Best known for his Spenser series, Robert B. Parker (School Days, Cold Service, Stone Cold) combines two characters from other series he has written - Sunny Randall and Jesse Stone - in his latest effort, Blue Screen. The premise for this little adventure has Boston private investigator Sonya “Sunny” Randall going to Paradise, Massachusetts, to meet with Buddy Bollen, a C-level movie producer with questionable tastes. After getting past all the security, Sunny finally meets with Bollen. He puts on one of his movies, and she forces herself to watch the schlock film. Afterwards, Bollen makes Sunny a proposition to bodyguard his movie starlet girlfriend, Erin Flint. Sunny questions why Erin needs a bodyguard with so much security around. The answer is, of course, that Erin wants a woman bodyguard.

The reason she needs a more personal bodyguard is that Erin is set to play centerfield for Buddy’s (he made millions in a dot-com deal) Connecticut Nutmegs baseball team, and to protect his investment in the artistically challenged Woman Warrior film franchise. Sunny agrees, and soon Erin’s assistant, Misty, is found with a broken neck in the gym of Bollen’s estate. There are all kinds of suspects to follow, but this is where Sunny meets with Jess Stone, the other popular character from a Parker series. It’s here that the plot takes a backseat to the budding romance between Sunny and Jesse.

For fans of Parker, Blue Screen delivers what it promises: an easy, breezy whodunit that’s easily consumed in one sitting. For fans of the characters, this will be an exciting read. For those looking for an in-depth mystery, Blue Screen will be slightly disappointing as the majority of the book reads like a romance novel. There is plenty of the snappy tough-guy dialogue that makes these books easy and enjoyable. Overall, Blue Screen is a solid mystery with everything Parker’s fans would expect from him.