Robert B Parker - Death In Paradise

The worst that Paradise usually has to deal with is the odd homeless dog, and good job too, as Jesse Stone has enough going on in his personal life to cope with.  Then the decomposed body of a young girl is found in the lake.  Jesse has to find out who she is, and why she was murdered.  The answer lies with a local author, who just happens to have a connection with a local heavy.  But Jesse's personal life weighs hard, with his drink problem, and the torment of whether he is still in love with his ex-wife.

My rating: 7/10

It was purely co-incidence that I took out a Parker only a few days after his death, and this is a fairly typical and enjoyable example of his work.  He relies heavily on dialogue, and have to say, if you are a pedant who objects to the word "said" being used more than a couple of times, you won't enjoy them.  If, however, you overlook/ignore/decide it doesn't matter, and concentrate on what is actually being "said" you will note that Parker has a remarkable talent in observing human nature, emotions and understanding the motives behind them.  Also, with the amount of dialogue used, this makes the book easy to read and indeed most people would be able to read an average Parker in an afternoon.

Previously, I had read a couple of Spensers, this is the first Jesse Stone, but although the style is consistent, the personalities are not - albeit both Spenser and Stone are "bad boys" at heart, and in their past.  Also, fairly typical, is that as the hero knows who the villain is, the revealing of the murderer is not particularly surprising, it is how Stone comes to the conclusion - and the resources and methods he uses to find them that are entertaining.

Next: Ann Cleeves - Blue Lightning, for SHOTS