Painted Ladies / Robert B. Parker / 291 pages / Deceased Author Challenge

Once again Spenser finds himself doggedly pursuing leads in an investigation without remuneration.  He was hired to provide protection during a ransom exchange for a stolen painting.  During the exchange, renowned art scholar, Dr. Ashton Prince, is killed.  Blown to bits along with the painting he was rescuing.  Spenser is determined to find the perpetrator and make him pay.  As always, the authorities are willing to let Spenser lead the investigation as he is not bound by the constraints that often inhibit their investigations.  Despite various attempts on his life, a humanitarian organization that blockades his attempts at the truth, and a convoluted painting history that flounders in World War II Nazi Germany, the Holocaust, and concentration camps, Spenser is, of course, successful.