Killing the Blues by Michael Brandman
After Robert Parker's death in 2010, Michael Brandman was hired to continue his popular Jesse Stone series. Killing The Blues is Brandman's first effort. And it's only a partial success.
The plot is involving. A series of car thefts is occurring in Paradise just before tourist season, which has the town's leaders in an uproar. Then police chief Jesse Stone finds out that someone from his past (his days as a cop in L.A.) may be coming to get him. Then there are some unsavory goings-on at the local high school that require Jesse's intervention. All part of a typical day in Paradise.
What's off is the tone. Jesse is just a little too cheerful. He sounds more like Spenser, the Boston PI who stars in another series by Parker. In previous books, Jesse was dealing with his almost obsession with his cheating ex-wife, Jenn. And with the lure of alcohol. Those problems are both mentioned then pushed aside. Also pushed aside is his off-and-on romance with PI Sunny Randall, which is an unfortunate development. I liked the interaction between those 2 characters, who were both still caught up in their former marriages.
It's nice being able to check in on Jesse, Suit, Molly and the rest of the Paradise gang even though Robert Parker is gone. But it's just not quite the same.
The plot is involving. A series of car thefts is occurring in Paradise just before tourist season, which has the town's leaders in an uproar. Then police chief Jesse Stone finds out that someone from his past (his days as a cop in L.A.) may be coming to get him. Then there are some unsavory goings-on at the local high school that require Jesse's intervention. All part of a typical day in Paradise.
What's off is the tone. Jesse is just a little too cheerful. He sounds more like Spenser, the Boston PI who stars in another series by Parker. In previous books, Jesse was dealing with his almost obsession with his cheating ex-wife, Jenn. And with the lure of alcohol. Those problems are both mentioned then pushed aside. Also pushed aside is his off-and-on romance with PI Sunny Randall, which is an unfortunate development. I liked the interaction between those 2 characters, who were both still caught up in their former marriages.
It's nice being able to check in on Jesse, Suit, Molly and the rest of the Paradise gang even though Robert Parker is gone. But it's just not quite the same.
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