Mass. politics is the secret sauce as Boston PI Spenser returns in new novel | Bay State Briefing

It’s the challenge that every author ultimately faces: How do you take something that’s already weird enough in real life and translate it to the silver screen or the printed page?

Now imagine that something is Massachusetts politics, which can be, to put it mildly, transcendentally, existentially weird.

That’s the challenge that confronted veteran journalist and author Mike Lupica as he once again assumed the voice and mantle of Spenser, Boston’s most famous — and fictional — private investigator.

The result is “Hot Property‚” out Nov. 26 from G.P. Putnam’s Sons. The book blends drama on Beacon Hill and City Hall Plaza with a disturbing and very personal act of violence that hits Spenser and his usual supporting cast of Hawk, Susan Silverman and Martin Quirk very close to home.

It’s the 52nd book in the series, originated by the late Robert B. Parker, a Boston mainstay, who died in 2010, and continued by author Ace Atkins before Lupica took up author duties with last year’s “Broken Trust.”

Lupica recently took a few minutes to chat with MassLive about the new book, his love for Boston and what’s next for Spenser.

This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity, content, and potential spoilers. But if you’re a hardcore Spenser fan, now might be a good time to go get a snack or something …

Q: Massachusetts politics is front and center in this new book. What was your crash course like for it?

Lupica: “I’ve spent an amazing amount of time [in Boston]. I grew up in Nashua, New Hampshire. I went to Boston College. My four kids all went to Boston College. I started out writing, working nights at The [Boston] Globe and writing for the Boston Phoenix and Boston Magazine. I spent a fair amount of my life in Boston. So I followed the various political shenanigans.”

“I know that casinos are now at play in Boston. So I did some reading on that. And then I found out about this, you know, this incredible piece of land [in South Boston]. And so I decided to make that, as Hitchcock would say, the MacGuffin of this book.”

“Originally, my idea was to write about a George Santos-like politician, which I ended up doing, except I wanted to make this more personal.”

Q: That character, Nick Drummond, who’s the Santos figure serving in the Massachusetts state Senate, was he a composite of existing Massachusetts politicians? Or was he drawn entirely from your imagination?

Lupica: “George Santos was never charming, okay? I mean, he was a grifter, and everybody kind of saw him as a grifter. And it took everybody a while to get him out of Congress. But I wanted to have George Santos be this popular, charming, handsome boy wonder of Massachusetts politics.”

“And he turned out to be [one of the main character’s] boyfriend, and he died under mysterious circumstances. And in a lot of ways, you know, a dead guy becomes one of the central figures of this book as we keep unpacking things that we find out about [him].”

• Read More: ‘Spenser is the guy you want to write’: Author Mike Lupica picks up the legacy of Boston’s famed PI

Q: The main tragedy of the book draws the characters together, Spenser, Hawk, Capt. Martin Quirk, even [Spenser’s partner] Susan Silverman. It feels like a family drama in a lot of ways.

Lupica: “This is a family drama. And the fun thing was having even Susan Silverman soften her position to the victim of this shooting.”

“But you know … here’s another thing I love about these characters and why they were so brilliantly originated in the imagination of Mr. Parker … There’s a humanity to all of them. Obviously, there’s a humanity to Spenser and Hawk, and their relationship, and Susan, and we see a softer side of [lawyer Rita Fiore]. And because I wrote the [Parkerverse] Jesse Stone novels, I was like a manager going out in the fifth inning, tapping my right arm and bringing Jesse in. And, so, for the first time, really, we have the Three Musketeers: Spenser and Hawk and Jesse.”

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Q: In the books, you can see the streets that Spenser is walking. And if you live here, you know how he got from Point A to Point B. Have you ever had a Bostonian fact-check you, and tell you that [Spenser] couldn’t possibly have gotten to someplace from where he was before?

Lupica: “I’m completely confident, especially in the Back Bay, because I spent [time there]. I love writing about The Street Bar [in the Newbury Hotel] because I spent a lot of my life in it. Because we were either at Red Sox … or Celtics games; or … in my sports columnist life, I had so much reason to go to Boston … This city is in my heart and in my mind.”

Q: What’s on tap for you next in Parker-land?

Lupica: There’s a new [Spenser book] … All I will tell you is that it will deal with a Joe Rogan-type and immigration.”

Mass. native Kevin Hassett gets a White House return

Greenfield native Kevin A. Hassett is in line for a White House return in the incoming Trump administration.

President-elect Donald Trump tapped Hassett, now a fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, to serve as director of the National Economic Council.

Hassett served as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers from 2017 to 2019. In 2020, he rejoined the Trump White House as a senior advisor, the Trump transition team announced last week.

During that first tour of duty, Hassett was an architect of the 2017 tax cuts that Trump has vowed to extend when he returns to the White House early next year.

Hassett “will play an important role in helping American families recover from the Inflation that was unleashed by the Biden Administration,” Trump said in a statement.

“Together, we will renew and improve our record Tax Cuts, and ensure that we have Fair Trade with Countries that have taken advantage of the United States in the past,” Trump continued. “Kevin will also play a key role [in] strengthening our Economic relationships with Allies, new and old, while also securing Prosperity for the American People.”

North Shore lawmaker tapped for judgeship

The Nov. 5 election is barely in the books, and politicos in the 6th Essex House District already find themselves contemplating a special election.

That comes courtesy of Gov. Maura Healey, who nominated Rep. Jerry Parisella of Beverly to a District Court judgeship, according to State House News Service.

Parisella, who’s been in the House since 2011, chairs the Economic Development and Emerging Technologies Committee. He was one of the lead negotiators on the $4 billion economic development package that Healey recently signed into law.

Parisella is Healey’s 50th judicial nomination since taking office in 2023, the wire service reported.

“As a member of the Legislature for more than a decade and a U.S. Army veteran, Representative Parisella is a true public servant who knows what it means to deliver for the people of Massachusetts,” the Democratic governor said in a statement. “We believe that he has the knowledge, the compassion and the experience to excel on the District Court. We’re excited for him to continue his service to the state, and we look forward to working with [the] Governor’s Council as they consider his nomination.”

Monday Numbers

$6 million: The total state funding that’s headed to cranberry bogs and coastal wetlands across the state thanks to an infusion of cash from the Healey administration.

The money channeled through the state Department of Fish and Game’s Division of Ecological Restoration, will help preserve and restore cranberry bogs in 12 communities, the administration said in a statement last week.

Also:

$740,000: The portion of that money that’s headed to Pinnacle Bogs in Plymouth.

$300,000: The portion of the money that’s headed for the Frost Fish Creek Wetland in Chatham; the Jack’s Marsh Wetland, and the Agawam River Bog, both overseen by the Buzzard’s Bay Coalition.

“Ecological restoration is essential for meeting Massachusetts’ environmental and climate adaptation goals, but it takes local leadership to take the steps needed toward making this work possible,” Beth Lambert, director of the Division of Ecological Restoration, said.

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They said it

“Our workplace laws exist to provide crucial rights and protections to our workforce. My office will continue to enforce these laws to protect and empower workers, including young workers who contribute to their communities and gain new skills and experiences.”

— Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea J. Campbell grills Northeast Foods LLC, which operates dozens of Burger King franchise locations across the state, for its child labor law violations.

Turned up to 11

This one popped up on my commute on the Red Line the other morning. It’s Velvet Crush’s cover of “Why Not Your Baby,” first recorded by Dillard and Clark. This version comes from Velvet Crush’s essential 1994 LP “Teenage Symphonies to God.” Some readers may recall the band toured around New England quite a lot in those days.

Your Monday long read

This year marks the 40th anniversary of “Do They Know It’s Christmas,” the holiday charity single by the British pop supergroup collectively known as Band Aid. The record and the later Live Aid concert raised millions of dollars for Ethiopian famine relief and put the African nation on the world map.

So how did the Ethiopians feel about it? Well … it’s a bit of a mixed bag. “Everyone was happy, but it became annoying,” The Guardian reports in its look back.

That’s it for this morning. I’ll be off next week. So we’ll see you back here in a bit. As always, send tips, comments and suggestions to jmicek@masslive.com.