The perils of political correctness in Robert B. Parker's Spenser novels

The American detective novel, and Robert B. Parkers's novels in particular, have been enormously influenced by Raymond Chandler who advocated a particular type of detective and promoted the idea that the hard-boiled formula should be an accurate reflection of American low life. Parker's attempt to create a modern-day, politically correct Marlowe serves only to highlight the profoundly irreconcilable nature of political correctness and hard-boiled detection. These contradictions, however, also accurately reflect contemporary American society, which is more contradictory now than ever before.