Grudge Match

February 3, 2020
In Edgar–finalist Lupica’s strong sequel to 2018’s Blood Feud, Boston PI Sunny Randall—who is as wiseass, fearless, and dedicated to justice as Spenser, Robert B. Parker’s best-known series lead—faces challenges in both her personal and professional life. The ex-wife of her significant other, Richie Burke, has returned to Boston with her and Richie’s six-year-old son, a development that threatens to alter Sunny’s relationship with Richie. Meanwhile, gangster Tony Marcus asks her to find his missing girlfriend, Lisa Morneau, who knows a lot about his illegal ventures. Despite Sunny, Richie, and Marcus’s complicated past, which includes Marcus having helped save the life of Richie’s father, she agrees to look for Morneau. The trail leads to multiple murders, as well as a welcome encounter with another notable Parker character. The superb plotting is enhanced by Lupica’s well-written scenes set during Sunny’s therapy sessions with Spenser’s love, Susan Silverman, which deepen the reader’s understanding of Sunny. Fans of tough, competent female PIs such as V.I. Warshawski will approve Lupica’s continuation of the series. Author tour. Agent: Esther Newberg, ICM.

March 1, 2020
A second reincarnation for Sunny Randall, the Boston private eye who just can't seem to walk away from organized crime once and for all. Prostitution czar Tony Marcus has no reason to trust Sunny, who double-crossed him on a recent deal (Robert B. Parker's Blood Feud, 2018, etc.) in which he didn't get the illegal guns she'd promised him for saving the life of Desmond Burke, her ex-husband Richie's equally mobbed-up father. But she definitely owes Tony one, and he has no hesitation about calling in the marker by asking her to track down Lisa Morneau, who rose through the ranks from sex worker to supervisor to become Tony's chief operating officer, his second brain, and bedmate. He doesn't want to make Lisa do anything, he insists; he just wants to talk to her and ask why she left him. Though she's skeptical about that claim and more generally reluctant to take another dip in Tony's foul pool, Sunny finds herself drawn to a search for a woman who actually wielded considerable power in the boys-only club of Boston's crime families. The only problems are that Richie's more recent ex, Kathryn, has just blown into town with an adorable 6-year-old son who throws Sunny considerably off balance and that agreeing to take on Tony's job doesn't get her anywhere. The main response of Tony's aspiring rival Gabriel Jabari, who runs a place called Suite and wants to run a whole lot more, is to smile evilly and offer to hire Sunny himself. And Callie Harden, the friend and former co-worker of Lisa's who agrees to meet with Sunny, gets shot to death after revealing very little about the missing woman. Sunny's convinced that both Tony and Jabari are holding back vital information and lying to her, and she's right on all counts. Will Lisa Morneau survive long enough for Sunny to put together the pieces? No great shakes as a detective story, but fans needn't worry: Lupica has Parker's formula down to a turn.

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April 15, 2020
Tony Marcus is a longtime Boston pimp and gun dealer. PI Sunny Randall once closed down a lucrative gun deal that would have made Marcus a fortune, so when he comes to her with a job, she's more than a little surprised. Tony's girlfriend, who has made her way from the street to his second in command, has disappeared. Tony wants her found, but Sunny's not sure if it's a matter of his heart or his wallet. In the tradition of all the characters created by Robert B. Parker, Sunny starts making waves and annoying people. But when the first witness she interviews is murdered, Sunny realizes the situation is more complex than Tony let on. Sunny also must sort out her new role as a sort-of stepmother to her ex-husband Richie's son, who lives with Richie. In the meantime, the Marcus case lurches forward with threats, another killing, and a surprise player. Lupica, an award-winning sports journalist, is one of the best surrogates Parker's estate has chosen to keep the late author's legendary characters alive. He does an outstanding job with Sunny.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)