Reed Farrel Coleman’s take on Paradise, Massachusetts police chief Jesse Stone continues to be an intriguing and extremely worthwhile experience. Jesse, for better or worse, was constantly in the shadow of Spenser, Robert B. Parker’s longer-running and better-known creation. Coleman’s hand has been on the steering wheel of Jesse’s cruiser for several years now, gently taking the stories into his own lane while respecting Parker’s vision and characters. The result is an evolution that has made Jesse and all within his circle more interesting.

THE BITTEREST PILL, the latest installment, is an excellent example of this. The job of a small town police chief is a tough one. There is no insulation, no phalanx of assistants to get between the job and an upset citizenry. So when the opioid epidemic dramatically comes to Paradise, the demand for a solution is swift and sure. The manifestation in this case is the sudden death by drug overdose of a very popular cheerleader at Paradise High School. The  school is a mix of Paradise's haves and have-nots, but the drug use that is inexorably flowing into the town from nearby Boston does not discriminate among the economic and social classes.

"Reed Farrel Coleman and Jesse Stone remain an excellent fit.... While the plot here is fairly straightforward, and blessedly so, there are enough twists and turns to keep the reader gently off-balance and greatly entertained."

Jesse is not above using his contacts and associates on both sides of the law to follow the trail of the epidemic through Paradise and back to its source, but even he is surprised to find that there are links among not only the students but also the faculty at Paradise High. Additionally, he receives opposition --- direct and otherwise --- from some pillars of the local community, who believe that they are protecting their children but are actually further endangering them by their misguided actions.

Meanwhile, Jesse is balancing the concerns of the community with some of his own issues, which include relishing his newfound sobriety while attempting to maintain it and wondering what secret his recently discovered adult son seems to be concealing from him. Jesse also enters into a new relationship with someone who is full of surprises but very slow in revealing them, and for good reason. In addition, there are several mysteries, great and small, and Jesse continues to uncover them practically up to the book’s last page.

Reed Farrel Coleman and Jesse Stone remain an excellent fit. Parker’s stories were always strongly driven by entertaining dialogue. While Coleman’s narrative style is a bit more balanced in terms of plotting, he has (as did Parker) a fine ear for the back and forth of character discourse, thus sharpening the personalities of anyone who wanders into and out of the scenes and vignettes that populate his books. While the plot here is fairly straightforward, and blessedly so, there are enough twists and turns to keep the reader gently off-balance and greatly entertained. Whether or not you were a fan of this series before Coleman took over the writing reins, you should be reading it now.