The Devil Wins

July 13, 2015
Coleman’s solid second Jesse Stone novel (after 2014’s Blind Spot) finds Parker’s flawed hero, now the police chief of Paradise, Mass., still having trouble separating from his ex, connecting with people emotionally, and dealing with guilt over a subordinate’s near-fatal shooting. Therapy sessions help somewhat, but Jesse’s job is on the line after the discovery of three corpses. A man’s body is recent, but the other two are the skeletal remains of Mary Kate O’Hara and Virginia Connolly, two 16-year-olds who vanished about 25 years earlier. The dead girls were close friends of Jesse’s number two, police officer Molly Crane, whose personal connection to the case complicates matters. Paradise’s political leaders are dismayed at the bad press the murders bring to the town, and Jesse’s given a tight deadline to clear everything up. The solution is a bit of a letdown, but Coleman succeeds in adding some needed depth to Jesse’s character. Agent: Helen Brann, Helen Brann Agency.