The Passing of Parker

Robert B. Parker, the Boston novelist who was highly influential in popularizing the detective fiction genre over the last four decades, died yesterday at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was 77 years old. The cause of his passing is being attributed to a heart attack, which took him in the midst of working at his desk.

Parker introduced his most famous series protagonist, Beantown private eye Spenser, in The Godwulf Manuscript (1973). He went on to pen more than 60 books, in at least two genres and with several lead players.

The Rap Sheet has the full story here. And there are links to many other Parker tributes at Sarah Weinman’s blog, Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind.