Crimson Joy, Audio Version

Crimson Joy, Audio Version (1988/1999) Robert B Parker narrated by Michael Prichard

Someone is killing middle-aged black women in a horrible way, and Quirk has recieved a letter claiming the killer is a police officer. So he calls Spenser in to look at things from the outside (and as someone he can trust who he can talk to).

I have a lot of problems with this book, mostly with Susan.

Unlike previous books, we have brief scenes inside the murder’s head, as he is talking to his psychologist. (Guess who that might be.) It’s not awful, but it is jarring, because it is unexpected (and I don’t remember him doing that again). However, I do kind of get why he added those, bits, because there was no other way to share the information he did in the final scene. And I think that *was* important.

But that wasn’t my biggest problem. My biggest problem would be everyone dancing around Susan’s refusal to discuss her patients once it becomes clear the killer is one of her patients.

I also have grave issues with police procedures in this story–not Quirk bringing in Spenser, but the way Spenser wouldn’t tell the police–or even Quirk–when he is certain who the murderer is. Even if the police believed they had caught the killer, they still had Susan being threatened by someone who was acting like the Red Rose killer.

And I don’t think that if she believed a patient was killing people Susan had any ethical reason to keep quiet about who she suspected. That really bothered me.

So although there were some things I liked about this–mainly the way the killer was humanized–I mostly found it a frustrating story.

Well I’ll be; he mentioned Korea again.

I was driving a black Jeep that year, with a hard top and all sorts of accessories that would have made the one I drove in Korea blush.

So we’ll see if it comes up again.
Rating: 5.5/10

Publisher: Random House Audio

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