The Spenser Collection: Volume II: Back Story and Widow’s Walk by Robert B. Parker: (unabridged audiobook read by Joe Mantegna): This is sort of a silly way of doing things, as Widow’s Walk came out a year before Back Story and very clearly happens earlier in time, and yet appears on the latter half of this audiobook. Luckily, I was warned to listen to discs six through ten first, so I was not confused. In Widow’s Walk, a lawyer friend hires Spenser to help prove the innocense of a woman accused of murdering her husband. In Back Story, Spenser is hired to solve a 28-year-old murder and soon discovers the trail went cold due to a massive cover-up. And you know, I really enjoyed these. Spenser – and his friend Hawk even moreso – is absolutely hilarious. Mantegna was clearly having a ball. It took me a while to get used to his cadence but once I did, I had a great time. The random asides and interjections amused the heck out of me. Even better, though there’s a long series of Spenser novels, I never once felt like I needed to have read any of the previous books.
Also posted on BookCrossing.