Stranger in Paradise -- Robert B. Parker

Crow, the self-described full-blood Apache, who appeared in an earlier Jesse Stone novel, returns for this one. As the name might tell you, he's a lot like Hawk, from the Spenser novels, only different. He's sort of what Hawk would be if not for Spenser's good influence, I guess, and he's looking for the daughter of a Florida mob boss. Stone, for reasons of his own, agrees to help. The girl might remind you of other troubled teens from Parker's other books, and I have a feeling we'll be hearing more about her in the future.

The plot is pretty straightforward, with the usual side trips to Stone's shrink, who's helping him understand his relationship with Susan, er, I mean Jill. There's some shooting and there's plenty of "he's so complete and inward" and that kind of thing.

And talk about short paragraphs and white space! I almost went snowblind. I thought at times that Parker was channeling Ross Spencer (now there's an in-joke for you).

Naturally I liked the book, but then I like pretty much everything by Parker. I'm uncritical when it comes to Parker's books. I can't help it. If you're a Parker fan, and there must be a few left out there besides me, you'll like it, too.