Robert Parker's thesis for his Ph.D.

was a study of the detective fiction of Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Ross Macdonald, and his fiction reveals his debt to all three. Spenser as a character is probably most like Philip Marlowe, even down to the fact that both figures bear the name of a famous English writer. Like Marlowe, Spenser is wise-cracking and irreverent, not given to following the rules, especially if they impede his investigation. He is not a loner, however, and the novels often do include his cooperating with the official police force. Spenser is also violent, more so than is Marlowe, and in this way he is like Hammett's Sam Spade, with his wolfish grin and tough-guy persona. Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer spends most of his time nosing around in the past of the wealthy and prominent, uncovering old crimes and exposing family...