comfort with confronting violence. But something seems missing in this book, which takes Spencer into the deep south to solve the mystery of who is shooting a racing aristocrat's horses and why. What he finds is a disfunctional family of wealthy neurotics, a small town that conspires to keep their secrets, and a bigger, darker mystery when the head of the family is himself murdered. Much of this is as good as any Spencer book. I sometimes wonder if Parker can write this stuff in his sleep - it seems so easy but works so well. But the reader will miss certain things that give punch to other Spencer books which this one seems to lack. They will miss Hawk, who is reported to be in France and plays no part in the story. They will miss any excitement from Spencer being away from Susan. He meets more than one attractive and interested tempress but remains faithful. This is quite noble but as story telling it is really boring. I think it's time for Spencer to show a little male failing; the monogamous life limits the options for both plot complications and character revelation.On the issues of plot and character, it has to be said that this book has some interesting twists in both that I personally enjoyed, but on the whole found the characters to be less than well rounded and the plot basically unresolved. That said, I still enjoyed the book. Whatever Parker has, it works, even when he doesn't put his best foot forward. If you are a Spencer fan there is no way you would fail to read this book and enjoy it, even if you find yourself wishing for more.
Rating:
Summary: Unfinished!
Review: Spenser fans will be partially pleased and partially frustrated by this almost-done book. There's lots of good Spenser wisecracking, and more solidifying of his moral integrity and his relationship with Susan. But please, Mr. Parker! We readers need closure! Just nailing a bad guy and ending the book isn't enough. What happened with all the supporting characters? This book leaves us hanging. Good Spenser, Mr. Parker, but you've done better.
Rating: 
Summary: Dialogue is "off"
Review: I'm a Spenser fan, but this is the worst I remember reading. Parker's dialogue is "off" or forced. Most of it isn't funny but is trite. There's not much to the book, and I haven't been entertained.
Rating:
Summary: Not the best but more solid than some stuff
Review: The strength of these books (I think) in the beginning was the ability of the author to combine the style of a Raymond Chandler book with the attitude of thinking and caring atttached to the particular character of Spenser. Some of the books are better at it than others. When the Chandler style takes over, you end up with conversations that are little more than a series of one-liners--this book tends in that direction, although the repeated telephone psychology conversations (which don't fit the Chandler model) do help to keep real conversation going. I thought the plot was interesting although you could see the ending coming for quite awhile and the end of the book was abrupt. I felt a little as if he were recycling elements of other successful books here; the strong gay character, or the hostage holding (from Looking for Rachel Wallace). I, too, missed Hawk. But I liked the more conversational, vocal style.
Rating: 
Summary: One of Parker's Best Spenser novels!
Review: This is Parker's best Speser novel in recent years. Over time the character and his relationship with Susan Silverman and Hawk has grown quite matter of fact. Lost was the essence of the main character that was in the earlier books. I can only guess but I think Parker has had a good strategy the last few years. He wrote a couple of novels with a different male character (vasty different from Spenser) and one with a female character (but much like Spenser). Returning in Hugger Mugger, parker takes Spenser out of all the "normal" settings - away from Boston, away from Hawk (no "jive-talk" bantering)and leaves Susan Silverman and Pearl the Wonderdog as supporting characters. By doing this the author has forced himself to concentrate on Spenser - the character and by doing that has succeeded in bringing back the "something" that makes this character work. The plot itself is quite good, but the character (and the supporting "cast") is what makes this work. My only complaint (minor) is how it ended -I felt there was a "wrap up" chapter missing, but all in all a great mystery and a fabulously great Spenser novel!
Rating: 
Summary: A clunker
Review: It finally happened...Parker has writen a stinker. I have read (and loved) all of his books...well maybe not "All Our Yesterdays" but the rest. What happened to him in this one ? The sheriff is the only interesting one in the whole book and the ending reads as if Parker lost interest in this mess and just gave up.
Rating:
Summary: Mugged, not Hugged
Review: One of the thinnest plots ever involving Spenser. So sparse that in the middle Spenser goes back to Boston (from the south) and gets involved in a few chapters of do-gooding that has no relation to the main plot. No Hawk. All the good guys are either black or gay. The bad guys are white and rich. No suspense. Wide margins, large type and double spacing make this a perfect airplane book if you aren't flying too far. If going from coast to coast, bring a back up, because you'll polish this turkey off by the time you hit the Mississippi River.
Rating:
Summary: SOUTHERN CHARM
Review: Hugger Mugger was my first Robert Parker book and I really enjoyed it. A short fast read provides enjoyment and intrigue. Life in Southern Georgia sounds charming and the relationship between Spenser and Susan delightful. The twist on the family dynamics was a bit bizarre but lent an interesting twist to the story line. I am hooked on Spenser and will definitely look for more books by this author.
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