ROBERT B. PARKER

Gunslinging saddle pals Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch rescue Allie French, Virgils former sweetie who ran off to become a prostitute, and head to Brimstone, south Texas. The two gunmen sign on as deputy sheriffs, but Brimstone fails to provide a quiet respite. A mysterious Indian is killing locals, and a brutal saloon owner and corrupt preacher are headed for a showdown... Virgil and Everett settle on a tricky solution that involves a talented tracker, a bribe, a double-cross, a noxious cloud of gun smoke and a pile of perforated bodies. The result is classic Parker - exciting, suspenseful and entertaining.

The Paradise Mens Softball League has wrapped up another game, and Jesse Stone is lingering in the parking lot with his teammates, drinking beer, swapping stories of double plays and beautiful women in the late-summer twilight. But then a frightened voice calls out to him from the edge of a nearby lake. There, two men squat at the waters edge. In front of them, facedown, was something that used to be a girl.The local cops havent seen anything like this, but Jesses L.A. past has made him all too familiar with floaters. This girl hadnt committed suicide; she hadnt been drowned: shed been shot and dumped, discarded like trash. Before long it becomes clear that she had a taste for the wild life; and her own parents cant be bothered to report her missing, or even admit that she once was a child of theirs. All Jesse has to go on is a young mans school ring on a gold chain, and a hunch or two.

A troubled teenager accused of a horrific crime draws Spenser into one of the most desperate cases of his careerLily Ellsworth - erect, firm, white-haired and stylish - is the grand dame of Dowling, Massachusetts, and possesses an iron will and a bottomless purse. When she hires Spenser to investigate her grandson Jared Clarks alleged involvement in a school shooting, Spenser is led into an investigation that grows more harrowing at every turn. Though seven people were killed in cold blood, and despite being named as a co-conspirator by the other shooter, Mrs. Ellsworth is convinced of her grandsons innocence. Jareds parents are resigned to his fate, and the boy himself doesnt seem to care whether he goes to prison for a crime he might not have committed.As the probe goes on, Spenser finds himself up against a number of roadblocks - from the school officials who dont want him investigating, to Jareds own parents, who are completely indifferent to the boys defence. Ultimately Spenser discovers a web of blackmail and some heavy-duty indiscretions-and a truth too disturbing to contemplate. Before the case reaches its unfortunate end, Spenser is forced to make a series of difficult decisions-with fatal consequences.

Paradise, Massachusetts, police chief Jesse Stone returns, tracking the path of a pair of thrill killers.Jesse Stone has a problem no officer of the law likes to face: Dead bodies keep appearing, but clues do not.A man takes his dog out for a run on the beach, only to be discovered hours later - with two holes in his chest.A woman drives her Volvo to the store to do some grocery shopping, and is then found dead, her body crumpled behind her loaded shopping cart.A commuter takes a shortcut home from the train, and never makes it back to his house.Hunting down a serial killer is difficult and dangerous in any town, but in a town like Paradise, where the selectmen and the media add untold pressures, Jesse feels considerable heat.Already walking an emotional tightrope, he stumbles; hes spending too much time with the bottle, and with his ex-wife - neither of which helps him, or the case. And the harder these outside forces push against him, the more Jesse retreats into himself, convinced - despite all the odds - that its up to him alone to stop the killing.What is most remarkable...is Parkers ability to not only sustain the quality of his writing but also to continue to develop his characters. Stone Cold ... is among the best works of his careerJoe Hartlaub,Bookreporter.comthis is prime Parker, testament to why he was named a Grand Master at the 2002 Edgar AwardsPublishers WeeklyPitch perfectNew York Times

Her name is Sunny Randall, a Boston P.I. and former cop, a college graduate, an aspiring painter, a divorcee, and the owner of a miniature bull terrier named Rosie. Hired by a wealthy family to locate their teenage daughter, Sunny is tested by the parents preconceived notion of what a detective should be. With the help of underworld contacts she tracks down the runaway Millicent, who has turned to prostitution, rescues her from her pimp, and finds herself, at thirty-four, the unlikely custodian of a difficult teenager when the girl refuses to return to her family.But Millicents problems are rooted in much larger crimes than running away, and Sunny, now playing the role of bodyguard, is caught in a shooting war with some very serious mobsters. She turns for help to her ex-husband, Richie, himself the son of a mob family, and to her dearest friend, Spike, a flamboyant and dangerous gay man. Heading this unlikely alliance, Sunny must solve at least one murder, resolve a criminal conspiracy that reaches to the top of state government, and bring Millicent back into functional young womanhood.

Ellis Alves is a bad kid from the hood with a long record, but did he really murder Melissa Henderson, a white student from ritzy Pemberton College? Alvess former lawyers think he was framed, and they hire Spenser to uncover the truth. From Bostons back streets to Manhattans elite, Spenser and Hawk search for suspects, including Melissas rich kid tennis-star boyfriend. But when a man with a .22 puts Spenser in a coma, the hope for justice might just die along with the detective...

The First Jesse Stone MysteryAfter a busted marriage kicks his drinking problems into overdrive and the LAPD unceremoniously dump him, 35-year-old Jesse Stones future looks bleak.So hes shocked when a small Massachusetts town called Paradise hires him as their police chief.Once on board he doesnt have to look for trouble in Paradise - it comes to him.For what is on the surface a quiet New England community quickly proves to be a crucible of political and moral corruption - replete with triple homicide, tight Boston mob ties, flamboyantly errant spouses, maddened militiamen and a psychopath-about-town who has fixed his violent sights on the new lawman.He finds he must test his mettle and powers of command to emerge a local hero - or the deadest of dupes.as richly novelistic as anything Parker has ever written ...light, shade, texture, and complexityRichard Dyer, The Boston GlobeThe spare style of Parkers third-person narrative cleans the air Marilyn Stasio, New York TimesA novel as fresh as it is bold ... Stone is a complex and consistently interesting new protagonistNewsdayParker has always been a master of razor-sharp and witty dialogue, hard-driving suspense and memorable characterization. His Jesse Stone series promises to match if not excel the Spenser novels. Night Passage is a stunning debut.Houston Chronicle

A Jesse Stone NovelWhen a womans partially decomposed body washes ashore in Paradise, Massachusetts, police chief Jesse Stone is forced into a case far more difficult than it at first appears.Identifying the woman is just the first step in what proves to be a difficult and emotionally charged investigation.Florence Horvath was an attractive, recently divorced heiress from Florida; she also had a penchant for steamy sex and was an enthusiastic participant in a video depicting the same.Somehow the combination of her past and present got her killed, but no one is talking - not the crew of the Lady Jane, the Fort Lauderdale yacht moored in Paradise harbour; nor her very blonde, very tanned twin sisters, Corliss and Claudia; and not her curiously affectless parents, living out a sterile retirement in a Miami high rise.But someone - Jesse - has to speak for the dead, even if it puts him in harms way.If Spenser is the invincible knight, the timeless hero of American detective fiction, then Jesse Stone is the flawed hero of the moment, a man whose deficiencies define his humanity...you want to cheerNew York Times...timing and pace are all. Parker knows what hes about, and Sea Change is a crackerSam Leith,Daily Telegraphfunny, smart and highly entertaining Sam Leith, Daily Telegraph

Spenser is back and embroiled in a deceptively dangerous and multi-layered case: someone has been killing racehorses at stables across the south, and the Boston P.I. travels to Georgia to protect the two-year old destined to become the next Secretariat.When Spenser is approached by Walter Clive, president of the Three Fillies Stables, to find out who is threatening his horse Hugger Mugger, he can hardly say no: hes been doing pro bono work for so long his cupboards are just about bare.Disregarding the resentment of the local Georgia law enforcement, Spenser takes the case. Though Clive has hired a separate security firm, he wants someone with Spensers experience to supervise the operation. Despite the veneer of civility, Spenser encounters tensions beneath the surface southern gentility. The case takes an even more deadly turn when the attacker claims a human victim, and Spenser must revise his impressions of the Three Fillies organization - and watch his own back as well

Boston PI Spenser returns - heading west to the rich mans haven of Potshot, Arizona, a former mining town reborn as a paradise for Los Angeles millionaires looking for a place to escape the pressures of their high-flying lifestyles. Potshot overcame its rough reputation as a rendezvous for old-time mountain men who lived off the land, thanks to a healthy infusion of new blood and even newer money. But when this western idyll is threatened by a local gang - a twenty-first-century posse of desert rats, misfits, drunks and scavengers - the local police seem powerless.Led by a charismatic individual known only as The Preacher, this motley band of thieves selectively exploits the town, nurturing it as a source of wealth while systematically robbing the residents blind.Enter Spenser, called in to put the group out of business and establish a police force who can protect the town. Calling on his own cadre of cohorts, including Vinnie Morris, Bobby Horse, Chollo Bernard J. Fortunato, as well as the redoubtable Hawk, Spenser must find a way to beat the gang at their own dangerous game.

Melanie Joan Hall is a best-selling author in a bind. Her publisher needs her to tour on behalf of her newest blockbuster, and Melanie Joan needs a bodyguard-cum-escort to protect her from an overbearing ex-husband whose presence unnerves her to the point of hysteria. Sunnys cool demeanour, cop background, and P.I. smarts are an instant balm for the older woman. She begins to sense that Melanie Joans ex - a psychotherapist - is not your basic stalker, and when an incident at a book signing leaves the ex-husband bloodied and the author unconscious, its clear the stakes are high.Deciding that the only way to crack the case is from the inside, Sunny enters therapy herself, only to discover some disturbing truths about herself . . . while putting her life on the line.

Twenty-five years and 26 books into the Spenser series, Hush Money dishes up another solid instalment that is sure to fulfil the cravings of Parker fans new and old.This time Spenser and his buddy Hawk are helping a couple of troubled friends (i.e., theyre working without a fee). The first case involves the denial of tenure for Professor Robinson Nevins. While tenure meetings are always closed-door affairs, Nevins assumes that the recent suicide of graduate student Prentice Lamont (who some claim was having an affair with Nevins) ruined his chances for a coveted permanent position. Spenser and Hawk cut a brawl-strewn path through the members of the tenure committee on their way to the surprising truth of the Nevins case.The other investigation pits Spenser against the unknown stalker of K.C. Roth. Spensers girlfriend, Susan, has known K.C. for a while, and while the PI finds Ms. Roth a bit melodramatic, hes always eager to help a damsel in distress. The only problem is that after hes apparently resolved the case, K.C. begins a little stalking of her own - of Spenser.

When the body of controversial talk-show host Walton Weeks is discovered hanging from a tree on the outskirts of Paradise, police chief Jesse Stone finds himself at the center of a highly public case, forcing him to deal with small-minded local officials and national media scrutiny.When another dead body - that of a young woman - is discovered just a few days later, the pressure becomes almost unbearable.Two victims in less than a week should provide a host of clues, but all Jesse runs into are dead ends.But what may be the most disturbing aspect of these murders is the fact that no one seems to care.When the medical examiner reveals a heartbreaking link between the two departed souls, the mystery only deepens.Despite Weekss reputation and the girls tender age, Jesse is hard-pressed to find legitimate suspects. Though the crimes are perhaps the most gruesome Jesse has ever witnessed, it is the malevolence behind them that makes them all the more frightening.Forced to delve into a world of stormy relationships, Jesse soon comes to realize that knowing who he can trust is indeed a matter of life and death.As always with Parker, the plot, tight though it is, almost fades into insignificance in the face of brilliant dialogue and characterisation Carla Mckay, Daily MailRemarkably prolific crime writer Robert B Parker has effected something of a time-saving coup in High ProfileThe ObserverSpenser has been reincarnated, and his name is Jesse StoneAssociated Press

Appaloosa New Mexico Territory, 1882: two itinerant lawmen walk their horses down the long,shale-scattered slope into the frontier town of Appaloosa. Below them, lies rancher Randall Braggs new kingdom, but Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch are here to restore the rule of law. Theyve done it before, they know what to do only too well: shoot quick, shoot clean, reload. But they arent the only new arrivals in town. Mrs Allison French has stepped off the train with only a dollar to her name, a keen sense of survival and a good eye for a strong man. Finding one isnt going to a problem - Appaloosa is full of them: Cole, Bragg, Hitch. The problem is that Allie French isnt afraid to hedge her bets... and that Virgil Coles heart isnt as steady as his gun hand.Resolution The dust has yet to settle in the new frontier town of Resolution. Its barely even a town: a general store, a handful of saloons and a run-down brothel for the workers at a nearby copper mine. No sheriff has been appointed, and gunslingers have taken control. Amid the chaos, itinerant lawman Everett Hitch has created a small haven of order at the Blackfoot Saloon. Charged with protecting the girls who work the back room, Hitch has seen off passing cowboys and violent punters - though its his scheming boss, Amos Woolfson, who stirs up the most trouble. When a greedy mine owner threatens the local ranchers, Woolfson ends up at the centre of a makeshift war. Hitch knows only too well how to protect himself, but with the bloodshed mounting, hes relieved when his friend Virgil Cole rides into town. In a place where justice and order dont yet exist, Cole and Hitch must lay down the law - without violating their codes of honour, duty and friendship.Brimstone Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch rescue Allie French, Virgils former sweetie who ran off to become a prostitute, and head to Brimstone, south Texas. The two gunmen sign on as deputy sheriffs, but Brimstone fails to provide a quiet respite. A mysterious Indian is killing locals, and a brutal saloon owner and corrupt preacher are headed for a showdown...

When a serial murderer dubbed "The Spare Change Killer" by the Boston press surfaces after three decades in hiding, the police immediately seek out the cop, now retired, who headed the original task force: Phil Randall. As a sharp-eyed investigator and a doting parent ("Youre smart. Youre tough. You, too, are a paradigm of law enforcement perfection, and youre my kid"), Phil calls on his daughter, Sunny, to help catch the criminal who eluded him so many years before. Sunny is certain that shes found her man after interviewing just a handful of suspects. Though she has no evidence against Bob Johnson, she trusts her intuition. And she knows the power she has over him - she can feel the skittishness and sexual tension that he radiates when hes around her - but persuading her father and the rest of the task force is a different story.When the killer strikes a second and third time, the murders take a macabre turn, as the victims each eerily resemble Sunny. While her father pressures her to drop the case, Sunnys need to create a trap to nab her killer grows. In a compelling game of cat-and-mouse, Sunny uses all her skills to draw out her prey, realizing too late that shes setting herself up to become the next victim.

A cheating husband and a wayward wife provide Spenser with an unconventional and dangerous surveillance jobWhen Marlene Cowley hires Spenser to see if her husband, Trent, is cheating on her, he encounters more than he bargained for: Not only does he find a two-timing husband, but a second investigator as well, hired by the husband to look after his wife. As a result of their joint efforts, Spenser soon finds himself investigating both individual depravity and corporate corruption.It seems the folks in the Cowleys circle have become enamoured of radio talk-show host Darrin OMara, whose views on Courtly Love are clouding some already fuzzy minds with the notion of cross-connubial relationships. OMaras brand of sex therapy is unconventional at best, unlawful-and deadly-at worst. Then a murder at Kinergy, where Trent Cowley is CFO, sends Spenser in yet another direction. Apparently, the unfettered pursuit of profit has a price.

In 1974, a revolutionary group held up the Old Shawmut Bank in Bostons Audubon Circle. Money was stolen. And a woman named Emily Gordon, a visitor in town cashing travellers checks, was shot and killed. No one saw who shot her. Despite security-camera photos and a letter from the group claiming responsibility, the perpetrators have remained at large for nearly three decades.Enter Paul Giacomin, the closest thing to a son Spenser has. Twice before, Spensers come to the young mans assistance; and now Paul is thirty-seven, his troubled past behind him. When Pauls friend Daryl Gordon-daughter of the long-gone Emily-decides she needs closure regarding her mothers death, its Spenser she turns to. The lack of clues and a missing FBI intelligence report force Spenser to reach out in every direction-to Daryls estranged, hippie father, to Vinnie Morris and the mob, to the mysterious Ives - testing his resourcefulness and his courageousness.

When Susans ex-husband, Brad, appears after a decades-long absence, nearly broke and the object of a sexual-harassment suit, Spenser reluctantly agrees to help. As he investigates the circumstances surrounding the suit, he discovers that fund-raiser Brad is swimming in very deep water: mobsters, who were using his fund-raising campaigns to launder money, have discovered he was cooking the already cooked books and arent at all pleased. The deeper Spenser digs, the more bodies he uncovers and the more culpable Brad appears to be.

Buddy Bollen is a C-list movie mogul who made his fortune producing films of questionable artistic merit. When Buddy hires Sunny Randall to protect his rising star and girlfriend, Erin Flint, Sunny knows from the start that the prickly, spoiled beauty wont make her job easy. And when Erins sister, Misty, is found dead in the lavish home they share with sugar daddy Bollen, there doesnt seem to be a single lead worth pursuing. But then Sunny meets Jesse Stone, chief of police in Paradise, Massachusetts, under whose jurisdiction the case falls.It immediately becomes clear that Jesse and Sunny have much in common.While searching for the killer, they learn an awful lot about each other-and themselves. Tracking Mistys murderer reveals a host of seedy complications behind Erins glamorous lifestyle as well as Buddy Bollens entertainment empire, made up of shady film deals and mobsters out for revenge. But in a world where theres little difference between the good guys and the bad, exposing the killer could prove to be Sunnys undoing.

The Second Jesse Stone MysteryStiles Island is a wealthy and exclusive enclave separated by a bridge from the Massachusetts coastal town of Paradise.A group of ex-cons, led by James Macklin, plan to blow the bridge and loot the island, and Paradise police chief Jesse Stone has his hands full.Stone faces battling this group of ruthless criminals whilst simultaneously dealing with his own romantic entanglements, and trying to keep Paradise, as well as the women in his life, out of harms way.Parker fans and all who love muscular crime writing will appreciate this tale, as the Boston-based crime master once again shows how to do it well, and with stylePublishers WeeklyParker has injected Trouble in Paradise with yet another blast of the page-turning energy hes famous for.New York PostTough-guy dialogue...sharp social commentary...Fresh...interesting.Boston Globe