Robert B. Parker’s Stone’s Throw: A Jesse Stone Novel

A high-profile homicide case, the shooting murder of Mayor Neil O’Hara, preoccupies Paradise, Mass., police chief Jesse Stone in Lupica’s solid second franchise contribution (after 2020’s Fool’s Paradise). O’Hara’s successor, Gary Armistead, insists the death was a suicide, as the weapon was right next to O’Hara’s hand and only the dead man’s footprints were at the scene. Armistead directs Stone to close his inquiry fast so as not to imperil the imminent sale of the town’s most valuable property to a developer intending to build a hotel and casino. When Stone finds clear evidence of murder, he pursues every lead, even probing a former flame of his, O’Hara’s ex-wife. Since O’Hara opposed the proposed development, the chief digs into the two men competing to buy the property. Lupica successfully captures the cadences and banter of Parker’s crime fiction, but some may question his choice to give Stone a gunslinging sidekick with a shady background, Wilson Cromartie, who’s underdeveloped compared to similar supporting players in Parker’s Spenser books. Still, most Parker fans won’t be disappointed. Agent: Esther Newberg, ICM Partners. (Sept.)