Paradise, Massachusetts, is gearing up for the busy summer season when a spate of car thefts places its quiet, tourist-friendly reputation in jeopardy. Jesse Stone fears an automobile theft gang has set up shop in town, and the silver-tongued, heavy-handed police chief vows to put a stop to their activity. Almost as soon as he starts tackling this threat, another materializes: one of a more personal nature. An old enemy, hell-bent on revenge, is fresh out of prison. Thus begins a tale of proactive policing and personal paranoia, in which Stone finds himself defending himself, his patch and - before long - his latest squeeze. In Killing the Blues, Michael Brandman combines all of Parker's tried and tested ingredients to create a highly enjoyable and authentic Jesse Stone thriller.

"Tougher, stronger, better educated, and far more amusing than Sam Spade, Phil Marlowe or Lewis Archer" - Boston Globe

"When it comes to detective novels, 90 per cent of us admit he's an influence, and the rest of us lie about it" - Harlan Coben

"Spenser is a constant revelation for even long-time Parker fans" - Milwaukee Sentinel

"One of the great series in the history of the detective story " - New York Times Book Review

"Reading Parker is like swimming downstream in a river of adrenalin " - Boston Observer

"Spenser gives the tribe of hard-boiled wonders a new vitality and complexity " - Chicago Sun

"The sassiest, funniest, most-enjoyable-to-read-about private eye around today . . . the legitimate heir to the Hammett-Chandler-Macdonald tradition " - Cincinnati Post

"Nobody does it better " - Publishers Weekly

"Reading a Spenser novel is like a family reunion - it makes one feel good " - Library Journal

"'No one understands what makes Bob Parker's Jesse Stone tick better than Michael Brandman - and Michael is just the writer to carry Jesse into the future' Tom Selleck." - Tom Selleck