It's nice to have Sunny Randall back again. Starting with Blood Feud last year, the late Robert B. Parker's intrepid female detective was the last of his series characters to get continuation novels after Mr. Parker's passing in 2010. But with Mike Lupica at the helm, we're finally getting more of Sunny and her new adventures have been solid.
For the record, I'm not against new writers being commissioned to produce new novels in a series after the original author passes away. After all, don't we all continue watching a favorite TV show even though writers, showrunners, and even stars come and go? The only reason to leave is if the stories aren't good anymore. End of disclaimer,
And, as said, Mr. Lupica's Sunny Randall stories have certainly been entertaining and exciting so far, with Sunny being the same Sunny we remember from Mr. Parker's half dozen or so Sunny novels. What always made Sunny interesting were her opposing, contradictory qualities, and how she reconciles them over the course of the novels. She's dangerous and tough but also revels in being girly and feminine. She won't let men push her around or decide things for her, but- when she chooses to- she is not opposed to being vulnerable and and wanting to be taken care of by the men in her life. And, often the most fun, even though she is always fiercely loyal to her current romantic interest (in this case, her ex-husband Richie) she is not above flirting and showing interest in other men who cross her path, and even second guessing who should actually be her current romantic interest.
Mr. Lupica has fun with all of the above, while also delivering a cool thriller plot once again (his first Sunny book was the engaging Blood Feud). This time Sunny is hired by her sometimes underworld ally Tony Marcus, who wants Sunny to find his missing girlfriend and business associate. Does Tony want to find his lady love Lisa purely for the sentimental reasons he tells Sunny, or is he worried the missing woman might know a little too much about his illegal business dealings and thus needs to be dealt with in some way? As there are indications that the woman might be in real trouble, Sunny takes the case, but then has to decide just how much to tell Tony about her progress.
Grudge Match (the full title is Robert B. Parker's Grudge Match, in tribute to the character's creator) was a lot of fun and I look forward to future Sunny Randall novels by Mike Lupica. The author, by the way, will also be writing Mr. Parker's Jesse Stone series for the time being, too. His first novel in that series will be Fool's Paradise, which will be out before the end of the year. I hope it's not revealing too much to say that, based on Grudge Match, our gal Sunny may actually put in an appearance in Mr. Lupica's first Stone novel, too!
