Synopsis: 'Paradise, Massachusetts, is preparing for the summer tourist season when a string of car thefts disturbs what's usually a quiet time in town. In a sudden escalation of violence, the thefts become murder, and chief of police, Jesse Stone finds himself facing one of the toughest cases of his career. Pressure from the town politicians only increases when another crime wave puts residents on edge. Jesse confronts a personal dilemma as well: a burgeoning relationship with a young PR executive, whose plans to turn Paradise into a summer concert destination may have run afoul of the law.
And when a mysterious figure from Jesse's past arrives in town, memories of his last troubled days in LA threaten his ability to keep order in Paradise - especially when it appears that the stranger is out for revenge.' From the book jacket.

Review: Well fine...Sunny is gone. It looks like there are going to be a parade of women for Jesse. Okay story. ( )

I completely concur with danielx' review of October 20, 2018. The book Killing the Blues is a monstrously inept imitation of a good storyteller.
he author tries, but he doesn’t get the banter right. Parker’s banter is magical and clever while this guy’s was just a bad; the scenes where Molly Is asked to get coffee shows her push back as being close to insubordinate rather than done in fun spirits; Suit adores Jesse as if he is god-like and in this book is questioning his highly questionable practices.
Speaking of which, the “real” Jesse would never have used blunt force and then imprisoned a guy, He was an alcoholic and cleverly unorthodox in the way he caught criminals but never, ever immoral.

But the clincher was when the bad guy lights the girlfriend”s clothes on fire and although Jesse was on her in a split second she was somehow burning and Jesse ripped off her clothes so that she was lying naked on the floor.
You can’t rip off all clothes without hurting and I doubt the fire got to all of her clothing so quickly. So the author put in that salacious image transporting us for a minute into both romance and soft porn genres. Ridiculous and unworthy. If the book had not stood on its merits at that point, adding that to gain more followers was manipulative.
I won’t read any more of his. I have a few more Parker books to read and then I’ll have to sadly lay him to rest alongside Hillerman. ( )

It’s coming up on the tourist season in Paradise Cove and things are happening that won’t contribute to Paradise Cove being a great vacation destination. Car thefts, murdered dogs, and arson: are these events tied together or not?

To add to concerns, a new face in town is Alexis Richardson, hired by the Board of Selectmen as head of public-relations and event planning for the season. Young and filled with ideas to make Paradise the hot vacation place to come and stay. Her plans include a summer music festival along the lines of Woodstock. Big plans for a small town.

Sheriff Jesse Stone gets wind that someone from his past is out to retaliate for past actions. This doesn’t bode well for Jesse or Paradise.

The book moves along at a good pace. Jesse is not a verbose character, but he gets his point across without confusion.

Multiple story lines that twine around each other and come together at a point keep you reading to find out what is next.

I like the format of short chapters you can read, whether you have a lot of time or just a few minutes. Another good series to read. ( )

Upon the death of Robert B. Parker, Michael Brandman was chosen by his estate to try to continue his Jesse Stone series. Brandman’s qualifications were below minimal. As a movie producer, he’d never written a book before. His connection to the author was that he’d written TV screenplays for Parker’s movies.

In this, his first book attempt, his inexperience and lack of talent is painfully obvious. He tries to mimic Parker’s minimalist style without success. The chapters are brief at ~4 or 5 pages each, and paragraphs commonly consist of a few words of dialogue. Unlike Parker's own, the dialogue is mundane and boring. Below is a sample. Jesse (the cop) and “Suitcase” (his assistant) are eating in a diner.

The waitress kept returning to ask if everything was alright.
“You got something going with her,” Jesse said.
“What do you mean,” Suitcase said.
“Debby. The waitress. You got something going with her?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Come on Suit. The only thing that tears your attention from your food is the sight of her ass.”
“That’s not a nice thing to say, Jesse.”
“But it’s true”
Suitcase didn’t say anything.
“So” Jesse said.
“Maybe”.
“What maybe.”
“We went to high school together,” Suitcase said.
“And”?
“We dated.
“And”?
“She wanted to get married and I didn’t.”
Jesse didn’t say anything.
“So she married someone else.”
“And?”
“Stop saying ‘and’.”
Jesse shrugged.
“So she got married to someone else,” Jesse said.
“Yes” Suitcase said.
“And?”
“She got divorced.”
“Kids?”
“two.”
Jesse didn’t say anything.
“We fool around, “ Suitcase said.
“Serious?”
“Not serious. She’s got two kids for God’s sake.”
“But you like each other.”
“After a fashion.”
“What’s that supposed to mean.”
“We like each other but we’re not serious” Suitcase said.
“Is she the reason we came here?”
“It’s a toss-up.”
“A toss-up?”
“The breakfast special was a big attraction.”
“And Debby?”
“She was a big attraction too.”
“Which isn’t obvious in any way.”
“Is it obvious” Suitcase said.

Killing the Blues chiefly consists of page after page of this sort of thing.

The plot is a mishmash of issues that seem to have nothing to do with the title. A local high school teacher is touching female students inappropriately. A concert producer wants the town to host a large summer concert in potential violation of the local noise curfew. A car theft ring has moved into the town. Pet dogs are being killed. A felon from Jesse Stone’s former life, recently- released from prison hopes to gain revenge on Jesse. Meanwhile, Police Chief Jesse doesn’t just bend the law, he blatantly breaks it – engaging in kidnapping, breaking and entering, and violent assault in his twisted and illegal attempts to uphold his notion of “justice”.

There’s nothing to admire in this work. Having been written at a 5th grade level, it provides some mindless and unchallenging diversion for people who aren’t able to appreciate actual writing. That this book has been rated as highly as Parker's own works is a sad indication of the poor taste of those who have read it. ( )

A good job of echoing the style and characterization of Parker's characters. ( )