Spenser has proven to be one of the most durable characters in crime literature, taking his place alongside Sam Spade, Mike Hammer, and even Sherlock Holmes as a classic sleuth with his own methods, his unique and unfailing morality, and his razor-sharp wit. When he suggests to Penny and her father that he will handle Delroy's objections to his intrusions with his "northern charm," Penny points out that this might be an oxymoron, and he acquiesces, "You're right. . . . Maybe I'll just threaten him."

Spenser later sums up the character of a Southern lawyer by saying that he smiles "a wide smile, a good old Georgia boy, friendly as lemon cake" and by noting that the lawyer selects a cigar "slightly smaller than a Little League bat."

Staunchly humanistic, altruistic, and romantic, Spenser does not think twice about blithely accepting those who are gay, putting his life on the...