Parker has written many books, and Brimfield Library has a group of them.

This one is actually written by Reed Farrel Coleman, his second book continuing the Jesse Stone protagonist. If you enjoy reading in sequence, Blind Spot was Coleman’s first Stone book. I have not read this/these authors prior to picking up this book. Truth be told, I liked the cover!!

Paradise, MA is a coastal town, with a small population and very old roots. The residents are a tight-knit, and tight-lipped, community. Chief Stone is a newcomer, and as such, he is still making his way through the old bonds, working to understand whom to trust, and what to be wary of.

There are many secrets, lots of characters, and a fairly gritty beginning to the story, but I hung on & was glad that I did. There are similarities to Brimfield, given old and enduring relationships, some whispered secrets, and warmhearted townspeople.

– Beth, Mystery Buff BC

This is a beautifully written collection of short stories by one of my favorite singer/songwriters. I loved reading the stories behind some of his songs. These short stories reveal the heartache, misery and experiences of everyday working class Americans. The author’s insight, wit and compassion make these stories and characters so very real and fascinating that I’d like a full novel to be written around each one.

Sixteen-year-old Gemma Doyle has lived in India her whole life, but dreams of moving to England. The year is 1895. Unfortunately, after the strange death of her mother, she’s shipped off to England due to her terrible change of fate. She’s accepted into a boarding school, where she is expected to become a proper young lady. Her transition into her new life is not an easy one, as she finds the other girls are not exactly accepting of her presence. She begins to experience strange, disturbing visions. To make matters worse, she’s been followed from Indian by a young man who watches her from a distance and warns her about the visions – as to why, she’s not sure.

As you can probably tell, there’s a lot of mystery and secrets in this book, and a little bit of romance. Gemma’s an interesting character, and a little hard to like at first, but I soon sympathized with her as she tried to deal with the difficult situation she’d been dealt as best as she could. The behavior of her fellow schoolmates was quite irritating at times, but these are teenage girls, after all!

This book is the first in a trilogy. Overall I enjoyed the book, but it’s not a favorite. I’m interested in what comes next in the story and may revisit the series later on.

– Anne, BPL

Gethsemane Brown is an African American classical musician/conductor. She takes a job as assistant musical director for a big orchestra in Europe. On the trip over, her luggage is stolen, her job was given away to the directors mistress and Gethsemane is left stranded in a little Irish village taking any job she can get. She is music director for an all boys school and house sitting for the house of her late musical idol and village celebrity. She finds that the house comes complete with the snarky ghost of it’s previous owner who convinces her to prove that he did not kill his wife and then commit suicide.

This book is AWESOME!!!! The characters are engaging, the story is very well written. The book is hard to put down. There is no shortage of twists and turns to the plot, and once the mystery is resolved, the book continues to evolve and then gets you to thinking, “I wonder where this will take me” and the book ends. NOOOOOOOO! I had no choice! I had to get book 2! VERY well crafted. Gordon is a masterful storyteller. I hope you give this series a try.

– Carol, Mystery Buff BC

This is a darkly entertaining, witty adventure of a young boy who is raised by the inhabitants of a graveyard. As he is raised from infanthood into a young adult, he gets to know all of the spirits and creatures of this place. Most graveyard inhabitants befriend him and become his protectors against a murderous sect who view this child as a threat to the sect’s existence. It is excellently written and will send superb goosebumps down any reader’s spine as we are taken on this chillingly fascinating adventure.

– Joanie, BPL

In this collection of true life stories of exemplary people who stood up to injustice, corruption and evil we get to understand why they chose to fight courageously for what they believed was right. One conclusion the authors come to is that courage does not exist without fear. The people in these stories knew they were facing a danger that would expose them to torture or death. They realized that they needed to fight for their beliefs despite sacrificing their comforts of a regular life and sometimes knowing they would be killed for standing up for what they know is right. These are uplifting stories and we see how these brave heroes live their lives with dignity, honor and integrity. We see how people, despite being fearful, are able to live a life with a noble purpose and to move beyond the fear in order to take action to defend decent moral values.

– Joanie, BPL