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Summary
Summary
Boston P.I. Sunny Randall-as conflicted as she is beautiful-helps a troubled young woman locate her birth parents only to uncover some dark truths of her own. My ex-husband was getting married to a woman I wanted to kill. I didn't actually know her, and killing her would only make matters worse. But I got as much pleasure out of the idea as I could before I had to let go of it. And so begins Melancholy Baby, the fourth novel in the bestselling series featuring Sunny Randall who now faces the unthinkable: the marriage of her ex-husband, Richie, to someone else. Despite the formality of divorce, Sunny and Richie's relationship had continued, in its own headstrong way, until Richie's desire for marriage overtook Sunny's need for freedom. So when college student Sarah Markham comes asking for help in finding her birth parents, Sunny realizes she must take the case, if only to distract her from her personal life. But life and work have a curious-and dangerous-way of intersecting. Before the investigation has a chance to take off, two key players are dead, and Sunny is back on a psychiatrist's couch, probing her own past for clues. What she discovers has the potential to shatter Sarah Markham's family and destroy her sense of self, while Sunny's own beliefs are put to the ultimate test. Emotionally complex and rich with insight, this is the Grand Master at his storytelling best.
Author Notes
Robert Brown Parker was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, on September 17, 1932. He received a B.A. from Colby College in 1954, served in the U.S. Army in Korea, and then returned to receive a M. A. in English literature from Boston University in 1957. He received a Ph.D. in English literature from Boston University in 1971.
Before becoming a full-time writer in 1979, he taught at Lowell State College, Bridgewater State College and Northwestern University.
In 1971, Parker published The Godwuff Manuscript, as homage to Raymond Chandler. The character he created, Spencer, became his own detective and was featured in more than 30 novels. His Spencer character has been featured in six TV movies and the television series Spencer: For Hire that starred Robert Urich and ran from 1985 to 1988.
He is also the author of the Jesse Stone series, which has been made into a series of television movies for CBS, and the Sunny Randall series. His novel Appaloosa (2005) was made into a 2008 movie directed by and starring Ed Harris. He has received numerous awards for his work including an Edgar Award for Best Novel in 1977 for The Promised Land, Grand Master Edgar Award for his collective oeuvre in 2002, and the Gumshoe Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008. He died of a heart attack on January 18, 2010 at the age of 77.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
The title refers to two characters: Boston college student Sarah Markham, convinced that her parents adopted her, and Boston PI Sunny Randall, hired by Sarah to certify her parentage. Sarah is melancholy because her parents refuse to take a DNA test to settle the issue and seem furtive; Sunny, because her ex-husband, Richie, has just remarried. In this excellent fourth Sunny Randall PI tale (after Shrink Rap), Sarah's sadness leads to murder, as Sunny's questioning of the parents results in one of their deaths at the hands of the person who would suffer most if the truth comes out. Sunny's own blues lead her to Dr. Susan Silverman and sessions on the couch that, however well observed, will have fans of Parker's PI Spenser who are terminally tired of Susan (Spenser's longtime girlfriend) gritting their teeth at her intrusion into another series. Still, Sunny's own regulars, particularly tough gay pal Spike, hold their own in the tale. There's little here that Parker hasn't done before, like his protagonist's side trip to New York and her tangling with venal lawyers and reptilian celebrities as well as Parker's sensitive exploration of the meaning of family and maturity and of the tension between self-reliance and love for another, but he does it so well here, with his impeccable prose and charismatic heroine, that fans will tremble with delight. Agent, Helen Brann. (Sept. 27) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
A Boston private eye who is both tough and literate and very, very witty and who has both a female shrink and a really mean muscle guy in the background--if this were a parlor game, the answer would instantly appear to be Spenser. But Parker has crafted a mystery series (this is the fourth installment) around a female Boston private eye who is the mirror image of Spenser. Both Spenser and new heroine Sunny Randall work virtually the same turf; they talk alike and think alike; Sunny even has a shrink, Dr. Silverman, who may very well be Susan Silverman, Spenser's longtime love. It's a mystery why Parker is fooling around with yin and yang here, and readers may rankle at a woman mouthing Spenserian wisecracks and striking tough-guy poses, but in spite of all that, this is still a fun series. In the latest, Sunny, upset over being upset about her divorced (at her instigation) husband's remarrying, seeks psychological help. At the same time, a confused 20-year-old who believes she is adopted seeks Sunny's help. The plot seems a little forced at first, with the conjunctions of screwed-up detective trying to solve another screwed-up person's problems feeling a bit strained, but Parker's gift for plot construction quickly comes to the fore, delivering a tantalizing mix of standard mystery fare (threats, murders, suspense) and some intriguing shards from the characters' pasts. Very odd, almost teasing, but riveting nonetheless. --Connie Fletcher Copyright 2004 Booklist
Library Journal Review
What to do when your ex-husband is about to marry? If you're Boston P.I. Sunny Randall, you jump into a new case: that of college student Sarah Markham, desperate to track down her birth parents. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.