Robert B. Parker takes us back to Paradise, Massachusetts with Police Chief Jesse Stone.

We catch up with Stone and his buddies finishing off a great game of softball with a few brews in the parking lot. Jesse knows he should lay off but the camaraderie is so enjoyable. Then a couple of them call him from the shore of the nearby lake. They've found something and they need the Chief quick.

It's the body of a teenage girl. Very soon, Stone is looking for two things: the killer of the girl—and someone, anyone, who is willing to claim the body.