Robert B. Parker: Rough Weather (UK 2009)

From the Publisher:
Heidi Bradshaw is wealthy, beautiful, and well connected. She's also a notorious gold digger only recently separated from her latest husband - and she's just hired Spenser as a stand-in spouse for her daughter's wedding. It's not his usual kind of assignment, but Spenser has no reservations about accepting, especially after ensuring that his beloved Susan Silverman is also on the guest list. It should be a straightforward job: look after the mother of the bride, enjoy a few drinks and most importantly, spend some quality time with Susan. But then Spenser's old nemesis Rugar - the Gray Man - arrives. A storm, a kidnapping, and a series of murders tear apart what should be a joyous occasion, and Rugar is seemingly at the centre of it all. The only thing is that the perpetrator's apparent sloppiness is not Rugar's style, as Spenser knows from past encounters. With six dead bodies and more questions than he can handle, Spenser begins a search for answers - and the Gray Man.

Robert B. Parker: Rough Weather. A Spenser Novel. Quercus Publishing, ISBN: 9781847249593 (October, 2009), 320 p., £7.99

Robert B. Parker: Rough Weather (USA 2009)

From the Publisher:
Hired as a bodyguard at an exclusive society wedding, Spenser witnesses an unexpected crime: the kidnapping of the young bride, which opens the door for murder, family secrets, and the reappearance of an old nemesis.

Robert B. Parker: Rough Weather. A Spenser Novel. Berkley Books, ISBN: 9780425230176 (September, 2009), 336 p., $9.99

Robert B. Parker: Rough Weather (UK 2008)

From the Publisher:
You don't read Spenser novels for the plot. You read them for the brilliance of the wisecracking dialogue and the relationships between Spenser and his sidekick Hawk, the laidback black man who minds Spenser's back and takes no stick from anybody. In this novel, you also meet the current love of Spenser's life, Susan a psychotherapist and helpmeet. She and Spenser have been invited to Tashtego Island to the wedding of the daughter of a very rich woman. Spenser has been hired to be a companion to the rich woman, a role he finds somewhat baffling. When the clergyman and the bridegroom are shot dead and the daughter kidnapped in front of the wedding guests, Spenser is as shocked as anyone and is hell bent to find the daughter and figure out exactly what is going on. Hawk is once again called upon to save Spenser as things hot up.

Robert B. Parker: Rough Weather. A Spencer Mystery (sic!). Quercus Books, ISBN: 9781847242440 (October, 2008), 294 p., £16.99

Robert B. Parker: Rough Weather (USA 2008)

From the Publisher:
A hurricane hinders a kidnapping and Spenser goes on a search for the man responsible- the infamous Gray Man, who has both helped and hunted Spenser in the past.

Heidi Bradshaw is wealthy, beautiful, and well connected -and she needs Spenser's help. In a most unlikely request, Heidi, a notorious gold digger recently separated from her latest husband, recruits the Boston P.I. to accompany her to her private island, Tashtego. The reason? To attend her daughter's wedding as a sort of stand-in husband and protector. Spenser consents, but only after it is established that his beloved Susan Silverman will also be in attendance.

It should be a straightforward job for Spenser: show up for appearances, have some drinks, and spend some quality time with Susan. But when Spenser's old nemesis Rugar-the Gray Man-arrives, Spenser realizes that something is amiss. A storm, a kidnapping, and murder tear apart what should be a joyous occasion, and Rugar is seemingly at the center of it all. The only thing is that the sloppy kidnapping is not Rugar's style-as Spenser knows from past encounters. With six dead bodies and more questions than he can process, Spenser begins a search for answers - and the Gray Man.

With its razor-sharp dialogue, crisply etched characters, and high-wire narrative tension, Rough Weather once again proves that "Robert B. Parker is a force of nature" (The Boston Globe).

Robert B. Parker: Rough Weather. A Spenser Novel. Putnam's, ISBN: 9780399155192 (October, 2008), 294 p., $26.99