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The Sunny Randall Novels
What follows is the complete bibliography of Sunny Randall novels
written by Robert B. Parker. According to RBP, he was contacted by his
agent who said, "Can you meet with Helen Hunt? She loves your work and
would love to make a movie based upon one of your characters." Needless
to say, Parker considered the idea and the result was Sunny Randall.
Clicking on the title of the novel will take you to an in depth study
page for that book. Parker peppers his work with allusions and
aphorisms related to both literature and culture. I have done my best
to locate all of these and to identify the source or to explain the
reference. If you find that you've spotted on that I've missed, I hope
that you'll take a moment
to forward the info to me via email. Enjoy!
Family Honor
1999
Sunny Randall is a Boston P.I. and former cop, a college graduate, an
aspiring painter, a divorcee, and the owner of a miniature bullterrier
named Rosie. Hired by a wealthy family to locate their teenage
daughter, Sunny is tested by the parents' preconceived notion of what a
detective should be. With the help of underworld contacts she tracks
down the runaway Millicent, who has turned to prostitution, rescues
her from her pimp, and finds herself, at thirty-four, the unlikely
custodian of a difficult teenager when the girl refuses to return to
her family. But Millicent's problems are rooted in much larger crimes
than running away, and Sunny, now playing the role of bodyguard, is
caught in a shooting war with some very serious mobsters. She turns
for help to her ex-husband, Richie, himself the son of a mob family,
and to her dearest friend, Spike, a flamboyant and dangerous gay man.
Heading this unlikely alliance, Sunny must solve at least one murder,
resolve a criminal conspiracy that reaches to the top of state
government, and bring Millicent back into functional young womanhood.
CLICK HERE for the complete analysis of this novel.
Perish Twice
2000
When radical feminist Mary Lou Goddard hires Sunny to protect her from
a stalker, Sunny accepts the case with some reluctance. After all,
Goddard detests Rosie, Sunny's bull terrier, canine vacuum, and
stakeout companion ("Rosie was in the passenger seat, staring out the
side window, alert for the appearance of a strange dog at whom she
could gargle ferociously."). It doesn't take Sunny long to track down
and confront Lawrence Reeves, a particularly pestilential human being.
But pestilence is no excuse for murder, so when Reeves and Gretchen
Crane, one of Goddard's colleagues, are both found dead, Sunny dives
into the murky waters of Boston's prostitution industry, where Reeves
was a client and Gretchen was trying to unionize the workers. Politics
and sexuality can be a nasty tangle, and the unraveling threads lead
straight to mobster Tony Marcus's door. Tony may appreciate Sunny's
sharp wit, but business is business: interference can--and does--lead
to a bullet with her name on it. And as if all of this weren't enough,
Sunny's sister and her best friend are in the throes of nasty divorces.
Luckily, the leap from PI to marital counselor is well within Sunny's
abilities.
CLICK HERE for the complete analysis of this novel.
Shrink Rap
2002
In Shrink Rap, Sunny's working as a bodyguard for a famous romance
writer who's being stalked by her ex-husband, a psychiatrist engaged in
extremely unprofessional conduct with his female patients. To get the
goods on Dr. John Melvin, Sunny goes undercover as a vulnerable
divorcˇe, which isn't that far from the truth; simultaneously, she's
also seeing another therapist, who's supposed to be coaching her for her
undercover role but is also helping her understand her troubled
relationships with men. It's a clever device, and Parker makes the most
of it in this spare, smart, swiftly paced mystery, one of Parker's best
in recent years.
CLICK HERE for the complete analysis of this novel.
Melancholy Baby
2004
Boston P.I. Sunny Randall-as conflicted as she is beautiful-helps a
troubled young woman locate her birth parents only to uncover some dark
truths of her own. My ex-husband was getting married to a woman I
wanted to kill. I didn't actually know her, and killing her would only
make matters worse. But I got as much pleasure out of the idea as I
could before I had to let go of it. And so begins Melancholy Baby,
the fourth novel in the bestselling series featuring Sunny Randall who
now faces the unthinkable: the marriage of her ex-husband, Richie, to
someone else. Despite the formality of divorce, Sunny and Richie's
relationship had continued, in its own headstrong way, until Richie's
desire for marriage overtook Sunny's need for freedom. So when college
student Sarah Markham comes asking for help in finding her birth
parents, Sunny realizes she must take the case, if only to distract her
from her personal life. But life and work have a curious-and
dangerous-way of intersecting. Before the investigation has a chance to
take off, two key players are dead, and Sunny is back on a
psychiatrist's couch, probing her own past for clues. What she discovers
has the potential to shatter Sarah Markham's family and destroy her
sense of self, while Sunny's own beliefs are put to the ultimate test.
CLICK HERE for the complete analysis of this novel.
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