Robert B. Parker, 'Spenser' author, dies at age 77

Crime novelist Robert B. Parker has died at age 77 at his Cambridge, Mass. home. The AP reports that local police believe his death was from natural causes.

Parker wrote more than 50 novels including 37 featuring the famed tough-talking Boston private investigator Spenser, the basis for the 1980s TV show Spenser: For Hire. The latest Spenser book was 2009’s The Professional.

Photo credit: John Earle/G.P. Putnam’s Sons/AP Photo