Night Passage is by the actual Robert B Parker. Dating from 1999, it is the first of the Jesse Stone series, now being continued by others. This is the one in which Jesse is sacked by the LAPD because he's taken to drink after the break-up of his marriage to aspiring actress Jenn - to be almost immediately hired as Sheriff of Paradise, Massachusetts, on the other seaboard of the Continent.
Paradise is a sleepy town, and that's the way bank president and head selectman Hasty Hathaway wants it kept. But then Jesse comes upon local muscleman Jo Jo Genest blatantly in breach of his restraining order and makes an enemy. It starts with graffiti on a police car, then someone kills the police station cat. Then a local woman is found dead, naked and dumped. For Paradise, this is a crime wave and questions start being asked about the new sheriff. To add to the pressure on Jesse, his ex-wife gets in touch just as he is starting a new relationship with the town attorney.
It's a cracking story involving the Boston Mob and local militiamen exercising their constitutional right to bear (and buy) arms. I liked Parker's panache and attention to detail. For me, the best bits were the phone conversations between Jesse and his ex. This was Parker really building his protagonist's character.
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