Robert B. Parker’s Buried Secrets by Christopher Farnsworth

The Jesse Stone novels, part of the Robert B. Parker oeuvre, have a new writer. Meet Chris Farnsworth, the author of Buried Secrets, the thirteenth Jesse Stone novel. Farnsworth, a successful author of crime and thriller novels, follows in the footsteps of Michael Brandman, Reed Farrel Coleman, and Mike Lupica. It’s uncanny how each writer evokes the unmistakable Robert B. Parker rhythm and voice.

Clearly familiarity and entering a certain comfort zone is part of why readers embrace each new novel. Buried Secrets doesn’t leave much room for complacency, however. In my recent exploration of the interwoven world of Robert B. Parker’s  characters, I talked about returning characters and the assumptions readers make about them. Buried Secrets pinpoints moments when those expectations are upended, surprising us and Police Chief Stone. It’s not surprising that Jesse’s more questionable compatriots, who skirt the edges of legality, have divided loyalty. 

About the crime at the heart of Buried Secrets—”Police Chief Jesse Stone investigates the mystery behind a dead body found strewn with photos of murder victims and placed on top of $2 million in cash, before a mob of hit men converge on Paradise.  Just another day in Paradise . . .” This crime matters to far more people than just Chief Stone and his team. The decomposed body of Phil Burton is covered with gruesome photographs of murdered people. Were it not for the fact that Burton is likely connected to many murders, he’d be Exhibit #1 for the Hoarders show.  Who hired him? Who paid him? Why is his corpse covered with millions of dollars in small denominations? Chief Stone is not happy to be tasked with a welfare check. It’s been a long day. Why him?

“Suit’s breaking up a fight at the Scupper. Everyone else is busy,” Molly said. “Serve and protect. It’s in the job description.”

 

“Yeah, but I’m the chief. I’m supposed to tell you what to do.”

 

“It’s adorable that you think that,” Molly said. “Anyway, it’s not like you had plans. Your girlfriend left you for The New York Times.”

 

“You know I can fire you anytime I want,” Jesse said.

 

“Good luck. You’d be lost without me.”

Jesse Stone’s department is woefully understaffed: he knows it. But Jesse is very particular and protective about who he hires. Better to be short-staffed than have the wrong person on his team, but he’s under a lot of pressure to enlarge his team. He’s being forced encouraged to hire another policeman. He sure doesn’t need a welfare check but as Molly points out, what else is on his plate? He’s over-worked, stressed, and for the first time since he got sober, he’s pining for a drink. Stone is a complicated man. He doesn’t like to be managed by politicians. He’s protective of his department and the greater bailiwick of Paradise. At the best of times, he doesn’t take kindly to advice. But two million dollars is a sum of money that’s impossible to overlook and the local politicians embrace the adage, “finders, keepers.”  Complicating life further, his newest hire, Derek Tate, is not exactly working out. He’s a hothead and more, as exhibited by a kerfuffle with Daisy, the proprietor of the local bakery café. Daisy’s MO is to feed the local cops at the scene of a crime (her brand of community service) but things go pear shaped as she juggles “muffins and pastries and big catering jugs of coffee,” and a cop she doesn’t recognize screams at her.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing? Don’t move!”

 

Daisy froze.

Daisy is appalled. This is not the norm for Paradise cops. She’s not about to dump perfectly good baked goods and coffee on the ground but then the cop unsnaps “the holster on his gun.” It takes Peter Perkins, an older cop, to persuade Tate to reluctantly stand down.

Daisy had been in Paradise for so long, she had gone from pain-in-the-ass troublemaker to beloved institutional figure. She once had to be prepared to fight anyone—sometimes literally—who made bigoted comments about her sexuality or her rainbow flag over her business. Now she was more or less accepted.

Daisy takes her concerns to Jesse. She doesn’t pull any punches—“Your fucking new officer is a goddamn lunatic”—and their discussion blows up. Jesse doesn’t take her seriously, in her opinion, and a sign goes up in the window of her restaurant: NO COPS ALLOWED. Jesse (and the entire Paradise police department) are persona non grata. 

Throughout Buried Secrets, the chief is on his left foot. Even his connected guy, mobster Vinnie Morris, put distance between himself and Jesse, even though in Jesse’s mind, “they were probably even friends.” Unsurprisingly, made guys are interested in the money haul in Phil Burton’s house. Vinnie doesn’t want to talk and Jesse senses “he’d damaged what passed for their friendship” by visiting him.

“Jesse,” he said. “There are some people I owe more than you. Even if they’re not around anymore. I can’t watch your back on this one.”

 

There might have been something like regret in his voice.

 

“I didn’t ask,” Jesse said, and left.

How Jesse Stone gets his mojo back and deals with mobsters, dangerous new hires, and his malaise with life in general makes for an absorbing and surprising story. Good job Chris Farnsworth. I’m looking forward to your next Jesse Stone novel.