Let me start by admitting that I have been a life-long Robert B. Parker fan. This is the first of his books that disappoints. For a life-long mystery writer to get so sloppy is sad.

The first glaring error that whacks you on the side of the head is when Mr. Parker describes a murder weapon as a "Smith and Wesson 38" -- revolver -- and then has his characters looking for the spent cartridge, which would only be there if the weapon were an automatic. This is a sad and obvious lapse, especially for a writer who has over three decades of experience writing about such things.

There are other similar errors that I won't describe in detail since it could spoil the "plot", though I have to warn you that once you start spotting the careless errors and realize that this is just another gone-through-the-motions pot-boiler for Mr. Parker, the flame of fandom may flicker for you too.

Luckily, Amazon has many thousands of other authors and books to enjoy. My condolences to Robert B. Parker fans, and to all the unlucky people who read this book first.