Robert B. Parker's The Hangman's Sonnet (Jesse Stone Series #16)

by Reed Farrel Coleman

Overview

The stellar new novel in Robert B. Parker's New York Times bestselling series featuring Paradise police chief Jesse Stone.

Jesse Stone, still reeling from the murder of his fiancée by crazed assassin Mr. Peepers, must keep his emotions in check long enough to get through the wedding day of his loyal protégé, Suitcase Simpson. The morning of the wedding, Jesse learns that a gala 75th birthday party is to be held for folk singer Terry Jester. Jester, once the equal of Bob Dylan, has spent the last forty years in seclusion after the mysterious disappearance of the master recording tape of his magnum opus, The Hangman's Sonnet.

That same morning, an elderly Paradise woman dies while her house is being ransacked. What are the thieves looking for? And what's the connection to Terry Jester and the mysterious missing tape? Jesse's investigation is hampered by hostile politicians and a growing trail of blood and bodies, forcing him to solicit the help of mobster Vinnie Morris and a certain Boston area PI named Spenser. While the town fathers pressure him to avoid a PR nightmare, Jesse must connect the cases before the bodies pile up further.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780425280263
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/04/2018
Series:	Jesse Stone Series , #16
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	132,662
Product dimensions:	4.31(w) x 7.34(h) x 1.07(d)

About the Author

Robert B. Parker was the author of seventy books, including the legendary Spenser detective series, the novels featuring Chief Jesse Stone, and the acclaimed Virgil Cole/Everett Hitch Westerns, as well as the Sunny Randall novels. Winner of the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award and long considered the undisputed dean of American crime fiction, he died in January 2010.

Reed Farrel Coleman, author of the New York Times bestselling Robert B. Parker's Debt to Pay, has been called a "hard-boiled poet" by NPR's Maureen Corrigan and the "noir poet laureate" in The Huffington Post. He has published twenty-five previous novels, including nine books in the critically acclaimed Moe Prager series, and most recently, What You Break, featuring Gus Murphy. A three-time winner of the Shamus Award, he has also won the Anthony, Macavity, Barry, and Audie Awards. Coleman lives with his family on Long Island.

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Copyright © 2018 Reed Farrel Coleman.
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Editorial Reviews

Praise for Robert B. Parker’s The Hangman’s Sonnet
 
“Heartfelt...Coleman balances plot and character perfectly.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Coleman’s fourth Jesse Stone novel is easily his best. It features a clever plot and finds Jesse confronting some very real inner demons. Best of all, it brings together three of Robert B. Parker's much-loved characters. Must reading for Parker devotees.”—Booklist (starred review)

Praise for Robert B. Parker's Debt to Pay

“Coleman, a three-time Shamus winner, crafts a suspenseful, clever thriller that moves at breakneck speed.”—Booklist

“The characters are interesting, the dialogue is marvelous, and there's enough action to keep readers turning the pages until past midnight.”—Lincoln Journal Star

“Coleman, a multiple award-winning author, admirably succeeds in capturing Parker's creative style, using crisp dialogue and short chapters to maintain the reader's attention....The talented author never falters.”—Lansing State Journal

From the Publisher

★ 07/10/2017
Coleman’s heartfelt fourth contribution to Parker’s Jesse Stone series explores the meaning of a haunting line from the eponymous sonnet: “The mirror has revealed my hangman’s face.” Jesse, the police chief of Paradise, Mass., has been deeply scarred by the tragic death of his significant other, who was murdered in front of him at the end of 2016’s Debt to Pay. Several months later, Jesse is still taking refuge in the bottle, and despite his colleagues’ efforts to cover for him, his diminished capacity has come to the attention of the town’s mayor, Constance Walker, who was already not a fan of his. As he struggles to cope with his loss and his self-destructive response to it, Jesse must investigate the death of an elderly town resident during the course of a burglary. He also cooperates with private security on an upcoming birthday gala honoring a reclusive singer and songwriter who was once considered the “Boston Bob Dylan,” a responsibility that becomes progressively more complicated. Coleman balances plot and character perfectly. Author tour. Agent: Esther Newberg, ICM Partners. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

2017-07-17
An upcoming birthday celebration sticks Paradise police chief Jesse Stone with a case that even Spenser, his private-eye counterpart in the late Parker's better-known franchise, couldn't solve.Terry Jester, ne Jacobivitz, is about to turn 75, and Stan White, his longtime manager, is pulling out all the stops to celebrate the event. It would be wonderful if the great man could mark the day, and end 40 years out of the musical limelight, by releasing "The Hangman's Sonnet," his legendary comeback project, but the master tape of the album, which reportedly featured all sorts of A-list musicians in unaccustomed support of Boston's answer to Bob Dylan, vanished years ago, unheard by anyone but WBMB DJ Roscoe Niles. Jesse, still mourning his murdered fiancee, Diana Evans (Robert B. Parker's Debt to Pay, 2016), while he celebrates the wedding of Officer Luther "Suitcase" Simpson, wants nothing better than to be left alone to fall off the wagon again. But medical examiner Tamara Elkin lectures him about drinking himself numb; Paradise mayor Constance Walker alternately needles and threatens him over his minimal efforts at making her look good; and the death of elderly Maude Cain at the hands of a pair of burglars demands his attention. There's no mystery about who the burglars were—with the help of his mobbed-up frenemy Vinnie Morris, whom he consults when he doesn't feel like doing actual detective work, Jesse quickly identifies them as Kirk Kingston Curnutt and Humphrey Bolton—the big questions involve what they were looking for and whether they found it before they took off. An even bigger question has an even more obvious answer: could the long-missing mix tape and the brand-new burglary possibly be connected? A cameo appearance by Spenser resolves nothing but makes Jesse, who can certainly use a boost, look comparatively good. The convoluted plot entangles a remarkable number of suspects. If you think you've picked out the guilty party, you're probably right.

Kirkus Reviews