When a mature, beautiful and composed April Kyle strides into Spenser's office, the Boston PI barely hesitates before recognizing his once and future client. Now a well-established madam herself, April oversees an upscale call girl operation in Boston's Back Bay. Still looking for Spenser's approval, it takes her a moment before she can ask him, again, for his help. Her business is a success; what's more, it's an all-female enterprise. Now that some men are trying to take it away from her, she needs Spenser's help.

April claims to be in the dark about who it is that's trying to shake her down, but with a bit of legwork and a bit more muscle, Spenser and Hawk find ties to organized crime and local kingpin Tony Marcus, as well as a scheme to franchise the operation across the country. As Spenser again plays the gallant knight, it becomes clear April's not as innocent as she seems. In fact, she may be her own worst enemy.



Robert B Parker was the best-selling author of over 60 books, including Small Vices, Sudden Mischief, Hush Money, Hugger Mugger, Potshot, Widows Walk, Night Passage, Trouble in Paradise, Death in Paradise, Family Honor, Perish Twice, Shrink Rap, Stone Cold, Melancholy Baby, Back Story, Double Play, Bad Business, Cold Service, Sea Change, School Days and Blue Screen. He died in 2010 at the age of 77.



''The woman who came into my office on a bright January day was a knockout.' When a novel begins with a reassuring sentence like that you know exactly where you are... Pacy, punchy, and very readable'



'Robert B Parker is one of the greats of the American hard-boiled genre'



'Nobody does it better than Parker'



'Why Robert Parker's not better known in Britain is a mystery. His best series featuring Boston-based PI Spenser is a triumph of style and substance'



'Just read it for the best of all the reasons for reading Parker's novels: the dialogue - super-slick and impossibly witty, the kind of repartee the rest of us can only think of when it's too late'