I have a full week of my own reviews coming up, but wanted to share Kevin Tipple’s review of Robert B. Parker’s Buried Secrets by Christopher Farnsworth. It’s the latest book in the Jesse Stone series. Thank you, Kevin.

Robert B. Parker’s Buried Secrets: A Jesse Stone Novel by Christopher Farnsworth
is a breath of fresh air. This book in the long running Jesse Stone series reads like a
Jesse Stone novel. One forgets that this is not done by Robert B. Parker and that is a
very good thing.
The Paradise Police Department is very short handed. The normal situation has been
made worse by the fact that three officers are out with Covid. Things are so bad that
Molly Crane is working dispatch and Chief Jesse Stone has been doing patrols. After a
long day, Jesse is looking forward to going home. Instead, after some back and forth
with Molly, Jesse heads to an address for a welfare check.
On arrival, he finds a young man by the name of Matthew Peebles. He is a bit agitated
and explains that the man inside the aging house is a friend of his parents. His mane is
Phil Burton. Mr. Peebles says he and Phil Burton talk by phone on a semi regular basis
and that he comes out from the city (New York City) now and then to visit and check on
him as he is elderly. He says that he has not heard from him in awhile and is worried.
Jesse manages to eventually get inside the house through the back as a sliding glass
door is partially open. It is very clear as he steps inside that Mr. Burton is a very serious
hoarder. At least, he was. He clearly been dead on his couch for quite some time.
Jesse makes his way back out of the house with the intention of breaking the news to
Mr. Peebles and alerting the coroner, having the house cleared out, and more. Once he
gets to the front of the house, he realizes that Mr. Peebles is long gone.
Soon Luther “Suitcase” Simpson arrives and he and Jesse go back into the house.
Everything in the massive piles of stuff in the house is very unstable. Simpson
accidentally brushes a tower of carboard boxes and the tower collapses and falls
spilling some of the boxes open. Other stuff slides around them making walking very
difficult. When Simpson regains his footing, Jesse spots a polaroid picture on the floor.
It, and many more that can now be seen, showcase what appears to be dead people at
various locations and conditions. Whatever Phil Burton was involved with, it was bad.
As that investigation gets underway, Jesse also welcomes the newest officer, Derek
Tate, to the force. This was a hire forced on him by the Mayor, Gary Armistead, and
Jesse isn’t totally comfortable with him. Due to the workload in recent days, Jesse has
not been able to do a deep dive into him as much as he would with any new officer. On
paper he looks good. But, there was an incident when he worked in Philadelphia.
Tate owned up to it, expressed some remorse, and claims to want a fresh start in
Paradise, Massachusetts. Paradise certainly was a fresh start for Jesse many years
ago and it could be for Tate as well. So, he brings him onboard and puts him out on
patrol unsupervised as Tate has experience. It does not take a rocket scientist to know
that things are not going to go well.
What follows is a fast moving read as Jesse deals with the Burton investigation, Tate
and his version of police work, and other personal and professional issues. The author
does a masterful job of pulling the reader along at a fast clip in the Jesse Stone world. It
has been some time since an author could make the characters in the series come alive
in the right voice and Mr. Farnsworth definitely pulls that off in Robert B. Parker’s
Buried Secrets: A Jesse Stone Novel.
Strongly Recommended.
My reading copy came from the publisher, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, by way of NetGalley
with no expectation of a review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2025
This seems like a very entertaining book Kevin. Is it necessary to have read the other books in the series before reading this one, do you think?
I think you would be,net okay with just doing reading this one.
Don’t know what happened that created the typo—- Yes, you can read this one without worrying about earlier books.
Thanks Kevin.
Thank you for the review Kevin. Years ago I read many of the Jesse Stone books and after Robert Parker died the series fell off my radar. I remember there were also a few made for tv adaptations staring Tom Selleck that weren’t bad. Just put this book on hold at my library.
Good deal. Hope you like it when you get it.
Thanks, Kevin. I was a big Spenser fan for maybe the first ten books. I never tried the Jesse Stone books and didn’t know the series had been continued by a new writer. Thanks for the tip!
There have been several new writers since his death. I am a big fan of the series in books and the movies.