β Scribed by Robert B. Parker
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
In bestseller Parker's fluffy eighth Jesse Stone novel (after Stranger in Paradise), the Paradise, Mass., police chief almost effortlessly performs his laconic magic to restore order and right wrongs. When Betsy Ingersoll, the junior high school principal, decides to conduct a check of girls' undies before an eighth-grade dance, it may or may not have been a crime, but it certainly provokes a firestorm of protests. Then there's a Peeping Tom calling himself the Night Hawk, whose activities escalate from watching to home invasions. In addition, the legal activities of a group of adults calling themselves the Paradise Free Swingers are badly affecting two children. Jesse's ex-wife, Jenn, and his deputies, Molly Crane and Suit Simpson, lend support. With a few bold strokes, Parker sketches characters and plot, then uses long stretches of his trademark pithy dialogue to carry the story briskly forward. The result may not provide much of a meal, but it's certainly an enjoyable snack. (Feb.)
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Paradise, Massachusetts, has seen its share of crime since Jesse Stone became the police chief, and as officer Molly Crane observes, it seems more like Sodom and Gomorrah every day. This time trouble erupts when middle-school principal Betsy Ingersoll does a panty check of her female students before an after-school danceshe was checking suitability, according to the unrepentant Mrs. Ingersoll. After Jesse andMolly have dispersed the irate parents, the questions of motive and potential charges remain at issue. It doesnt help that Mr. Ingersoll is the managing partner of Bostons most influential legal firm. Theres also the matter of a peeping tomcalling himself the Night Hawk in letters to Stonewho has escalated from just looking to home invasion and photographing his nude victims. The key to the Night Hawks identity may lie somewhere within Paradises wife-swapping, swinging-couples scene. Stone, who continues to struggle with hisdrinking and his obsession with his manipulative ex-wife,is the most engaging of Parkers post-Spenser contemporary protagonistsEverett Hitch and Virgil Cole from the authors two recent westerns are equally appealing. This is a solid, though lightly plotted mystery, but the dialogue is spot on, and the professional chemistry between Stone and his small force is its own reason to read the series. --Wes Lukowsky
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EDITORIAL REVIEW: \*\*Paradise, Massachusetts, police chief Jesse Stone confronts a towns darkest secrets in the shocking new novel from the \*New York Times\*bestselling author and Americas greatest mystery writer (\*The New York Sun\*).\*\* Things are getting strange in Paradise,
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