High Profile by Robert B. Parker

A controversial talk show host with more than one skeleton in his closet is found hanging from a tree in Paradise, Massachusetts. A few days later his assistant is found dead. Jesse Stone, a former LA robbery and homicide detective and current Paradise Chief of Police is called in to investigate. There is a concurrent subplot that involves Jesse's ex-wife, a stalker, and Jesse's current squeeze Sunny Randall.

Jesse Stone is my favorite Parker character. He's more flawed than Spenser, and while he has plenty of machismo, it's not as in your face or as much of a caricature. His obssessive relationship with his ex-wife is a little strange, but I find most of Parker's characters' relationsips a bit over-the-top. Sunny Randall has been in two Jesse Stone novels, but I think she works better in her own stories. The whole subplot seemed there just to give Sunny something to do. She deserves better. The story was well-plotted if not always believable. If the reader does not expect realism, the story is very engaging.


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