"Private eye Spenser is hired to clear the name of a man accused of murdering a wealthy young woman enrolled at a ritzy college. Can Spenser stay alive long enough to uncover the truth?" Nope. While camping it up on campus, an unfortunate sexual experiment results in his carotid artery becoming trapped in a small vice suffocating him; hence the novel's title. And if Robert be Parker, then who the hell is Spenser?
