The Pupils of Peter the Great, a History of the Russian Court and Empire From 1697 to 1740 Book

Terrific. One of his very best in every way.

Most reviewers don't think highly of this book, but I strongly disagree...

I think it's brilliant, almost a caricature of Detective Noir, with a set of femme-fatales, a mind-bogglingly confusing plot, an array of situations and characters from both Jungle Capitalism and Bedroom Farce genres.

The book starts with a seemingly dull task for Spenser, and bit-by-bit Parker escalates it into a "true hairball", then almost farce. The humour builds slowly, until in the last half of the book there are dialogue or situations which rip repeated giggles and often guffaws from the discerning reader on every other page.
“Here they are,” Freckles said. “State cops.”
The car door opened and Healy got out.
I said, “Evening, Captain.”
He looked at me for a moment.
“Oh shit,” he said.
“Oh shit?”
“Yeah. You’re in this.”
“So?”
“So that means it’ll be a fucking mess.” This book is very, very literate, with references to many classic and modern authors and their works. Don't be shy, when you see an obscure reference or phrase, look it up! It's truly worth the effort!

Of particular note is the climax wherein Spenser teases the villains into more and more heated revelations, "bringing the discussions to a slow and vindictive boil" to the reader's delight.

“What we have here,” I said, “is a roomful of culprits, with varying levels of culpritude.”


My favourite, chapter 47, involves the shameful discovery of videotapes and a range of sex toys, "ick!" which had me laughing out loud.

A hidden gem of a book, an excursion into literate humour by Parker, a gentle caricature of his amazing detective oeuvre. This is Spenser brought to a new level of fun, almost burlesque. Totally delightful.

(The word "maroon" appears 4 times in this novel)

Notes -
90.0% ".... "The Kinergy board of directors, as far as I can see, would have approved compulsory pederasty if urged by Trent and Bernie.”

70.0% ... hilarious chapter with videotapes and sex toys ... ick

50.0% ... Me too .... "I was making my own version of moussaka, with zucchini and onions and peppers and no eggplant. I hate eggplant."

41.0% ... it occurs to me that one of the central elements of Parker's worship of Joan is BADINAGE.... It's a wonderful dance for them.