In the first five novels in the series, Robert B. Parker introduces Spenser, Susan Silverman, Sgt. Belson, Lt. Quirk, and Hawk and sets a novel partially in England, something he never does again. Subsequently, Parker adds new protagonists in each novel: Rachel Wallace in Looking for Rachel Wallace (1980), Paul Giacomin in *Early Autumn(1981), Candy Sloan in A Savage Place (1981), April Kyle in Ceremony (1982), and Meade Alexander in The Widening Gyre (1983). New Characters add aspects to Spenser’s life, gradually building up his portrait by expanding what one knows about him through their mutual interactions. Parker grows into the author of a detective series, deftly handling each new conflict in Spenser’s life.
About the presenterLewis Moore
I taught English at UDC from 1974-2004. I have given many talks at professional conferences in the United States and abroad. In addition to more than twenty scholarly articles, I have published three critical books on literature and am presently editing a fourth which will appear in Feb. 2014. I am married with two grown children, one of whom has received a PhD from Univ. of California at Irvine in Political Science with an emphasis on international relations. My other son is a contract worker for the US Dept. of State.