The celebrated private detective and crime novelist Robert B. Parker has died.

The bestselling author carried the private detective genre into a new century, writing about a tough detective named Spenser since 1971. He was also picked to complete “Poodle Springs,” an unfinished novel by the great private detective writer, Raymond Chandler. This GalleyCat editor will always treasure fond memories of reading the novelist’s Spenser series as a kid.

Here’s more from Sarah Weinman, the literary journalist who broke the news this morning: “He is survived by his wife, Joan, and his sons, David, a choreographer, and Daniel, an actor. Several more novels will be published in 2010, including SPLIT IMAGE, the newest Jesse Stone novel (out February 23) and BLUE-EYED DEVIL, an Appaloosa novel (out on May 4). Much, much more soon, and something tells me a whole lot of tributes will be rolling in over the next day or two. In the meantime, some choice tributes and links: