Mystery

(2008)Finally caught up with all of Jesse Stone novels. This one is as good as any in the series. Wilson ?Crow? Cromartie returns to the island after taking part in a multi-million dollar robbery and kidnapping on the island 10 years ago. This time he is the ally of Jesse as they try to prevent a crime boss from killing his former wife and kidnapping his daughter. Results in shoot-out with local hispanic gang and boss's men. (PW) Jesse Stone trades quips with his deputies, Suitcase Simpson and Molly Crane; struggles with his relationship with his ex-wife, Jenn; and grapples with a criminal's return in bestseller Parker's sizzling seventh novel to feature the Paradise, Mass., police chief (after 2007's High Profile). Ex-con Wilson Crow Cromartie, who claims to be Apache and who eluded the police after a shootout 10 years earlier in Trouble in Paradise (1998), wants Stone not to interfere in his search for someone in Massachusetts. A Florida mob bigwig, Louis Francisco, has hired Crow to kill his ex-wife and kidnap his 14-year-old daughter, Amber, but Crow has a policy of not harming women. In the end, Stone does more than leave Crow alone; he decides to make sure Amber, who's involved with a Latino gang, gets a chance, however slim, to overcome the odds stacked against her. Stone and Crow make an appealing odd couple as they first warily size each other up then become grudging allies in the pursuit of justice.

Synopsis: 'The last time Jesse Stone, chief of police of Paradise, Massachusetts, saw Wilson "Crow" Cromartie, the Apache Indian hit man was racing away in a speedboat after executing one of the most lucrative and deadly heists in the town's history. Crow was part of a team of ex-cons who plotted to capture Stiles Island, the wealthy enclave off the Paradise coast, by blowing up the connecting bridge. Residents were kidnapped, some were killed, and Crow managed to escape with a boatload of cash, never to be seen again. Until now.
So when Crow shows up in Jesse's office some ten years after the crime, it's not to turn himself in. Crow is on another job, and this time he's asking for Jesse's help-by asking him to stay out of his way.
Crow's mission is simple: find young Amber Francisco and bring her back to her father, Louis, in Florida. It should be an easy payday for a pro like Crow, but there are complications. Amber, now living in squalor with her mother, Fiona, is mixed up with members of a Latino gang. And when Louis orders Crow to kill Fiona before heading back with Amber, he can't follow through. Crow may be a bad guy, but he doesn't kill women. It's up to Jesse to provide protection.
Meanwhile, Jesse's on-again, off-again relationship with ex-wife Jenn picks up steam as Jenn investigates the gang problem for her TV station. As they dig deeper, the danger escalates. The life of a young girl hangs in the balance, and saving Amber could be the miracle Jesse and Jenn need for themselves, too.' From Robert B Parker web site.

Review: Crow is completely intriguing. Jenn was not as annoying as usual. Interesting story line with a question of who would actually prevail. ( )

First edition as new

BEWARE! SPOILERS AHEAD!

It's a good story. Wilson Cromartie, aka Crow--last seen escaping from the Trouble in Paradise--comes back to town. He's agreed to retrieve a Florida gangster's daughter (Amber Francisco or Alice Franklin, depending on context), then decides not to do so because it would obviously be the wrong thing. Complications ensue.

Another story line involves the town's reaction to a local charity setting up a school for disadvantaged children in a Paradise mansion. Officer Molly, taking notes at a meeting, characterizes this as "No spicks on Paradise Neck." The neighbors start complaining about graffiti on walls in the town and someone starts rumors about a gang war.

Meantime, the Crow storyline actually becomes a (very limited) mob war as the Florida gangster brings in professionals to fight the local gang headed by his daughter's boyfriend. This event occurs on the causeway to Stiles Island, very near the school/mansion. The main consequence is the death of the boyfriend.

We learn that the leader of the protests has a personal/financial stake in the mansion that's become a school, something I'd have thought every longtime Paradise resident would have recognized. Someone should have clued Chief Stone.

Jesse Stone and Crow make arrangements to save Amber from her difficult life.

And as the story winds down someone takes out the gangster in his Florida home.

As I said, a good story. But a two or three things bother me:
* Parker never ties the two story lines together, although the potential ties are obvious.
* Officer Molly, completely out of character, has a brief fling with Crow. And apparently has no remorse about it.
* Amber doesn't show up again in Parker's subsequent Jesse Stone novels. ( )