Two unsavory casino owners are bidding to buy a prime beachfront property, called the Throw, in Paradise, Massachusetts. They are opposed by a group of environmentalists and the mayor, Neil O'Hara, a good friend of the town's sheriff, Jesse Stone. When the mayor's body is found in an open grave in the Throw with a gun by his side, suicide seems probable. Jesse isn't buying it. When some out-of-town hard guys rough up both Jesse and the mayor's estranged wife, the suicide theory looks more problematic, at least to Jesse. The subsequent murder of the environmentalists' leader and the disappearance of his girlfriend muddy the waters further. It doesn't help that Jesse's frenemy, Wilson "Crow" Cromartie, has turned up, too, ostensibly in the employ of one of the casino guys; but with Crow, you never know what side of the law he's tiptoeing around at any moment. After two Stone novels and three starring Sunny Randall, Lupica seems thoroughly comfortable carrying on the fictional lives of Robert B. Parker's characters. He has the jaunty tone down pat, and everything flows from that with Parker's people.

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.)