Spenser’s Crime Buster Rules

I have a soft spot for Robert Parker’s Spenser books. I read one in March of 2007 and found men­tion of some­thing like, Spenser’s Crimestop­pers Tip #X, “Blah, blah, blah…” It made me think that I had seen that term before in his books and won­dered if there was a tip in every book. So I read all of the Spenser nov­els and kept track of any men­tion of crime stop­per tips. Here is a list of the ones I found, in order of the books they were found in:

One of Spenser’s Rules: When in doubt cook some­thing and eat it. — Mor­tal Stakes

I read in a Dick Tracy Crime Stop­per that a small change in appear­ance can be help­ful when fol­low­ing some­one sur­rep­ti­tiously. — The Judas Goat

I had a full file of Dick Tracy crime-stoppers at home, but none of them that I could remem­ber cov­ered this. — A Sav­age Place

Para­graph six of the Gumshoe’s Man­ual said when in doubt, fol­low some­one. Para­graph seven said when there is time on your hands, fol­low some­one. — The Widen­ing Gyre

Brett had parked in the early evening and taken his overnight bag and gone into a motel. Accord­ing to my col­lec­tion of Dick Tracy Crime Stop­pers, this was a clue that he meant to sleep there. — Pale Kings and Princes

One of Spenser’s Best Crime-Buster Tips: Never go unarmed on a mur­der case. — Paper Doll

One of Spenser’s Crime-stopper tips: You rarely get into trou­ble not say­ing stuff. — Walk­ing Shadow

Spenser’s Rule: When in doubt, tell the truth. — Chance

Spenser’s Tips For Suc­cess­ful Gumshoe-ing #6: If noth­ing is hap­pen­ing and you haven’t any idea what you’re doing, go some­place and sit and look at some­thing and await devel­op­ments.
   Sub­para­graph A: Most good detec­tives bring some cof­fee and a few donuts with them. — Sud­den Mischief

One of Spenser’s Rules of Detec­tion: Never poke around on an empty stom­ach. — Pot­shot

#7 from the Rules of the Inner-Directed Sleuth Oper­at­ing Man­ual When you don’t have enough proof, learn every­thing you can. — Back Story

Spenser Crimestop­per Rule #2: If after repeated efforts you don’t suc­ceed, quit. — Bad Busi­ness

Spenser Crime Stop­per List #6: Go with the flow. — Bad Busi­ness

Spenser’s Crime Buster Tip #31: If you have a name and no address, try look­ing in the phone book. — Cold Ser­vice

Spenser’s Crime Buster Rule #8: Always look.
   #8a: Don’t blun­der into some­thing while you’re look­ing. — School Days

Spenser’s Rule #113: As a last dis­parate fall back posi­tion, you find some­one to fol­low, and fol­low them. — School Days

One of Spenser’s Rules For Crim­i­nal Inves­ti­ga­tion: Most things have two ends. — The Pro­fes­sional