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    Perish Twice


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      Praise for Perish Twice

      “Complex and textured…Sunny Randall continues to entertain.”

      —St. Petersburg Times

      “Written with Parker’s usual economy of phrase, humor, and excellent characterization…Rivals Parker’s Spenser series.”

      —Port St. Lucie (FL) News

      “Mystery aplenty, punched up with sharp dialogue.”

      —The San Antonio Express-News

      “Remarkable…The plot serves as only a surface detail to a story that is, at its core, about human relationships; specifically, the varying fallouts of adultery. Randall navigates it all with aplomb, wit, and style.”

      —The Sunday Oregonian

      “Parker takes control with a plot simmering in psychological tension.”

      —The Cincinnati Enquirer

      “Sunny is a terrific character whose conversation sparkles and whose unsentimental attitude is refreshing.”

      —Los Angeles Times

      “The story is intelligently told, and there is no contrived buildup to his dramatic, yet utterly credible climax.”

      —Minneapolis Star Tribune

      Praise for Family Honor

      “Sharp and funny…Wonderfully diverting.”

      —The Washington Post

      “Fans of Spenser will like Sunny Randall.”

      —San Francisco Examiner

      “A master of the genre at work.”

      —Chicago Sun-Times

      “One of the best in years from the dean of American private-eye writers…A bravura performance.”

      —Publishers Weekly

      “A swell read, and one that promises future installments.”

      —New York Daily News

      “Parker knows a good thing when he writes it.”

      —USA Today

      “[Sunny Randall] can hold her own with Spenser…It’s clear that [Parker] has another winner.”

      —The Boston Globe

      “Lots of action.”

      —Los Angeles Times

      Praise for Robert B. Parker’s

      Jesse Stone novels…

      “Page-turning energy.”

      —New York Post

      “This book is so good, there are not enough R’s in terrific.”

      —The Kansas City Star

      “Tough-guy dialogue…sharp social commentary…psychological penetration. Fresh…Interesting…Robert B. Parker is loaded for bear this time.”

      —The Boston Globe

      “You’ve got to like Stone…Harks back to Spenser and, before him, Sam Spade.”

      —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

      …And for Robert B. Parker’s

      Spenser novels

      “Parker’s brilliance is in his simple dialogue, and in Spenser. Here is a character who is fearless, honest, and clever but never preachy. He’s self-deprecating, sometimes sensitive, hard-boiled but never boorish. And he doesn’t take himself too seriously.”

      —The Philadelphia Inquirer

      SMALL VICES

      Spenser tries to prove the innocence of a murder suspect—but when a man with a .22 puts him in a coma, the hope for justice may die along with the detective….

      “POWERFUL.”

      —The New York Times Book Review

      CHANCE

      Spenser heads to Vegas to find the missing husband of a mob princess—but he’s not the only one looking….

      “THE WORLD’S MOST PERFECT PRIVATE EYE…the dialogue is as brisk and clever as always.”

      —Los Angeles Times Book Review

      THIN AIR

      Spenser thought he could help a friend find his missing wife. Until he learned the nasty truth about Lisa St. Claire…

      “FULL OF ACTION, SUSPENSE, AND THRILLS.”

      —Playboy

      WALKING SHADOW

      An actor’s murder sends Spenser and Hawk behind the scenes of a shabby waterfront town….

      “FAST-MOVING AND WITTY…ONE OF HIS BEST.”

      —The Denver Post

      PAPER DOLL

      Spenser searches for the killer of a “model wife and mother”—and finds some shocking surprises….

      “IT TAKES ROBERT B. PARKER EXACTLY TWO SENTENCES TO GET THE TENSION CRACKLING.”

      —Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, The New York Times

      DOUBLE DEUCE

      Spenser and Hawk wage war on a street gang….

      “MR. SPENSER IS AT HIS BEST…TENSE…SUSPENSEFUL…DARKLY POETIC.”

      —The New York Times

      PASTIME

      A boy’s search for his mother forces Spenser to face his own past….

      “EMOTIONALLY TENSE…GRIPPING…VINTAGE HARD-CORE SPENSER.”

      —Kirkus Reviews

      STARDUST

      Spenser tries to protect a TV star from a would-be assassin….

      “CLASSIC SPENSER…BRILLIANT.”

      —The New York Times Book Review

      PLAYMATES

      Spenser scores against corruption in the world of college basketball….

      “A WHOLE LOTTA FUN…KICK BACK AND ENJOY.”

      —New York Daily News

      PERCHANCE TO DREAM

      Robert B. Parker’s acclaimed sequel to the Raymond Chandler classic The Big Sleep, featuring detective Philip Marlowe…

      “A STUNNING, DROP-DEAD SUCCESS…DAZZLING.”

      —Publishers Weekly

      POODLE SPRINGS

      Raymond Chandler’s unfinished Marlowe thriller—completed by today’s master of detective fiction, Robert B. Parker….

      “A FIRST-RATE DETECTIVE NOVEL WITH ALL THE SUSPENSE, ACTION, AND HUMAN DRAMA THAT WE HAVE COME TO EXPECT FROM THE BEST.”

      —Playboy

      Titles by Robert B. Parker

      PERISH TWICE

      HUGGER MUGGER

      FAMILY HONOR

      (a Sunny Randall novel)

      HUSH MONEY

      TROUBLE IN PARADISE

      (a Jesse Stone novel)

      SUDDEN MISCHIEF

      NIGHT PASSAGE

      (a Jesse Stone novel)

      SMALL VICES

      CHANCE

      THIN AIR

      ALL OUR YESTERDAYS

      WALKING SHADOW

      PAPER DOLL

      DOUBLE DEUCE

      PASTIME

      PERCHANCE TO DREAM

      (a Philip Marlowe novel)

      STARDUST

      POODLE SPRINGS

      (with Raymond Chandler)

      PLAYMATES

      CRIMSON JOY

      PALE KINGS AND PRINCES

      TAMING A SEA-HORSE

      A CATSKILL EAGLE

      VALEDICTION

      LOVE AND GLORY

      THE WIDENING GYRE

      CEREMONY

      A SAVAGE PLACE

      EARLY AUTUMN

      LOOKING FOR RACHEL WALLACE

      WILDERNESS

      THE JUDAS GOAT

      THREE WEEKS IN SPRING

      (with Joan Parker)

      PROMISED LAND

      MORTAL STAKES

      GOD SAVE THE CHILD

      THE GODWULF MANUSCRIPT

      ROBERT B. PARKER

      PERISH TWICE

      This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

      PERISH TWICE

      A Berkley Book / published by arrangement with the author


      All rights reserved.

      Copyright © 2000 by Robert B. Parker.

      Excerpt from Robert B. Parker’s Blood Feud copyright © 2018 by The Estate of Robert B. Parker

      This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission. For information address: The Berkley

      Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Putnam Inc.,

      375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

      www.penguin.com

      ISBN: 9781101203996

      BERKLEY®

      Berkley Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,

      a division of Penguin Putnam Inc.,

      375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

      BERKLEY and the “B” design

      are trademarks belonging to Penguin Putnam Inc.

      Version_6

      For Joan: I too favor fire

      Some say the world will end in fire,

      Some say in ice.

      From what I’ve tasted of desire

      I hold with those who favor fire.

      But if it had to perish twice,

      I think I know enough of hate

      To say that for destruction ice

      Is also great

      And would suffice.

      —ROBERT FROST

      CONTENTS

      Praise

      Also by Robert B. Parker

      Title Page

      Copyright

      Dedication

      Epigraph

      CHAPTER 1

      CHAPTER 2

      CHAPTER 3

      CHAPTER 4

      CHAPTER 5

      CHAPTER 6

      CHAPTER 7

      CHAPTER 8

      CHAPTER 9

      CHAPTER 10

      CHAPTER 11

      CHAPTER 12

      CHAPTER 13

      CHAPTER 14

      CHAPTER 15

      CHAPTER 16

      CHAPTER 17

      CHAPTER 18

      CHAPTER 19

      CHAPTER 20

      CHAPTER 21

      CHAPTER 22

      CHAPTER 23

      CHAPTER 24

      CHAPTER 25

      CHAPTER 26

      CHAPTER 27

      CHAPTER 28

      CHAPTER 29

      CHAPTER 30

      CHAPTER 31

      CHAPTER 32

      CHAPTER 33

      CHAPTER 34

      CHAPTER 35

      CHAPTER 36

      CHAPTER 37

      CHAPTER 38

      CHAPTER 39

      CHAPTER 40

      CHAPTER 41

      CHAPTER 42

      CHAPTER 43

      CHAPTER 44

      CHAPTER 45

      CHAPTER 46

      CHAPTER 47

      CHAPTER 48

      CHAPTER 49

      CHAPTER 50

      CHAPTER 51

      CHAPTER 52

      CHAPTER 53

      CHAPTER 54

      CHAPTER 55

      CHAPTER 56

      CHAPTER 57

      CHAPTER 58

      Excerpt From Robert B. Parker’s Blood Feud

      CHAPTER

      1

      MY SISTER, ELIZABETH, came to see me.

      Elizabeth is three years older than I am. We aren’t close. We had spent too much of our childhood fighting over Daddy ever to be the kind of sisters that talk on the phone every day. To cement my conviction that Elizabeth was a pain, my dog, Rosie, didn’t like her either. Since Rosie likes everyone, including armed intruders, it seemed clear that Elizabeth was special.

      “What kind is she again?” Elizabeth asked. “A Boston terrier?”

      “Bull terrier,” I said. “Rosie is a miniature bull terrier.”

      “I thought she was a Boston terrier.”

      “You want to see her papers?” I asked.

      “Oh, aren’t you funny,” Elizabeth said.

      We were having coffee at the counter in my kitchen without Rosie, who had left us and was on my bed at the other end of the loft, watching us carefully with one black eye.

      “So what brings you to South Boston?” I said.

      “Is this really South Boston?” Elizabeth said.

      “The yuppie part,” I said.

      “Oh…this coffee is very good.”

      “Starbucks,” I said.

      “What is it?”

      “Starbucks,” I said. “This particular one is from Guatemala.”

      “Oh, write that down for me, will you?”

      “Sure.”

      I wrote Starbucks Coffee on a piece of notepaper and gave it to her. She stuffed it into her purse. I waited. She sipped some coffee. I looked at Rosie. Rosie’s tail stirred. But she didn’t change her mind about staying on the bed.

      “Do you ever see your ex-husband?” Elizabeth said.

      “Richie and I see each other every Wednesday night.”

      “Do you do anything?”

      “Do anything?’

      “You know,” Elizabeth said, “sex. It’s all right to ask because I’m your big sister.”

      “Then I guess it’s all right for me to say none of your business.”

      “Oh don’t be so silly,” Elizabeth said. “Do you date other men?”

      “Yes.”

      “And?”

      “Elizabeth, what the hell are we talking about here?”

      “For God’s sake, I’m just asking if you have sex.”

      “None of your business. Do I ask you about your sex life?”

      “Oh, me, I’m an old married woman.”

      “Elizabeth, you’re thirty-eight,” I said.

      “You know what I mean,” Elizabeth said. “I’m just interested in what life is like when you can’t stay married.”

      I got up and walked down the length of my loft, breathing deeply and carefully. I bent down and gave Rosie a kiss on the nose, and breathed some more and walked slowly back.

      “We who can’t stay married prefer to keep our sex lives to ourselves,” I said.

      “Oh, Sunny, honestly you’re so quaint sometimes.”

      “Quaint,” I said.

      The sun was almost straight up and it shone strongly through my skylight onto one of my paintings that stood unfinished on its easel.

      “You’re still painting,” Elizabeth said.

      “Yes.”

      “Does anyone ever buy one of your paintings?”

      “Occasionally.”

      “Really?”

      I nodded.

      We sat quietly for a while. Elizabeth reached over and got the pot and poured herself some more coffee. She didn’t replace the pot. Just set it down on the counter near her where it would grow cold. It took some will, but I didn’t reach across and replace it. I didn’t want any more anyway.

      “How’s Hal,” I said.

      She carefully poured some milk into her coffee and stirred in two sugars, and put the spoon down and sipped from the cup.

      “I think he’s cheating on me,” Elizabeth said.

      “Hal?”

      “Yes. I think so, and, isn’t this funny, I want you to see if you can find out for sure.”

      “Me?”

      “You are being a detective these days, aren’t you?”

      “Yes, of course, but…”

      “I wouldn’t want to hire some stranger,” Elizabeth said.

      “You want me to tail him? Get pictures? Catch
    him in the act? That sort of thing?”

      “Yes.”

      “Why don’t you just ask him?”

      “Ask him? Don’t be ridiculous. Why in God’s name would he tell me?”

      “Because you asked,” I said.

      “No. I’m not asking that bastard anything. I am going to catch him.”

      “You don’t want to maybe talk about this with him, see about professional help?”

      “A shrink? They’re all crazy. It’s why they became shrinks.”

      “Maybe not every one of them,” I said.

      “And most of them are Jews.”

      “Maybe not every one of them,” I said.

      “I don’t want to discuss this anymore. Will you help me?”

      “Of course. I was just trying to see if we could agree on the kind of help you needed.”

      “Well it’s certainly not some crazy Jew,” Elizabeth said.

      I thought about going down and lying on the bed with Rosie. Arguing with Elizabeth was futile. She was, as my father used to say about our mother, often wrong, but never uncertain. And like our mother she simply dug in deeper when her convictions were questioned. If they were actually disproved, she was entrenched for life.

      “I’ll do whatever I can,” I said.

      CHAPTER

      2

      ELIZABETH HAD GRADUATED from Mount Holyoke and never recovered. It was where she’d learned to speak in that honkish WASP whine that she now found natural. And the fact that she had a Seven Sisters degree required her to marry an Ivy League guy. At twenty-one years and three months, in the summer after she graduated, she married a Dartmouth graduate named Hal Reagan, lived with him in the Back Bay while he went to Harvard Law School, and moved with him to Weston when he joined a downtown law firm, Cone, Oakes and Baldwin. He was now a partner, and at thirty-nine his prospects were bright and shiny. Or at least brighter and shinier than mine appeared to be.

     

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