We always knew that Spenser lived on Marlborough Street, somewhere near the Arlington Street end by the Public Garden.  Here is it's counterpart in the real world, and at the bottom of the page are my notes on how I came to this conclusion.

The original pictures I took and posted here were taken at the worst time of the day, as the sun was starting to set and shining straight into my lens.  Rob Averbeck was kind enough to download them, clean 'em up, and send back the results. 

Corner of Berkeley Street.  The red building is the one opposite Spenser's office.

Looking west from the Arlington Street end.  

Another shot looking west from across Arlington.  A bad time of the day to take pictures, the sun was starting to set and shone straight into my lens.  It does give you an idea of how densely tree-lined the street is.

The first building is pink; Spenser's is the gray one just beyond it.

Getting closer.

A view from across the street.

The entrances to the building. The one on the left has two apartments per floor, unlike Spenser's setup and the one in the middle has no call buttons to push, so I chose the one on the right.

The names are on the mailboxes, not the buzzers.  I will allow the actual tenant of the second floor apartment some privacy.

A horrible photo taken through window glass into the vestibule with a camera that insisted on using the flash.

I found this picture on a real estate web site.  It's an apartment for rent in the same building, facing the street.  

In the suburbs where I live an alley is just a space between buildings.  The thought of numbering them and putting up street signs is fascinating.  This one runs between Marlborough and Beacon Streets and is where Spenser often parks.

A fire escape in the alley, crucial to the plot in Walking Shadow.

My reasoning (such as it):

• In Looking for Rachel Wallace Foley gives Spenser and Rachel a ride back from the English house. 

  • "He pulled into Marlborough Street from Arlington and went up it the wrong way two doors to my apartment." 

  • Since then the traffic pattern has changed.  Marlborough is one way heading east for most of its length but the residents of the last block got sick of people using the street as a throughway and that block is now one way west to Berkeley Street.  I got that info from a local resident.

• In God Save the Child Spenser gave Susan directions to his apartment.

  • "I'm on the last block before you get to the Public Garden... it's on the left hand side."

  • Noting the traffic direction from above that puts him on the north side of the street.

• He must be on that block anyway.  When leaving his office Spenser always walks one block east to Arlington, north to Marlborough, and enters the street from that end.  If he were further down he would walk up Berkeley to Marlborough and take a left.

  • Why not just walk up Berkley and take a right?  From personal experience I can tell you it's much more pleasant to stroll by the Public Garden going from one location to the other.

• In Walking Shadow ch. 22 we have two more clues to nail it down

  • "There was the fire escape, which came down into the public alley between Marlboro (sic) and Beacon Street."  Bingo: Beacon is the next street north so we are dealing with Public Alley 421. 

  • The closeness to the corner plays a crucial role:

    • "Then I hotfooted it down the front stairs and out the front door.  I went down Marlboro (sic) Street on the dead run...turned the corner on Arlington Street, past one building and into the alley that ran behind my building...if it had worked they should be on the fire escape."

• I'm not saying it's perfect.  Elsewhere in Walking Shadow ch. 22 he notes the elevator going up to the sixth floor, and as you can see the building is not quite that tall.  Oh well, that's fiction for you.

• I also took liberties with the last picture.  There is no fire escape leading to the alley behind the above building; that shot was taken behind a building in Public Alley 422 to the south.  It just looked right. I claim the same literary license as Parker.

• You can follow the above by consulting the map on the Spenser in Context page.

This Page Created by Bob Ames