Rating: 
Summary: Great Character--Rehashed Plot
Review: Parker always writes what amounts to light entertaining works but maybe I've simply read too much of him. Stone is a great character and is a different from Spenser and Sunny Randall -- characters in his other novels. And Death in Paradise gives us more insight into what makes Stone tick -- which is the strength of the book. But the plot is a rehash of a rehash of plenty of Parker's other novels. Have I read this plot line before?? Yes, more than once. Overall entertaining, so thumbs up. But I'm ready for a new plot, a new twist, along with the new character.
Rating: 
Summary: A Reader Digest Review
Review: 1) Could hardly put it down (this doesn't happen alot) 2) Stone is pretty much Spenser with more flaws. 3) NOBODY does witty dialogue better 4) Parker needs to lose the ex-wife and get a Hawk character. 5) Absolute MUST read.
Rating:
Summary: Best of the Jesse
Review: Like all of Parker's books its an easy read, just great for a plane ride. This Jesse novel gives us a better insight into the Jesse character and his many loves (women, booze, baseball, cops, etc.) Its not just a murder mystery. My only real complaint about these books is well never see Hawk.
Rating:
Summary: Tedious relationship
Review: Much of this was Parker in good form, but is anyone else out there getting tired of Parker's obsession with disfunctional relationships?
Rating: 
Summary: Solid
Review: A solid effort, a tightly woven plot, a hero who's wrestling with his inner demons. What more could one ask for? Well, just a little more than this. I, for one (and I've said this in previous reviews of Parker's books) am totally tired of heros who love their women so much that they drive the women into the arms of other men. Let's see...Love and Glory, All my Yesterdays, Spencer (of course), the Sunny Randall novels, and now Jesse Stone. The same damn, dumb thing. Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. Oh, well...it's still a good book, but I really wish Parker would figure out a new schtick for his protagonists' love lives. This one is a bore.
Rating:
Summary: Jesse Stone: Squire to Spenser???
Review: I'm a sucker for Robert Parker. I've read all of the Spensers. I've read some of them twice. I read Rachel Wallace three times. Spenser is Homeric. If I were a kid, in a common sense sort of way, he's who I would like to aspire to be. At least to have a code like him. Loyal. Smart. Fair. Relentless. Reminding us, we must never be cowards in the face of ignorance. His relationship with Hawk is perfect. It chastises us for racial hesitation, reminds us of the sanctity of loyalty, loving Susan in different ways. Colorless, gender less, ageless, lacking homophobia, frequently inspiring us that while convention is important, three people can love each other in their own fashion. And finally it tells us that occasionally, the bad guys need an exceptionally painful beating. And Spenser and Hawk are up to it. Except. . . . Let's do the math. Spenser was a Corporal in Desert Storm? No. Vietnam? No. Korea. 1952. And Spenser and Hawk fought professionally. Let's see. Spenser fought Tyson? No. He fought Larry Holmes? No. Spenser fought Archie Moore. So let's see. Subtract the 3, carry the 6, allow an error of, hmmmmm. Holy Beacon Street. Great Jamaica Plain. Good Charles River. Bloody Fenway Park. Is Spenser over 70? So Parker, who is a brilliant author with a near rabid cult following, brings us Jesse Stone. And while Spenser was a man for all seasons in the amoral 70's, Jesse Stone is introspective. Where Spenser quoted Coleridge and Keats, Jesse acknowledges picking up a writer and suspected killer's 465 page recent novel, 'that he might never have read 465 pages in his life.' While Spenser lives a lyric out of Stephen Stills, "those who are on the road must have a code that you can live by," Stone struggles with his lost youth in the Dodger farm system. That, and the fact that he's a drunk. No, seriously. Get away from all of that controlled drinking rationalization that Parker weaves. Jesse's a drunk. Just a regular garden variety drunk. Angst has got nothing to do with it. Cause is not a reason, it's a mantra drunks quote to explain their self destruction and a willingness to take all around them with them. In the words of Hawk mocking his best friend, "ain't no such thang." Oh yeah. And Stone's on again off again wife sleeps with other men. And it tears him up into little pieces. But he keeps on loving her, getting drunk, losing jobs, and telling every beautiful woman he meets that as soon as Jenn stops sleeping around, he's out of here. Hmmmmm. This is a hard guy to admire. It's like your Uncle Bob. Come on Bob, get it together, you want to say. Go to a meeting. Move. Find a new partner. Take classes. Take a trip. Learn how to macrame. One thing you don't want is Uncle Bob showing up at the kids' sleep over with half a quart of Dewars in him and a .38 Colt in a holster on his hip. And you probably don't want him at a crime scene, either. So I'm sorry Professor Parker, I'm getting tired of Jesse. I liked the first three novels but he's like your best friend whose wife left him 7 years ago. You're willing to take one last chance at talking him into getting over it. The Moving Finger Writes. The clock is ticking. Get a life. And that's what you got for me, Jesse. You got one more chance.
Rating:
Summary: Robert Parker does it again!!!!!!
Review: This book was wonderful from the beginning to end. It was laugh out loud funny and serious when needed. Mr. Parker should be very proud of this one. Read all of his books, they are great. Mr. Parker, what next? And When?
Rating:
Summary: Review on death in paradise
Review: A nice book with a very pleasant stuff
Rating:
Summary: Superb Mystery
Review: Robert B. Parker once again scores a winning run with his third novel in the Jesse Stone series. Former L.A. homicide detective Jesse Stone is now Chief of Police in Paradise, Massachusetts after alcohol ruined both his detective job and his marriage. When the body of a young girl is found in a lake during one of Jesse's softball games, Chief Stone must use his well-honed investigative skills to find the killer. Just as Jesse feels the need to lead his softball team (he once played in the minors), he must lead his police force in his quest to find the killer of the unidentified girl. Just to name a few on the force, there is Molly, with her Irish-Catholic sense of humor, a perfect combination with Jesse's dry wit. And Suitcase Simpson is only too eager to please his Chief though his experience with surveillance is nil. As Jesse follows the trail of clues to discover the murderer's identity, his personal life is carefully revealed. His dependent relationship with his ex-wife, Jenn, is inextricably intertwined with his alcohol problem. And there is Lilly, the high school principal he is seeing seemingly to avoid loneliness. Mr. Parker has penned another sure success, one of his best yet. The mystery is nothing short of excellent, as previously unrelated characters become suspects caught in a web that begins to unravel as their connection to each other is exposed. And Jesse is portrayed as a very real hero, a man who seems rather sure of himself to his peers and to women, but a man who battles quite a few demons in private.
Rating: 
Summary: Parker Lite
Review: The plot of "Death in Paradise" is a fairly standard and unexceptional one for Robert B. Parker. The body of a dead girl washes up on the shores of a lake and Police Chief Jesse Stone is determined to find out who she is and who killed her. Along the way he uncovers a child prostitution ring, saves a victimized woman from an abusive marriage, and still manages to make time with both his ex-wife and a new lady love. These plot points would probably mean more to us if they seemed to mean more to Stone. He tells us how he feels, revealed in snippets of terse, faux-Hemingway dialogue, but he never shows us anything. As a character, there seems to be very little there. As with the two previous books in the Jesse Stone series ("Night Passage"(1997) and "rouble in Paradise"(1998)), "eath in Paradise"is a pleasant enough read, mildly diverting, and certainly quick. It's a shame, though, that Parker, an author who once defined the hard-boiled mystery genre, doesn't seem to care enough to try very hard anymore. If this were a first novel, I suppose it would be passable enough. For a fortieth, though, it's just filler. Reviewed by David Montgomery, Mystery Ink
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