 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
 1st edition | |
| Author | Robert B. Parker |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Jesse Stone |
| Genre | Crime novel |
| Publisher | Putnam |
Publication date | 2007 |
| Pages | 304 |
| ISBN | 978-0-399-15404-1 |
| Preceded by | Sea Change |
| Followed by | Stranger in Paradise |
High Profile is a crime novel by Robert B. Parker, the sixth in his Jesse Stone series.
The novel begins with the discovery of a body hanging from a tree in the park. It doesn't take long to figure out that this is no suicide, as the person had been shot several times before the hanging. After a little investigation the body is discovered to be that of libertarian national talk radio and television personality Walter Weeks. Weeks was an influential man, and personal friend to the governor of Massachusetts, so when the media finds out, Jesse Stone finds himself hounded by the governor and the media, and leading a very high-profile case.
Stone begins his investigation by interviewing Weeks's ex-wives, manager, widow Lorrie Weeks, and bodyguard Conrad Lutz. Before long another twist is added to the crime when the body of Weeks's pregnant mistress turns up in the dumpster of a local restaurant. The medical examination discovers that this second victim was shot by the same gun, probably around the same time. As part of his investigation, Stone has Suitcase Simpson check to see if Weeks has any criminal convictions. The only one that turns up is an incident in Baltimore in 1987 where Weeks was found having sex in his car with a young woman. This seems unimportant at first, until Jesse discovers that the arresting officer was Weeks's bodyguard, Lutz. When questioned, Lutz confirms that he had busted Weeks while working as a Baltimore police officer, but that later he and Weeks then struck up a friendship which ended in Lutz becoming his bodyguard.
The plot thickens when further investigation determines that Lorrie Weeks was formerly Lutz's wife. Stone also learns that Weeks had planned on divorcing Lorrie and leaving his fortune to his new mistress and unborn child. After discovering this, Chief Stone and Suitcase Simpson head up to New York to stake out the widow's apartment. While there they see Lutz visiting her apartment during the day. They also witness Weeks's research assistant Alan Hendricks spending the night. This is interesting to Jesse because Alan was a frequent guest host, and the one writing most of the show's material by the end of Weeks's life. With Hendricks the heir apparent to Weeks's media empire and expected to continue Weeks's shows, it now appears to Jesse that Lorrie is trying to secure herself a new sugar daddy.
With the assistance of an NYPD officer, Chief Stone interrogates Lorrie in her apartment and records the interview. She confirms that she was once married to Lutz. Stone asks her if Lutz could have held onto resentment concerning this and led him to kill Weeks. She seems to ponder it and then confesses that she believes Lutz could be the killer. Back in Paradise, Jesse confronts Lutz with the tape of his ex-wife's accusation, and Lutz leaves the station without a word.
Lutz confesses everything over a glass of Jack Daniels to Jesse that evening in his apartment. He tells Jesse how after he busted Weeks, his wife convinced him to blackmail Weeks into giving him a job as his bodyguard. Later Weeks, a serial womanizer, took a liking to Lorrie. Once again, Lorrie convinced Lutz it would be for the best if they divorced and she married Weeks. Once she got his money, they could get back together and be rich. However, when she found out that he was going to divorce her and leave her with nothing, she convinced Lutz to kill him. So Lutz took Weeks and his mistress for a walk through of their new home on Stiles Island, near Paradise. While there he shoots and kills them both on the beach. He then drags the bodies to the house and stores them in the refrigerator for several days. Finally he hangs Weeks on the tree in the park, and dumps the mistress in the restaurant dumpster. He does this to confuse the police and also to mess up their calculation of the time of death. He was counting on a dumb small town sheriff not knowing what to do, but he got Jesse Stone. He then tells Jesse he is going to leave and will shoot Jesse if he tries to stop him. He pulls his gun on Jesse and Jesse shoots him dead, essentially committing suicide by cop. It was Jesse's revelation that Lorrie was now sleeping with Alan Hendricks and her taped accusation that leads him to do this. [1]
A subplot involves Jenn being stalked and raped. She tells Jesse that a man came to her apartment, raped her and was still stalking her. Jesse enlists Sunny Randall's help in finding the stalker. She finds him, but Jenn denies that he is the one that raped her. Later Jesse goes into Jenn's apartment and finds pictures of her with the man. Finally Jesse confronts her about the alleged rape and she confesses that she made it up. She had met the man and he had told her he could help her career so she began sleeping with him. She had admitted earlier to Sunny that that was the reason she hadn't been able to remain faithful to Jesse: she wasn't done sleeping her way to the top. When she realized the man wasn't going to do anything for her career she broke it off with him and told him he was bad in bed. She told Jesse he had raped her in an attempt at getting Jesse back in her life protecting her. Jesse goes to the man's apartment, beats him up, and then tells him if he goes near Jenn again he'll kill him.
Jesse continues his relationship with Sunny throughout the novel, but they break up near the end. [1]
Pitfall is a 1948 American film noir crime film directed by André de Toth. The film is based on the novel The Pitfall by Jay Dratler and stars Dick Powell, Lizabeth Scott, and Jane Wyatt, and features Raymond Burr.
Penthouse is a 1933 American Pre-Code crime film starring Warner Baxter as a lawyer and Myrna Loy as a call girl who helps him with a murder case. The film features Charles Butterworth as the butler, Mae Clarke as the murder victim, Phillips Holmes as the suspected murderer, and C. Henry Gordon as the gangster who arranged the murder. It was directed by W. S. Van Dyke and written by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, based on a novel by Arthur Somers Roche. The film was later remade as the more sanitized Society Lawyer (1939), without the risqué pre-Code dialogue.
Blast of Silence is a 1961 American neo-noir film written, directed by and starring Allen Baron, with Molly McCarthy, Larry Tucker, and Peter H. Clune in supporting roles. Set during Christmastime, it follows a hitman who returns to his native New York City to commit a murder for hire. It was produced by Merrill Brody, who was also the cinematographer.
Sea Change is a 2006 crime novel by Robert B. Parker, the fifth in his Jesse Stone series.
Self-Help (1985) is a collection of short stories by Lorrie Moore.
Mr. Monk Goes to the Firehouse (2006) is a mystery novel by Lee Goldberg, based on the popular TV series Monk. In the novel, Adrian Monk temporarily moves in with his assistant, Natalie Teeger, while his home is being fumigated. Following this, her teenage daughter Julie "hires" him to investigate the death of Sparky, a popular firehouse guard dog who was struck with an ax on the same night that a house inferno was occupying its owners.
Night Passage is a crime novel by Robert B. Parker, the first in his Jesse Stone series.
Trouble in Paradise is a crime novel by Robert B. Parker, the second in his Jesse Stone series.
Death in Paradise is a crime novel by Robert B. Parker, the third in his Jesse Stone series. It was made into a film in 2006.
Stone Cold is a crime novel by Robert B. Parker, the fourth in his Jesse Stone series.
Spare Change is a crime novel by Robert B. Parker, the sixth and final novel in his Sunny Randall series published before his death.
Stranger in Paradise is a 2008 crime novel by Robert B. Parker, the seventh in his Jesse Stone series.
Night and Day is a crime novel by Robert B. Parker, the eighth in his Jesse Stone series. It was the last in the series to be published before his death in 2010.
Split Image is a crime novel by Robert B. Parker, the ninth and final novel in his Jesse Stone series. It was published a month after his death.
Ichi is a 2008 chanbara チャンバラ film directed by Fumihiko Sori, starring Haruka Ayase, Takao Osawa, Shido Nakamura, and Yosuke Kubozuka. It was released by Warner Bros. Japan on October 25, 2008.
Jesse Stone: Thin Ice is a 2009 American made-for-television crime drama film directed by Robert Harmon and starring Tom Selleck, Kathy Baker, and Kohl Sudduth. Based on the characters from the Jesse Stone book series created by Robert B. Parker, the film is about the police chief of a small New England town who investigates a cryptic letter sent to the mother of a kidnapped child who was declared dead. Filmed on location in Nova Scotia, the story is set in the fictitious town of Paradise, Massachusetts.
A Taste of Evil is a 1971 American made-for-television horror-thriller film directed by John Llewellyn Moxey and starring Barbara Stanwyck, Barbara Parkins and Roddy McDowall. It premiered as the ABC Movie of the Week on October 12, 1971.
Back Story is a crime novel by Robert B. Parker, the 30th novel in his Spenser series. In the novel, private investigator Spenser takes on a 28-year-old cold case murder, but gets pressured by FBI agents and a mobster to drop his investigation, which only increases his curiosity.
Act of Vengeance, also known as Rape Squad and The Violator, is a 1974 American exploitation film. It was directed by Bob Kelljan and stars Jo Ann Harris, Peter Brown, Jennifer Lee, Connie Strickland, Lisa Moore, Tony Young, Steve Kanaly and Anneka Di Lorenzo.
