Mystery

Synopsis: 'When Sunny's long-time gangster associate Tony Marcus comes to her for help, Sunny is surprised—after all, she double crossed him on a recent deal, and their relationship is on shakier ground than ever. But the way Tony figures it, Sunny owes him, and Sunny's willing to consider his case if it will clear the slate.

Tony's trusted girlfriend and business partner has vanished, appears to have left in a hurry, and he has no idea why. He just wants to talk to her, he says, but first he needs Sunny to track her down. While Sunny isn't willing to trust his good intentions, the missing woman intrigues her—against all odds, she's risen to a position of power in Tony's criminal enterprise. Sunny can't help but admire her, and if this woman's in a jam, Sunny would like to help.

But when a witness is murdered hours after speaking to Sunny, it's clear there's more at stake than just Tony's love life. Someone—maybe even Tony himself—doesn't want this woman on the loose...and will go to any lengths to make sure she stays silent.' From the author's website.

I've read the post-Parker Spenser books by Ace Atkins, but this is my first of this series, which I bought as an ebook on sale for $2. I've always thought of Sunny Randall as a female Spenser, right down to the dog, the sidekick, and the relationships with organized crime and cops, and I read the Parker ones because they filled the gaps between Spensers. This book exceeded my expectations, a good story, some familiar characters, and a couple neat twists. I could have done without Susan Silverman, but then can't we all. The other Lupica books are cuttently $15 each. so I won't be reading those any time soon, but I'm encouraged by the solid quality of this one. ( )

This is a poor book at best. A weak story and less action. Needless to say I didn't get past 1/5th of the book. ( )

I was not sure about Lupica continuing the series - the previous novel, the first in the continued series, managed to keep the feel of the series but had the subtlety of an elephant in a glass store. This one is a lot better - even if there are some clunky moments (why does Lupica persist with falling into narrative to show a conversation by essentially printing all they say instead of letting it be a conversation is beyond me) but the barbed political commentary is gone (regardless of your side in it, it did not belong and felt like cheap shots - and dated the book badly and quickly).

At the end of the last book, Sunny and Richie were back to being an item again (funny what a shotgun wound will do to a relationship), Tony Marcus lost the guns he thought were his (and blamed Sunny for it) and one of the Burke brothers was dead.

This novel opens a few months later and nothing much had changed. But as expected it soon does, Tony hires Sunny to find his missing lover and Richie's ex-wife comes back in Boston with his son (now 6 years old). Of course with Tony being the main crook in charge of prostitution and the lover, Lisa, being his right hand, nothing is what it looks like. And a challenger coming out of nowhere does not help much. Neither do a pair of eager cops with their own motives.

There is some background in the book so it MAY be read as a standalone but... Lupica pulls in the whole set of characters across the extended universe - even April Kyle is mentioned, Spencer does not make an appearance but is mentioned and Jesse even assists a bit so if you are just coming in or if you had just read the Sunny books or none at all, it will almost sound like a checklist of names that mean nothing. But inside of the universe, it pulls in threads from books across the decades in the same way Parker used to - and it works. I liked the ending and it fits where the other 2 series had gone since Parker's death so even if it may be morally grey (or worse), it matches the characters - noone is just good or bad in Parker (and friends)' Boston.

The book is weak on characterization - but it does not need to do anything more for long term readers - we know all these people and the ones we do not know get defined by their actions. Lupica still struggles a bit with Sunny's depiction (in places she sounds almost dumb... and not in the places she means to) but it is a lot better depiction of the one in the last book. And with Lupica taking over the Jesse series as well, we probably will see even more connections between the series.

There is a lot of things that this novel could have done better. But I still loved to get back to the universe and it is vastly improved compared to the previous one. And the fact that all the in-universe details did not contradict previous books made me a happy reader. ( )