Mystery novelist Robert Parker dies

LOS ANGELES - Robert Parker, author of the ‘Spenser for Hire’ books, which were developed into a successful TV series, has died in his Cambridge, Massachusetts, home at age 77, the Boston Globe reported.

Parker published 65 books in his 37-year publishing career, including the Spenser series, which featured the taciturn Korean War-veteran detective, who was modeled after Philip Marlow, the private investigator created by Raymond Chandler.

Parker, who kept writing until the day of his death, was found by his wife slumped at his desk, apparently from a heart attack, the paper said Tuesday.

“She saw him early in the morning, went out for her exercise, came back an hour later, and he was gone,” said Parker’s agent, Helen Brann. “He was at his desk, as he so often was.”