Book Review – Sixkill

Sixkill by Robert B Parker (Quercus) ISBN: 978 0 85738 2139

Sixkill is one of the last novels from the late Robert B Parker, the Grandmaster of American Crime who took the hard-boiled detective genre and made it his own with his enigmatic, dry-humoured and tough-guy hero, Spenser.

It’s trouble from the word go. A promiscuous girl meets a repulsive but famous star on a movie set and makes an assignation at his hotel room. Jumbo Nelson claims it was a kinky sex session gone wrong. Since the only witness is the star’s bodyguard, a Cree Indian with the unlikely name of Zebulon Sixkill, the police hire gumshoe Spenser to look into the case.

There aren’t not many twists in the plot. The real story is the developing relationship between Spenser and Sixkill, as the Boston Detective takes the damaged, alcoholic bodyguard under his wing and helps him rebuild his life and sense of identity.

Parker writes in clean, brutally spare prose that allows his spot-on characterisation, witty dialogue and sense of setting to come into sharp focus. The uncluttered narrative is a joy to read—Hemmingway would be proud. Highly recommended.

Anthony Ehlers
4/5