Robert B. Parker…

Robert B. Parker died today.

He was the author who wrote a lot of detective books… along with a few Westerns.

His characters include Spencer (Robert Urich played the character on TV’s Spenser: For Hire), Hawk (Avery Brooks had a spin off TV series), Jesse Stone (Played by Tom Selleck in a series of TV movies), and Sunny Randall (He wrote a female character at the request of Helen Hunt, although no Movies or TV shows came from it.)

His Boston-based characters appear to be chiseled from the same stone that his predecessors Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and Ross MacDonald worked from… but the inclusion of many different ethnic, gay and lesbian characters portrayed without stereotypes, as well as strong intelligent female characters, leaves no doubt of its modern sensibility.

His three western novels were also well received, and one (Appaloosa) was turned into a major motion picture.

Throughout my life, I have always enjoyed Mystery and Detective novels.

Some click, and others, do not.

I grew up on Ellery Queen, and when those were exhausted, graduated to Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe.

When he passed, I turned to Robert B. Parker and, more recently, Robert Crais.

Now, sadly, I must go searching again, trying to find an author who pens a sleuth with an attitude, a sharp eye and a quick wit.

They are a rare breed… and we lost a very good one today.