Robert B. Parker - Death in Paradise

[PARKER] HAS ANOTHER WINNER IN JESSE STONE. USA Today [Parkers found] the pitch-perfect voice for a guy who is straining every muscle to cut down on the booze, hang on to his new job as police chief, and not get rattled by the body of a teenage girl. The New York Times Praise for Death in Paradise Stone is a deceptively complex character, one whose problems are both interesting and completely believable... another strong effort in what is already an impressive series. Library Journal Beautifully wrought... [an] immensely satisfying tale.

Rarely if ever has Parkers fiction conveyed with solemn intensity the challenge of living a good life in a world of sin. The books ultimate pleasure lies in the words, suffused with a tough compassion won only through years of living, presented in prose whose impeccability speaks of decades of careful writing. Publishers Weekly (starred) Whats so cool about Death in Paradise is watching Jesse Stones relentless pursuit of the bad guy. St. Petersburg Times A page-turner... as good as it gets.

The Washington Post Book World If you love Parker, youll love this book. Jesse Stone is clearly in the Parker style. Calgary Herald James Ellroystyle dialogue... Like Jesse Stones beer, Parkers novels can be quaffed with relish. Ottawa Citizen [Parkers] gift for creating engaging characters and involving the reader in their fate makes this... well worth your attention.

The San Diego Union-Tribune THE SPENSER NOVELS Sixkill Painted Ladies The Professional Rough Weather Now & Then Hundred-Dollar Baby School Days Cold Service Bad Business Back Story Widows Walk Potshot Hugger Mugger Hush Money Sudden Mischief Small Vices Chance Thin Air Walking Shadow Paper Doll Double Deuce Pastime Stardust Playmates Crimson Joy Pale Kings and Princes Taming a Sea-Horse A Catskill Eagle Valediction The Widening Gyre Ceremony A Savage Place Early Autumn Looking for Rachel Wallace The Judas Goat Promised Land Mortal Stakes God Save the Child The Godwulf Manuscript THE JESSE STONE NOVELS Split Image Night and Day Stranger in Paradise High Profile Sea Change Stone Cold Death in Paradise Trouble in Paradise Night Passage THE SUNNY RANDALL NOVELS Spare Change Blue Screen Melancholy Baby Shrink Rap Perish Twice Family Honor THE VIRGIL COLE/EVERETT HITCH NOVELS Blue-Eyed Devil Brimstone Resolution Appaloosa ALSO BY ROBERT B. PARKER A Triple Shot of Spenser Double Play Gunmans Rhapsody All Our Yesterdays A Year at the Races (with Joan H. Parker) Perchance to Dream Poodle Springs (with Raymond Chandler) Love and Glory Wilderness Three Weeks in Spring (with Joan H. Parker) Training with Weights (with John R. Marsh)

Robert B. 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Group Ireland, 25 St. 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Group Ireland, 25 St.

Stephens Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.) Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.) Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi110 017, India Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.) Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content. P. P.

Putnams Sons hardcover edition / October 2001 Berkley mass-market edition / November 2002 Berkley premium edition / October 2009 Copyright 2001 by Robert B. Parker. Cover illustration by Jacob Ristan / RBMM. Cover design by Judy Morello. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.

Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors rights. Purchase only authorized editions. For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014. ISBN: 978-1-101-54634-5 BERKLEY Berkley Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014. BERKLEY is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. The B design is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as unsold and destroyed to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this stripped book. FOR DAVE AND DAN who kept their mother going
and brought their father home.

One out. A left-handed hitter with an inside-out swing. The ball would slice away from him toward third.

Jesse took a step to his right. The next pitch was inside and chest high and the batter yanked it down the first baseline, over the bag and into the right-field corner, had there been a corner, and lumbered into second base without a throw. I saw you move into the hole, the batter said to Jesse. Foiled again, Paulie. They played three nights a week under the lights on the west side of town beside a lake, wearing team tee shirts and hats. One umpire.

No stealing. No spikes allowed. Officially it was the Paradise Mens Softball League, but Jesse often thought of it as the Boys of Evening. The next batter was right-handed and Jesse knew he pulled everything. He stayed in the hole. One step. One step.

Left foot first, right foot turned, glove on the ground. Soft hands. Dont grab at it. Let it come to you. It was all muscle memory. Exact movements, rehearsed since childhood, and deeply visceral, somatically choreographed by the movement of the ball.

With the ball hit in front of him, Paulie tried to go to third. In a continuous sequence of motion, Jesse swiped him with his glove as he went by, then threw the runner out at first. Never try to advance on a ball hit in front of you, Paulie said as they walked off the field. Ive heard that, Jesse said. His shoulder hurt, as it always did when he threw. And he knew, as he always knew, that the throw was not a big-league throw.

Before he got hurt, the ball used to hum when he threw it, used to make a little snarly hiss as it went across the infield. After the game they drank beer in the parking lot. Jesse was careful with the beer. Hanging around in the late twilight after a ball game drinking club soda just didnt work. But booze was too easy for Jesse. It went down too gently, made him feel too integrated.

Jesse felt that it wasnt seemly for the police chief to get publicly hammered. So he had learned in the last few years to approach it very carefully. The talk was of double plays, and games played long ago, and plays at the plate, and sex. Talk of sex and baseball was the best of all possible talk. Jesse sipped a little of the beer. Beer from an ice-filled cooler was the best way for beer to be.