Robert B. Parker’s Damned If You Do: A Jesse Stone Novel

Ornery Jesse Stone again puts justice ahead of the law in Brandman’s assured third continuation of Parker’s series featuring the Massachusetts smalltown police chief (after 2012’s Fool Me Twice). Stone has two serious matters on his plate: endemic patient abuse at a nursing home and the stabbing murder of an unidentified prostitute at a motel. Donnie Jacobs is in the first stages of Alzheimer’s, but Stone is shocked to find him in fear of physical abuse and frequently sedated. Stone’s hackles are raised even higher when he learns that the owners of Golden Horizons Retirement Village have a track record of patient neglect and mistreatment, making him determined to bring them to book any way he can. Getting traction on the homicide requires the detective to reach out to unsavory underworld figures. This will be comfort food for Parker fans, but others may find it a tad bland. Agent: Helen Brann, Helen Brann Agency. (Sept.)