Parker,
Robert B. Shrink Rap. Putnam. September 2002. c304p. ISBN 0-399-14930-9.
$24.95. Fiction (Mystery).
Mystery Grand Master Parker delivers another fun read in his
third Sunny Randall novel (after Perish Twice and Family
Honor). Romance novelist Melanie Joan Hall needs help. She
is about to start a book tour but is frightened to death
of her ex-husband, psychiatrist John Melvin, who is stalking
her. P. I. Sunny Randall, also divorced and with her own
problems never far from her mind, is hired to be her bodyguard.
Melvin’s clients are all wealthy women, and no one wants
to talk about what he does with them, not even when two wind up dead under suspicious
circumstances. To find out what Melvin’s up to, Sunny disguises herself
and becomes his patient, putting herself in harm’s way while probing the
secret recesses of her own psyche. This is a novel of sly wit (evident also in
the title), heavy on dialogue and short on descriptive or narrative prose. But
the effect is to hurtle the reader toward the climax, with a fine sense of ever-increasing
danger. Fans will enjoy the crisp dialogue, Sunny’s investigations of her
mind, and the matching of wits with a truly frightening villain. Highly recommended
for all mystery collections.