Robert B. Parker’s The Bitterest Pill: A Jesse Stone Novel

Bestseller Coleman’s exceptional sixth Jesse Stone novel finds Jesse, the police chief of Paradise, Mass., still adjusting to the revelation in 2018’s Colorblind that he fathered a now adult son, Cole Slayton. Cole’s arrival in town comes “just as Paradise was shedding its own skin” and becoming more like Boston, complete with big-city crime, including narcotics. That plague hits home when 17-year-old Heather Mackey is found dead in her bedroom after overdosing on heroin and fentanyl. Concerned over the prospect of more deaths, Jesse devotes himself to finding Heather’s supplier and those higher up in the distribution chain. Coleman sustains suspense through chapters told from the perspective of the drug dealers, while withholding the identity of a key member of the drug chain, who has a link with Heather’s high school. Developments in Jesse’s personal life are effectively interwoven with the mystery plot. Coleman stays faithful to the spirit of Parker’s characters without sticking to the status quo. [em]Author tour. Agent: Esther Newberg, ICM Partners. (Sept.) [/em]