The Professional, by Robert B. Parker

Typical Spenser, in that he gets the job done, although in this case his employers try to call him off and he actually ends up liking the 'bad guy' a little more than the people who hired him. The case centers on a con man who really enjoys sleeping with women who are married to wealthy older men. After setting the hook, he then blackmails them but somehow still manages to charm them into thinking he really loves them. And then...things go badly wrong. And Spenser fixes it. Sort of.

The Wildcats of Exeter, by Edward Marston

This is the book I skipped somehow, and it's a little disconcerting to find that it hardly mattered.

Obviously, the commissioners have headed to Devon for this book, along with yet another additional head to help them sort things out. Of course, like Ensign Red-Shirt in the original Star Trek shows, this just means he's either going to end up dead or on the wrong team.

The 'case' they end up trying to solve surrounds a man killed as they arrive in Exeter. The dead man has land that is under their review too, and after his death two new people come forward saying they should have the title, making a total of five claimants. Solving his murder becomes important to figure out if he was killed so that the new claims are the result of his death. In the meantime, the new commissioner is killed, and Golde becomes involved in an attempt at blackmailing the wife of their host.

The plot was convuluted, with the dangling carrot of Gervase and Alys' imminent wedding being held out as reason to continue reading the series.