Robert B. Parker
Bad Business (2004)
Author: Robert B. Parker
Genre (and subgenre): Mystery (Detective Fiction)
Plot Summary:
Marlene Cowley hires a Boston detective named Spencer to discover if her husband Trent, the CFO of a major energy company, is cheating on her. After Spencer learns that Trent is having an affair with one of his co-worker’s wives and meets two more Private Investigators who are also investigating the affair, Trent is killed and Spencer promises to find the murder. Spencer continues his investigation and discovers that Gavin, the head of security for the energy company, had hired the two other detectives to confirm that several members of the company were engaged in adultery and wife-swapping. Once Spencer links the employees’ behavior to a radio sex therapist named Darrin O’Mara, Gavin turns up dead. Spencer believes that the two murders are connected to the company and its business practices. With help from his friend Hawk, Spencer blackmails the company’s CEO into allowing an audit and discovers that Trent and Gavin were killed to keep the company’s Enron-like budget practices a secret. Ultimately, Spencer determines that Darrin O’Mara and his boyfriend used sex to manipulate the company’s managers, stole money from the company, and killed Trent and Gavin to cover up their crimes.
Geographical Setting: Boston, Massachusetts
Time Period: Present Day
Series: Spenser series (Book 31)
Appeal Characteristics: Fast-paced; Action packed; Intended for readers who want action mysteries with very little description
Similar Authors: Raymond Chandler; Stephen Cannell; Robert Crais; Steven Brust; Loren Estleman
Red Flags: Sexual Innuendos; Sexual Subject Matter (Wife Swapping, Adultery)
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