Actually I kinda liked this book a bit more than Michael Brandman's first attempt at Jesse Stone which, by the way, was actually OK in some ways, too. Ace Atkin's Lullaby would probably be very well accepted by anyone who had never read any Robert B Parker, if it were possible that any such person could exit, and would probably get them to read some of the real Parker books.
That said what I found a bit disconcerting about both books was that Michael and Ace seemed to try to get every character that Parker had ever invented into the stories somehow. In Lullaby I was actually expecting Sunny Randall to pop in and solve the mystery in a jiffy!
Now I'm waiting anxiously to read both Brandman's next "Jesse Stone" (due this September) and Atkin's next "Spenser" to see if they can maintain the Parker feel but take the series and characters forward on their own.
And the corollary to my thoughts about anyone having not read any Parker, I have never yet read any of Ace Atkins' or Michael Brandman's "Non-Parker" works but I fully intend to!