After 30 years the serial killer called the Spare Change Killer has resurfaced. His signature is leaving a
handful of change next to his victim's body. Phil Randall had headed a task force to apprehend the killer,
who was sending Phil taunting letters. Phil had never been able to solve the case.
With the new killings the police ask Phil, now retired, to assist them in the case. Phil calls upon his
daughter, Sunny, now a private investigator, to join him. Sunny soon identifies the most likely suspect and
begins to play him in an attempt to find the evidence to capture him. The killings continue, but now the
victims all bear a resemblance to Sunny. Against her father's admonitions to drop the case she is determined
to catch the killer.
Spare Change is an excellent police procedural, written in Parker's smooth style. There is depth in
the character development with an exploration of Sunny's relationships with her father, her mother, her sister,
and of her relationship with her ex-husband for whom she still carries a torch. We meet again a recurring Parker
character, Susan Silverman, from previous series. There is much bantering byplay which helps to lessen the
tension of the cat and mouse action. The final solution comes as an unexpected surprise.
This is a stellar addition to Parker's already engrossing novels.