Spenser is a fictional private investigator created by the American mystery writer Robert B. Parker. He acts as the protagonist of a series of detective novels written by Parker and later continued by Ace Atkins. His first appearance was in the 1973 novel The Godwulf Manuscript. He is also featured in the 1980s television series Spenser: For Hire and a related series of TV movies based on the novels. In March 2020 he was featured in the Netflix thriller film Spenser Confidential. Spenser is only referred to by his surname in the novels, but the television series has him introduce himself as "David Spenser" to a cop sitting at the diner in the fifteenth episode of season 2. Also, Spenser is addressed as "Jim" at the end of Chapter 9 of "The Godwulf Manuscript" though this was probably a casual address by a stranger, akin to "Mac" or "Buddy." Fictional biography Spenser was born and grew up in Laramie, Wyoming and is a Boston private eye in the mold of Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe, a smart-mouthed tough guy with a heart of gold. Unlike Marlowe, Spenser maintains a committed relationship with one woman (Susan Silverman, a psychologist). He is an ex-boxer who likes to remind readers that he once fought the former heavyweight champ Jersey Joe Walcott, and he lifts weights to stay in shape. He is quite well educated, cooks, and lives by a code of honor he and Susan discuss occasionally—though as infrequently as he can manage. Like his creator, Robert B. Parker, both are Bostonians, and both spent time in Korea with the U.S. Army. Spenser served as an infantryman in the 1st Infantry Division during the Korean War. Spenser is a former State trooper investigator assigned to the Suffolk County District Attorney's (DA) Office (although some novels state that he also worked out of the Middlesex County DA's Office; Walking Shadow and the pilot episode of Spenser: For Hire say he was a Boston Police detective), and regularly seeks help from (or sometimes butts heads with) Martin Quirk. Quirk is originally a police lieutenant, later a captain, and he rises to an assistant superintendent (according to Little White Lies) of the Boston Police Department. Among his other police contacts are Sergeant Frank Belson and Detective Lee Farrell, both homicide investigators under Quirk's command; Healy, a captain of the Massachusetts State Police; and Mark Samuelson, an LAPD