Sunny Randall feels like Dr. Ruth — with a gun. She has a sexually dysfunctional sister, a friend desperate to redefine her life by trashing her marriage and a lesbian client who doesn't care that her associates are turning up dead.

        That these characters are all women is no coincidence, but a deliberate challenge to modern detective fiction by a writer who's been defining the genre for nearly 30 years.

        Robert B. Parker, who in 1971 introduced the world to Spenser in The Godwulf Manuscript, has consistently delivered wise, tough and compelling stories. Now, he reunites us for the second time with divorced, ex-cop Sunny Randall in Perish Twice.

        Sunny Randall is not Spenser in a skirt. She is complex and reasonable, and often finds herself with more questions than answers. She is not prone to violent outbursts, doesn't kick in doors and has yet to shoot her way through a conversation.

        Sunny tries to keep her personal life separate from her professional one, but the distinction blurs after she is hired to protect outspoken feminist Mary Lou Goddard.

        When one of Goddard's employees is murdered, all fingers point to a stalker, who has already chewed on the business end of a gun. Police are content to call it a murder-suicide but Sunny isn't. Getting fired by Goddard only inflames Sunny's determination, and it isn't long before she is linking feminists to prostitution and a crime boss.

        At the same time, Sunny's sister is trying to hold together a fairy tale existence of Ivy League respectability built from her husband's checkbook. Her self-destructive bouts test Sunny's resolve of family honor.

        Sunny's best friend also has walked out of her marriage and is seeking a lot of support while avoiding the cause of her unhappiness. Even Sunny's beloved dog, Rosie, seems to need more attention than usual.

        So Sunny retreats to the only place she can: her case.

        This is not the first time Mr. Parker has introduced a new character, but never has he achieved this much success. He displays masterful restraint, creating situations where lesser authors would leave protagonists blasting their way to a solution.

        Here, Mr. Parker takes control with a plot simmering in psychological tension. With its focus on familial themes and more serious tones, it echoes vintage Spenser titles such as God Save the Child and Promised Land.

        There are moments when Mr. Parker borrows from his previous work: The self-assuredness of Sunny's body-building pal, Spike (what Hawk might have been if he were a gay restaurateur); a feminist that comes off as a new age Rachel Wallace (who once hired Spenser for some memorable bodyguard work).

        Since the setting is Boston, Spencer's turf, there are characters with whom Spenser has knocked heads. But the story is about Sunny, and it crashes to a conclusion on her terms, solved but not fully resolved.

        Answers don't come out of some noble quest for truth or vindication. Sunny simply wants to know what happened. So do we.

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