When Spenser, private investigator, is approached by Walter Clive, president of Three Fillies Stables, to find out who is threatening is two-year-old horse Hugger Mugger, he cannot say no. Then the case takes a more deadly turn when the attacker claims a human victim.
Hugger Mugger (Spenser)
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Product Description
From Amazon
Why is somebody shooting Walter Clive's horses at Three Fillies Stables in Lamarr, Georgia? That's what toothy, patrician Walter wants the droll, hulking Boston detective Spenser to find out. Walter worries that his racetrack phenomenon Hugger Mugger, worth millions, is next. So Spenser goes south to a place where "the heat felt like it could be cut into squares and used to build a wall," as he puts it in the crisp Chandleresque lingo that made him famous in dozens of novels.
The Clive clan is one weird bunch. Take Walter's daughters, his three "fillies." Penny is like her dad, all impeccable looks and icy efficiency. Stonie and SueSue take after their sinister mom, who left the family to live with a guitarist in San Francisco and changed her name to Sherry Lark. Penny helps Dad run the business, while her soused sisters cheat on their pathetic husbands, Cord and Pud. (Pud's short for Puddle; his dad was named Poole.) As unsightly family secrets spill, Spenser feels like he's in a Tennessee Williams play. Then someone on two legs takes a bullet, and the mystery gets tense. Spenser gets plenty of sarcastic mileage out of upper-class horse-country twits, crooked security guards, dumb jocks gone to seed, and wily Southern lawyers, and the story saunters well. What's best are the endless wisecracks, the unflattering thumbnail character sketches, and sharp sentences like this one: "Like all jockeys, he was about the size of a ham sandwich, except for his hands, which appeared to be those of a stonemason." --Tim Appelo --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
Despite frequent appearances by Susan Silverman (longtime love of Boston PI Spenser) and the absence of Hawk (his enigmatic sidekick), the latest entry in Parker's estimable series is a worthy one. Missing is the sap that can stickie-up scenes between Spenser and Susan, and in Hawk's place strides a new sidekick, Tedy Sapp, who's gay and as tough as they come. Tedy's only a temp replacement, though, because the reason he's here and Hawk's not is that most of the action takes place in rural Georgia, where Tedy owns a gay bar. Spenser travels there on his own temp job--to find out who's been shooting horses at Three Fillies Stables, owned by Walter Clive, the most powerful man in the county, and to keep that someone from shooting Clive's prize thoroughbred, Hugger Mugger. Spenser roots through the highly dysfunctional family of Clive's three daughters and their husbands (one a pedophile, one a drunk), annoys Clive's security men and befriends both Tedy and the local sheriff, with whom the PI discusses doughnuts. When Clive is shot dead, Spenser is fired by the alpha daughter, only to be rehired by Clive's mistress, who believes there's more to the mayhem than horseplay. This novel offers more traditional mystery elements than many Spenser tales, although most readers will finger the prime villain way before Spenser does. The pacing is strong, the characters are fresh as dew and the prose is Parker-perfect. The Spenser-specific personal drama that drives the best of the tales is lacking, but overall, the story will fit Parker fans like an old shoe. (Apr.) FYI: Parker's most recent novel, Family Honor, will be filmed starring Helen Hunt.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
I WAS At my desk, in my office, with my feet up on the windowsill, and a yellow pad in my lap, thinking about baseball. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
I WAS At my desk, in my office, with my feet up on the windowsill, and a yellow pad in my lap, thinking about baseball. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
By A Customer
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I hadn't read a Spenser novel since high school, but remember enjoying reading them when the series was on TV. What a disappointment! I felt like I was reading something that had been written in a two week burst of procrastination. I wouldn't recommend this book for anyone who enjoys more than cartoon sketches attempting to pass for characters.
Format:Mass Market Paperback
My disappointment in this Spenser book is probably my fault. Reading the jacket, I thought that hey, Parker is going to see what he can do with Spenser in a Dick Francis type story. I shoulda known better.
The race horse element in this book is strictly peripheral to a rather tired and typical Spenser storyline. Even Spenser himself sounds like he's getting tired of the series. When he's let go early in the book, he actually says okay, goes home, takes a ho-hum case and is ready to forget all about the job he was first hired to do, until he's hired by another of those involved. When he goes back, those he wants to question refuse to talk to him, and be darned if he doesn't accept that. Hey, this isn't the Spenser we've known and loved!
I'm not going to tell you not to read this book. If you're a Spenser addict like me, you'll read it anyway. However, this book convinced me that it's time for me to investigate his two new series.
Format:Mass Market Paperback
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.
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.
Want to see more reviews on this item?
›
Go to Amazon.com to see all 104 reviews
3.3 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Quick, verbal, vaguely intelligent
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... Read more
Published on Jan 28 2002 by Elsie Wilson
4.0 out of 5 stars
Hugger Mugger great read but....
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. Read more
Published on Dec 30 2001 by "casluve"
2.0 out of 5 stars
Time and Again
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... Read more
Published on Nov 20 2001
3.0 out of 5 stars
Detective Lite
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... Read more
Published on Nov 1 2001 by Dr. Christopher Coleman
4.0 out of 5 stars
Giddy-up
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... Read more
Published on Sep 25 2001 by Untouchable
4.0 out of 5 stars
Spencer All Over Again
Typical Spencer novel. It is so similar to all other Spencer novels that I almost thought I had read it before. Read more
Published on Aug 8 2001 by mimozas_husband
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not quite the winner's circle, but close!
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... Read more
Published on July 29 2001 by Judith Lindenau
3.0 out of 5 stars
Hugger Mugger entertains....
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... Read more
Published on July 22 2001 by L. Quido
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Horse of Another Color
"Hugger Mugger," the 27th in the venerable Spenser series offers a bit of a change of pace from other recent Spenser tales. Read more
Published on July 19 2001 by Marc Ruby™
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Southern Spenser Mystery
Hugger Mugger is more of a mystery novel than the typical Spenser, which usually contains a lot more violence. Read more
Published on Jun 26 2001 by Christopher Fama
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
