Robert B. Parker’s latter-career creation, small town police chief Jesse Stone, is back in a new novel, “Robert B. Parker’s Big Shot,” the 23rd in the series. Parker, who died in 2010, contributed the first nine in the series, which has been carried on by a series of writers, and Christopher Farnsworth, the author of “Big Shot,” is the fourth.
“Big Shot” pits Stone against an oligarch who has moved to Paradise, Massachusetts, built an eyesore of an ostentatious beachfront mansion, and has decided that an acquittal in a high-profile fraud case means he is above the law. Stone – who Parker positioned as a kind of western sheriff in the mold of Gary Cooper or Tom Selleck (who played the role in a series of TV movies) – is not inclined to look the other way, however, which pits him not just against the oligarch but the local political machine.
The novel is nicely written, timely, captures the essence of Parker’s creation, and gives those of us who were longtime Parker fans a chance to spend time with some old friends.
“A Study In Secrets” is by Jeffrey Siger, a mystery writer with whom I was unfamiliar until my friend Michael Barson passed along his newest novel. Siger, apparently, has written more than a dozen mysteries set in Greece, and this is the beginning of a new series, with a figure he calls “the redacted man” as his protagonist.
This central figure, whose name is Michael (no last name), is a former US intelligence agent who has retired to New York, where he finds himself drawn into a confluence of dangerous situations and compelled to try to rescue a number of people who have gotten in over their heads with some criminals. Think “The Equalizer” (the original Edward Woodard version, not Denzel Washington or Queen Latifah’s portrayals) mixed with Sherlock Holmes (a comparison Siger encourages by making Michael’s address 221 and his housekeeper’s name Baker).
I’d call “A Study In Secrets” a gentleman’s mystery – it is written with reserve, is not graphic nor exploitive (even when dealing with acts of violence), and is best read in front of a roaring fireplace, perhaps with a glass of bourbon at the ready. At least, that’s how I enjoyed it.
Finally, I have a movie to recommend to you this week, but I’m not going to tell you anything about it other than the title, “The Singers,” and the fact that it is an 18-minute short that can be found on Netflix.
I’m not telling you anything about it because I knew nothing about it when I watched it – “The Singers” just popped up on my Netflix feed, and I took a flyer.
I will tell you this – I enjoyed “The Singers” as much as any movie I’ve seen in months, maybe years. Blew me away. I’d like you to have the same experience.
(Oh, yeah. It also is nominated for an Academy Award.)
That’s it for now. I’ll see you next week.
Sláinte!!
The post OffBeat: Two Books & A Very Short Movie appeared first on MNB.
View Original Article
