{"id":9441,"date":"2017-11-19T10:36:59","date_gmt":"2017-11-19T15:36:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=9441"},"modified":"2024-05-17T20:06:59","modified_gmt":"2024-05-18T00:06:59","slug":"paper-doll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9441","title":{"rendered":"Paper Doll"},"content":{"rendered":"

Paper Doll<\/a><\/em> (1993) Robert B Parker<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Spenser is hired to look into the murder of the wife of Louden Tripp, who is presented as an ideal wife and mother–a pillar of society without a blemish. Except that she was brutally murdered. So Quill recommends Spenser to look into it. And we meet Lee Farrell for the first time, who I very much like.<\/p>\n

Farrell emptied his shot glass, and drank the remainder of his beer. He nodded toward the bartender, who refilled him. There was a flush on Farrell\u2019s cheeks, and his eyes seemed bright. <\/p>\n

\u201cHow many people in this room you figure are gay?\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

I glanced around the room. It was full of men. I swallowed a little more beer. I looked at Farrell and shrugged. \u201cEverybody but me,\u201d I said. <\/p>\n

\u201cPretty sure you can tell by just looking?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a gay bar,\u201d I said. \u201cI know you\u2019re gay. Quirk told me.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t care,\u201d I said. \u201cI don\u2019t care if you are as good as I am or not. I don\u2019t care if you\u2019re tough or not, or smart or not. I don\u2019t care if you are gay or straight or both or neither. I care about finding out who killed that broad with a framing hammer, and so far you\u2019re not helping me worth shit.\u201d <\/p>\n

Farrell sat for a while staring at me, with the dead-eyed cop that all of them perfect, then he nodded as if to himself. He picked up the whiskey and sipped a little and put the glass down. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou know,\u201d he said, \u201csometimes if I\u2019m alone, and there\u2019s no one around . . .\u201d He glanced up and down the bar and lowered his voice. \u201c. . . I order a sloe gin fizz,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA dead giveaway,\u201d I said. \u201cNow that we\u2019ve established that you\u2019re queer and you\u2019re here, can we talk about the Nelson case?\u201d I said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That may sound like a ridiculous passage in 2017, but this book was published in 1993, the height of the AIDS crisis, and in the US men like Spenser did not accept men like Farrell. Yet her is Spenser not only not having a problem with a gay policeman, but accepting him.<\/p>\n

It’s a small thing, but that may be one of the first times something like that happened in a popular series.<\/p>\n

As Spenser looks into her death, it immediately becomes obvious that someone powerful is trying to keep him from looking into the murder.<\/p>\n

And let me go off on another tangent. As I write this, it is November 2017, and the news is full of sexual assault and sexual harassment cases. Which made these bits particularly timely. Remember, this was published in 1993.)<\/p>\n

Men never laughed quite that way about anything but women in a sexual context. And it was sycophantic laughter, tinged with gratitude that a man of the Senator\u2019s prominence had shared with them not only a salacious remark but a salacious view of life. <\/p>\n

\u201cOld enough to bleed,\u201d the Senator said, \u201cold enough to butcher.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cWhy are you interested in Stratton?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cSome people working for him tried to chase me off the Olivia Nelson case.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cProbably fucking her, and afraid it\u2019ll get out.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cDoesn\u2019t sound like the Olivia Nelson I\u2019ve been sold, but say it was, and he was,\u201d I said. \u201cIs it that big a secret?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s probably going to be in the presidential primaries,\u201d Cosgrove said. \u201cRemember Gary Hart?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cOkay,\u201d he said. \u201cHere\u2019s the deal. I was, ah . . .\u201d He looked back at his knuckles. \u201cI was . . .\u201d He grinned at me, still sincere, but now a little roguish too. \u201cI was fucking Olivia Nelson.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cHow nice for her,\u201d I said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is off the record, of course,\u201d Stratton said. <\/p>\n

\u201cOf course,\u201d I said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI got to know her at a few fund-raisers. Her husband\u2019s one of those Beacon Hill old money liberals, and one thing led to another, and we were in the sack.\u201d Stratton winked at me. \u201cYou know how those things go,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d I said. \u201cHow?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Again, this was 1993, and Spenser’s tone here is not what you would expect. Because it was all but expected that prominent politicians would be getting some on the side.<\/p>\n

There is more to this, but it comes as part of the bit reveal at the end, so I’ll just say that it seemed appropriate to today.<\/p>\n

One of the things I particularly liked about this story was the son, who seems pretty much worthless throughout most of the book.<\/p>\n

His stare was full of arrogance. It came with wealth and position. And it came with being a wrestler. <\/p>\n

He thought he could toss me on my kiester. If I kept talking to them he was going to try it, and find he had misjudged. It would probably be a good thing for him to learn. But now was probably not the best time for him to learn it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

All through the book he comes across as a worthless, spoiled, jerk. Yet in the end…<\/p>\n

Chip looked at his father, who seemed frozen in time, then he went suddenly to his knees beside his sister and put his arms around her and pressed her head against his chest. She let him hold her there.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I love how after seeing this kid as horrible throughout the whole story, suddenly he isn’t.<\/p>\n

I do love the bits about food, which take on more prominence as the series continues.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose are chicken breasts pounded flat and coated with cornbread crumbs,\u201d I said. \u201cAnd flavored with rosemary.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWill you fry them in lard?\u201d Susan said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI will coat a fry pan with corn oil and then pour it out, leaving a thin film in the pan, then I will gently saut\u00e9 the breast cutlets until golden brown,\u201d I said. <\/p>\n

\u201cExactly,\u201d Susan said. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd for dessert,\u201d I said, \u201cthere\u2019s sour cherry pie.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I wonder if many people even know what this is anymore:<\/p>\n

He nodded, and wrote me out a check in a stately, flowing Palmer-method hand.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I only know that because that is how Grandmom was taught to write.<\/p>\n

He’s still admitting to having fought in Korea.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou fought in Korea. Were you an officer?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Paper Doll (1993) Robert B Parker Spenser is hired to look into the murder of the wife of Louden Tripp, who is presented as an ideal wife and mother–a pillar of society without a blemish. Except that she was brutally murdered. So Quill recommends Spenser to look into it. And we meet Lee Farrell for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8,291,43,148,41],"tags":[106,107],"class_list":["post-9441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mystery","category-paper","category-private-eye","category-queer","category-reread","tag-robert-b-parker","tag-spenser"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-2sh","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":34,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/34","url_meta":{"origin":9441,"position":0},"title":"Spenser","author":"Michelle","date":"July 7, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Robert B. Parker's Spenser mysteries. So while home sick, I decided to read all the Robert B Parker Spenser books I could get my hands on. I think that would be all of them but two. Here are my thoughts (will probably continue to be updated\/): The Godwulf Manuscript (1973)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mystery"","block_context":{"text":"Mystery","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/mystery"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9641,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9641","url_meta":{"origin":9441,"position":1},"title":"Hush Money, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"January 24, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Hush Money, Audio Version (1999\/2000) Robert B Parker narrated by Burt Reynolds WARNING: The production and transfer to digital on this are awful. Truly terrible. What I listened to was full of clicks and skips and was generally terrible. If I'd have paid money for it instead of borrowing I'd\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Hush-Money.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":89,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/89","url_meta":{"origin":9441,"position":2},"title":"Small Vices","author":"Michelle","date":"July 2, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Small Vices (1997) Robert B. Parker Okay, so I didn't totally resist, but I've limited myself to just Small Vices, which is one of my favorite Spenser books. Small Vices was my introduction to Spenser. It is also the reason I have some small affection for Burt Reynolds. Back when\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Comfort Read"","block_context":{"text":"Comfort Read","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/reread\/comfort-read"},"img":{"alt_text":"small vices.jpg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.klishis.com\/Books\/images\/small%20vices.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":93,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/93","url_meta":{"origin":9441,"position":3},"title":"Cold Service","author":"Michelle","date":"July 11, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Cold Service (2005) Robert B. Parker I had figured that I was going to have to wait a year, until it came out in paperback, to read the latest Spender book. However, we found a hardback copy at Half Price Books, cheaper than the coming paperback will be, so we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mystery"","block_context":{"text":"Mystery","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/mystery"},"img":{"alt_text":"cold service.jpg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.klishis.com\/Books\/images\/cold%20service.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":22553,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/22553","url_meta":{"origin":9441,"position":4},"title":"Valediction, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"November 23, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Valediction , Audio Book (1984) Robert B. Parker narrated by Michael Prichard (Spenser) Spenser continues to unravel as Susan moves to California to work. And starts seeing someone else. Paul is staying with Spenser for summer break, and suggests Spenser take a case for the director of the dance company\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Valediction","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Spenser-Valediction.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":325,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/325","url_meta":{"origin":9441,"position":5},"title":"Small Vices","author":"Michelle","date":"November 13, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Small Vices (1997) Robert B Parker On the trip to get my grandmother, as I was driving alone I wanted a book to listen to, to help me stay awake and coherent. I grabbed Small Vices, read by Burt Reynolds to keep me company on the trip. I really do\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "10\/10"","block_context":{"text":"10\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/10-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"small_vices","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/11\/small_vices.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9441\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}