I just finished the last book in the Sunny Randall series by Robert B. Parker. I can't help feeling a sort of sadness about it. Mr. Parker died at age 77 on January 18, 2010, leaving behind a several series and several well-loved characters, including Spenser, Jesse Stone, and of course, Sunny Randall.

I've said before I came late to the Robert B. Parker party, having only picked up my first Spenser novel, The Godwulf Manuscript, after he passed away. I enjoyed it enough to read more, but it wasn't until I began recovering from knee surgery last month that I got around to it and read all of the Sunny Randall books plus a Jesse Stone novel all in the four weeks since.

Having finished all of the Sunny Randall series, I can't help feeling that Sunny, like her creator, was not quite ready to quit. I'll have to complete her story in my own mind, knowing she must've finally achieved the sense of peace with herself she worked so hard at. And, of course, caught a heap more bad guys.

There are still plenty more Robert B. Parker books for me to read, having not even scratched the surface of the Spenser series. But I'll miss Sunny, and hope she's doing well.