Bad Business by Robert B. Parker – A Spencer Novel Copyright 2004
From the inside cover: A cheating husband and a wayward wife provide Spencer with an unconventional and dangerous surveillance job.
When Marlene Crowly hires Spenser to see if her husband, Trent, is cheating on her, he encounters more than he bargained for: he finds not only a two-timing husband, but a second investigator as well, hired by the husband to look after the wife. As a result of their joint efforts, Spencer soon finds himself investigating both individuals depravity and corporate corruption.
It seems the folks in the Cowleys’ circle have become enamored of radio talk show host Darrin O’Mara whose’s views on courtly love are clouding some already fuzzy minds with the notion of cross-connubial relationships. O’Marra’s brand of sex therapy is unconventional at best, unlawful – and deadly at worst. Then a murder at Kinergy, where Trent Cowley is CFO, sends Spenser in yet another direction. Apparently the unfettered pursuit of profit has a price.
With razor-sharp characterizations and finely honed prose, this Parker writing at the height of his powers.