6/12/1990 Stardust arrives

June 12, 1990.  This date saw the publication of Stardust, the seventeenth novel in Robert B. Parker's series about Boston private eye Spenser.  A TV star is being stalked and the Man With No First Name is called  to California to investigate.

2/2/1980 Early Autumn arrives in February

February 2, 1980.  This day saw the publication of Early Autumn,  Robert B. Parker's seventh novel about Boston private eye Spenser.  In the series it is most notable for introducing the character Paul Giacoman, a teenager Spenser is hired to protect.  Paul appears in several more books, essentially as a surrogate son for our hero.  Parker won the Maltese Falcon Award in Japan for the book.

1/16/1973 Spenser swaggers in

January 16, 1973.  This day saw the publication of Robert B. Parker's first novel, The Godwulf Manuscript.  It introduced Boston private eye Spenser.  Kirkus Reviews compared the new guy to Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe and sniffed "there's some of the toughness and the terseness but the hat's much too big for him and it hasn't got the right slouch."

Yet somehow, Spenser has survived. 

6/6/1986 Taming A Seahorse

June 6, 1986.  On this date Robert B. Parker's thirteenth novel about Boston private eye Spenser was published.  Taming A Seahorse was the hero's second encounter with a prostitute named April Kyle. 

"Spenser's back and New York's got him...proficient with his gun and fists, not to mention his quick verbal shots." —Daily News