Robert B. Parker's Lullaby

Fourteen-year-old Mattie Sullivan has approached Spenser for help, asking him to find her mother's killer. But her mother, Julie Sullivan, was killed some four years back; and a local man, Mickey Green, was convicted of her murder that very same year. Mattie is, by all appearances, an emotionally damaged kid. But she's also gruff, street-smart and fearless - qualities close to Spenser's heart. As such, he agrees to look into Mickey Green's case: figuring the least he can do is force Mattie to face the facts, and put an end to her denial. But Mattie's instincts are correct. And soon Spenser realizes that it's not her, but the record on her mother's killing, which needs to be set straight.