ROBERT B. PARKER'S DEBT TO PAY by Reed Farrel Coleman

© by Gerald So | geraldso.blogspot.com | 9:30 P.M.

In Reed Farrel Coleman's first turn continuing the Jesse Stone series, Blind Spot (2014), Jesse bargained with crime boss Gino Fish to get a lead on an elusive hitman known as Mr. Peepers. In this third turn, Peepers comes out of hiding to take vengeance—"pay his debt" to Fish, Stone, Suitcase Simpson, and the Paradise police force.

With the long-simmered premise and several chapters from Peepers' perverse perspective, Debt to Pay's only mystery is how the chessboard will look when the smoke clears, yet that had me curious enough to buy the book today (release day) and finish it tonight.

The longer a series runs, the more I wonder how it might be shaken up, especially when continued by new authors. Debt to Pay shows it still works to, as Raymond Chandler advised, "have a man come through the door with a gun in his hand."