Ceremony; A Spenser Novel

New York: Dell Publishing Company, 1983. Reprint Edition. Mass market paperback. good. pocket paperback, 223, wraps, some wear and soiling to covers, very slightly cocked, some page discoloration. Robert Brown Parker (September 17, 1932 - January 18, 2010) was an American writer of fiction, primarily of the mystery/detective genre. His most famous works were the 40 novels written about the fictional private detective Spenser. ABC television network developed the television series Spenser: For Hire based on the character in the mid-1980s; a series of TV movies based on the character was also produced. His works incorporate encyclopedic knowledge of the Boston metropolitan area. The Spenser novels have been cited by critics and bestselling authors such as Robert Crais, Harlan Coben, and Dennis Lehane as not only influencing their own work but reviving and changing the detective genre. Parker also wrote two other series based on an individual character: He wrote nine novels based on the fictional character Jesse Stone, a Los Angeles police officer who moves to a small New England town, and six novels based on the fictional character Sunny Randall, a female private investigator. Parker wrote four Westerns starring the duo Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch. The first, Appaloosa, was made into a film starring Ed Harris. In this work, Spenser must find the daughter of a wealthy insurance executive. Ceremony is the ninth Spenser novel by Robert B. Parker. It is the first of three Spenser novels involving the character April Kyle, who returns in Taming a Sea-Horse and Hundred-Dollar Baby. Spenser is hired to find a runaway 16-year-old girl. She has turned to prostitution. The book opens with Spenser and Susan Silverman talking with the Kyles about their missing daughter, April. Mr. Kyle apparently saw her in the act of seducing a John, a man about his age. He's livid at the thought of his daughter working as a prostitute and voices his opinion loudly. Spenser is clearly not interested in working for Mr. Kyle at any price, but the pleadings of Susan Silverman and Mrs. Kyle persuade Spenser to take the job (which he does for the nominal fee of one dollar). Spenser talks to a Smithfield, Mass. cop and gets a lead that some of April's old crowd might know something. Spenser literally strongarms a kid named Carl Hummel to find out where they think she might be: with a friend in Boston, Amy Gurwitz, who left town a few months before April did. Spenser goes to see Amy. He gets no information from her, but is convinced she knows something about April. Next Spenser heads to a part of Boston called the Combat Zone. He asks a hooker about April and shows a photo he has of her. Her pimp, a strong-looking man who goes by the name "Trumps," tries to stop Spenser. Spenser takes Trumps's sap away from him and roughs him up with it. Once Trumps steps away, he learns April has been working for a pimp named "Red." The hooker warns Spenser to watch his back after roughing up Trumps because he hold grudges and that she will be beaten for what happened. Spenser enlists the help of Hawk and heads back to the Combat Zone to find Red. They find him in a strip bar. Red refuses to answer questions, but after Hawk chops him across the throat, Red discloses April's last known address. Spenser and Hawk proceed to the address and find it in a filthy building with a hooker as a neighbor. Spenser decides to watch the house that Amy and Mitchell Poitras are living in. After they leave the house, Spenser breaks into their house shortly before Thanksgiving. While there, he finds a set of spare keys and has them copied at Sears. On the third floor, he finds a kiddie porn photo and movie studio and a huge stash of pornographic photos and films. He leaves the house leaving behind no evidence of his visit. Hawk finds out that Red works for Tony Marcus, a black crime boss. Under the pretense of hiring Trumps's hooker, the one that warned him earlier, Spenser questions her and finds out that April has been transferred to the "Sheep Ranch" (a brothel) in Providence, Rhode Island. Undercover in a garish red outfit, Spenser finds the Sheep Ranch with the help of a local cabby and busts April out of there going through the madam and bouncer to do it. On the road with April, Spenser discovers that she was moved there right after he talked to Amy. Claiming to need an emergency bathroom break on the side of the road, April gets out of the car and disappears into the woods. He also works a deal where they can take April and bust Mitchell for child porn. Marcus begrudgingly agrees as long as his name is kept out of it. Then he punches Spenser in the jaw at the end of their meeting and Spenser lets him go. Hawk, who occasionally works freelance for Marcus, assures Spenser that Marcus's word is good. With Susan and Hawk, Spenser visits Mitchell's house on a Friday night. After they peek into the windows, it is apparent there is a big party with numerous guests. They let themselves in the locked front door using Spenser's duplicate spare keys. Upon entering the living room, they see that they have happened upon not just any old party, but a full-fledged orgy. Most of the men are middle-aged or older and all the girls are very young, most obviously younger than eighteen. After wandering through the throng of dancing and groping guests, they fail to find Amy, April, or Mitchell. A recon of the second floor finds many couples engaged in sex, but not the party hosts. They find all three on the third floor in the kiddie porn studio. Another man, a porn distributor named Hal, is also there with his bodyguard Vance. Hawk overpowers the bodyguard and holds Amy, Mitchell, and Hal at bay with his gun. Spenser tells Susan to go with April back to the car and to call the cops. He instructs Amy to follow in order to avoid arrest, but she refuses. As Spenser explains to Mitchell about his impending arrest and his need to keep a certain name (Marcus) out of it, he hears Susan cry for him downstairs. He runs to help, and Hawk follows. Once downstairs, April yelled out that Susan was trying to kidnap her and the partygoers attacked her. April had separated herself from Susan by the time Spenser and Hawk arrive. Boston Police officers. After talking with the police, Spenser and Hawk head back to Susan's red Bronco. Susan is there with April who came along willingly. She came with the assurance that she wouldn't be forced to go back with her parents. Spenser and Susan drop off Hawk and head back to Spenser's place. They talk with April about her options over dinner. With grave reservations, they decide to take April to interview with Patricia Utley, a madam of an upscale brothel in New York. There she can be safer, learn better escort skills, make more money, and not have to turn more than one trick a night. Susan and April spend the night; April on the couch, Susan with Spenser. They talk over their decision, not entirely happy with it, but realize it is probably the best thing for April, considering her miserable home environment and lack of better options.