Split Image

MOLLY CRANE STUCK her head into the open doorway of Jesse s office and said, Chief Stone, there s a private detective from Boston here to see you.

Show him in, Jesse said.

It s a her, Molly said.

Even better, Jesse said.

Molly smiled and stepped aside, and Sunny Randall came in, carrying a straw shoulder bag and wearing a green sleeveless top with white pants and color- coordinated sneakers.

Wow, Jesse said.

Wow is good, Sunny said, and sat down.

And accurate, Jesse said. It couldn t have been easy getting into those pants.

For whom? Sunny said.

Jesse smiled.

Shall I close the door? he said.

No, Sunny said. I m actually here on business.

All work and no play, Jesse said.

We ll address that at another time, Sunny said.

That s encouraging, Jesse said.

It s meant to be, Sunny said. Do you know of a small religious organization here in Paradise called the Renewal? Or the Bond of the Renewal?

I m the chief of police, Jesse said. I know everything.

Exactly why I m here, Sunny said.

She smiled.

Tell me about the Renewal, she said.

They re located in a house near the town wharf. Nice house; one of the elders owns it. They all live there in a kind of communal way, run by a guy who calls himself the Patriarch. About forty, with gray hair, which Molly Crane claims is artificial.

He dyes it gray? Sunny said.

What Molly claims, Jesse said. There s a couple of so- called elders, bout your age, I would guess.

Hey, Sunny said.

I mean they re not very elder-ish.

Okay, Sunny said.

Rest of them are mostly kids, Jesse said. All of whom, far as I can tell, are old enough to do what they want.

What do they do?

They preach, they hand out flyers, they go door- to- door,

raising money.

Robert B. Parker was the author of seventy books, including the legendary Spenser detective series, the novels featuring police chief Jesse Stone, and the acclaimed Virgil Cole Everett Hitch westerns, as well as the Sunny Randall novels. Winner of the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award and long considered the undisputed dean of American crime fiction, he died in January 2010.

Praise for Split Image

Parker's stories are told in lean, lively, fast-moving and insistent prose. Anyone who can read a Parker novel without laughing is a hard case indeed. Along with the action and the humor, Parker parses such matters as autonomy, personal responsibility, courage, fidelity, the meaning of work in our lives and what it means to be a man or a woman in our post-everything society. His novels are smart as well as fun, and the Parker worldview is worth the price of admission. The Washington Times
 
Love runs rampant in this story young love, parental love, marital love, friendly love, lovey-dovey love, even noxious perversions of love that are downright criminal. Hotbed of passion that it s turned out to be, Paradise seems a very good place to take our leave of Jesse. The New York Times