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Summary: What Matters Most?
Review: Caution: This book addresses spousal abuse and sexual abuse of underage females. If either subject is distressing for you, this may not be the best book for you to read. Review Summary: Death in Paradise is the best novel in the Jesse Stone series. An emotionally hurting, alcoholic police chief faces the difficult challenges of stopping violent men with his same weakness for drinking while keeping his own needs for booze and his ex-wife under control. Despite being a personal mess, the victims find an avenger in him, often succeeding by moving way outside of what the law allows. Jesse Stone's solutions are more like Zorro's than any respectable law man you'll ever meet. During the course of the novel, Jesse Stone has several epiphanies that mark out the boundaries for how he can start to put his life back together. You'll find yourself rooting for him to do so. The writing is Robert Parker in top form. The story line is as simple as it could be. The sentences are deft. The dialogue is spare and direct. Hemingway's top writing was often not as good as what Mr. Parker has accomplished in this novel. Review: If you love Spenser, you may or may not like Jesse Stone. The two characters are quite different. Jesse Stone has more problems than most people. He's an alcoholic, has been divorced by the only woman he's ever loved, and frequently breaks the law in his role as small-town police chief. Nights are ultimately dedicated to solitary drinking. Despite his flaws, Stone is capable of great caring and dedication. The greatest brilliance of this novel is how deftly it weaves together the many sides of Jesse Stone's personality, his law enforcement responsibilities, and favorite activities into a complex composite of a man you will feel you know well. Each tiny episode in Death in Paradise is designed to both advance the solution of the mystery here and to unveil a little more of Jesse Stone to the reader. For those who want to get to know Jesse Stone, he offers one advantage over Spenser: Stone is much less predictable. As a result, the unfolding of the story leaves much more to be anticipated. Jesse Stone is a man holding on by his fingernails to the remnants of what he wants in life: his ex-wife, a respectable job, and sobriety. He knows that he can easily stray over the edge and lose all three . . . permanently. Like the potential suicide teetering out over the edge of a building while thinking about jumping, he finds himself recoiling again and again from the abyss that yawns all around him. In doing so, he takes risks that would end it all. But these are only risks that serve others rather than himself. He takes his work home, which is part of the problem. One of the most relaxing times of his life is during nightly softball games in the summer, when he can relive the glories of his life as a minor league player before a career-stopping injury to his throwing shoulder. Even here, he cannot escape the siren call of the booze as teammates gather for beers afterwards. Then, one night a cry intrudes. Two men have found what seems to have once been a young woman floating in the water. She looks like she has been dumped like trash. There are no reports of missing persons. Who is it? Who killed her? The investigation gently links from one fragile bit of evidence to the next. Drawing brilliantly on instincts honed while a homicide investigator for the L.A.P.D., Stone's net keeps turning up enough clues to advance the investigation. You'll find the experience like crossing a vast lake by hopping from one small stone to another. While most mysteries maximize the mystery, and minimize the procedure, Death in Paradise turns the procedure itself into a choreographed dance of great beauty. Conducted on a shoestring with inexperienced people makes the methods and progress involved all the more interesting to watch. At another level, Death in Paradise also has a lot to say about personal priorities, especially about the ways that we look for love and appreciation. After you finish this book, list the ways that you seek more love. What problems could some of your methods create? In doing so, feel free to draw upon the mistakes that the characters in this novel make, as well as your own experiences. Love life . . . and all the people in your life! Free yourself from obsession and habit if you want to create the opportunity for love and happiness!
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Summary: Simply Paradise
Review: Robert Parker brings back Jesse Stone for his third outing. Jesse's a younger Spenser who is a police chief in a New England town. He has a past with LAPD, an ex-wife, and a drinking problem. Jesse works as a series lead, and this novel centers around the death of a teenager. Good book. Keep them coming, Mr. Parker.
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Summary: The best in the series
Review: The Paradise Men's Softball League has just finished their game, and Jessie Stone is hanging around the parking lot with his teammates, drinking beers, and talking about women when a voice from a nearby lake calls out in terror. Crouching by the water's edge are two men, and floating in front of them is the body of a young girl.
The girl didn't commit suicide, and she didn't drown: she was shot, and dumped in the lake. The local police haven't seen anything like this, but because of his L.A. past, Jessie has, and even though he doesn't have much to go on, he leaves no stone unturned in his investigation, even if it means entering the darkest corners of the peaceful town of Paradise. The only clue Jessie has is a class ring worn around the victim's neck, and while the ring links him to his first suspect, it brings up more unanswered questions as he finds the young girl was a promiscuous, and her parents wanted nothing to do with her. As his investigation heats up, Jessie sees his list of suspects grow, and lurking in the shadows is someone willing to kill again to keep their secrets from being found out. 'Death In Paradise' is the third novel featuring Chief of Police Jessie Stone, and what an enjoyable novel it is: packed with all the suspense, humor, strong characters, and tough writing that have become Parker staples, readers are treated to a fast-paced mystery that can't be put down once it's started. Robert B. Parker has created a great series with his Jessie Stone novels, and 'Death In Paradise' is his best yet. Fans will devour this novel in one sitting, and be left anxious for the next book in the series. A MUST read! Nick Gonnella
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Summary: Dynamite read
Review: Jesse Stone is the police chief of Paradise, a small suburban town on the North Shore of Massachusetts. He's still in love with his ex-wife who he sees every Wednesday night even thought their marriage broke up years ago because of her adultery and his boozing. Jesse knows that this is his last chance at the job and with the only woman he ever loved. He was fired in Los Angeles because of his drinking during business hours and was not dependable.
Usually Paradise is a quiet place but not today. After the weekly softball game, Jesse is called over to the nearby river where he seas a floater. By process of elimination, he identifies the body and Jesse puts in a lot of man-hours following the meager trail that will lead to Billie's killer.
In DEATH IN PARADISE, Jessie struggles to come to terms with his alcoholism even as he struggles with one of the trickiest cases of his careers. One has to like Jessie, a man who has known much heartache, but still keeps on hoping things will improve. Robert B. Parker has written an exciting police procedural that piques reader interest from first page to last. Harriet Klausner
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Summary: Jesse Stone Returns!!!
Review: Robert B. Parker returns with his alcoholic chief of police - Jesse Stone. This is the third book in a series, starting with Night Passage, succeeded by Trouble in Paradise. Once again, he's written a winner, a great book that flies along at the speed of light, with witty, engaging characters. If you are new to Robert B parker, you might want to start with the first books in this series, or start with his Spenser novels. But, even if you read this without prior knowledge, you won't be too lost. The best part about Parkers' writing style is that he doesn't add a lot of unneccesary description, and the dialogue is straight to the point. It's a thrill to read!!
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Summary: Jesse Stone is a No-go
Review: If you want to know the truth, Robert B. Parker needs to give up on Jesse Stone as a character. Parker is one of the finest mystery writers around and his Spenser series is second to none, and I think that he needs to stick with his strength (Spenser & Hawk). This isn't a terribly bad novel, but it certainly isn't that good, either. The plot is okay but slow and even a little tedious. The conclusion is so formulaic that it is totally unsatisfactory. The main problem that I had with this book is that the characters are less than satisfactory and not entirely likeable. Jesse Stone is allegedly trying to confront his alcoholism but refuses to do anything about it. His ex-wife is a burden rather that an asset- she serves no useful function. The various minor characters are rather poorly drawn and add but little to the book. My advice is to pass on this one, particularly if you are a big fan of Spenser.
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Summary: Prolific Parker's Third Big One This Year
Review: As a mystery writer with my debut novel in its initial release, I am amazed at how prolific Robert B. Parker is at writing mystery fiction. Not only does this master turn them out fast, he also turns them out great. DEATH IN PARADISE is Parker's third Jesse Stone novel. In case you don't remember, Jesse is the former LAPD officer who was fired for drinking on the job and landed as police chief in a crime-challenged Massachuetts town. Basically, think of Jesse as Spenser with a drinking problem. This time, a body of a teenaged girl is found, and Jesse investigates her murder. The investigation leads him into the world of child exploitation. Subplots include Jesse adjusting to his new life and re-adjusting to his old ex-wife. Parker has another winner here. DEATH IN PARADISE is a great book.
Rating: 
Summary: Marginally Better
Review: This story line was a little more plausible. Parker really is a very good storyteller, he just perpetuates such strange ideas. Like the idea that a selfish is worthy of working to keep. The ex-wife in this story is actually worse than Susan Silverman, yet the hero stubbornly refused to acknowledge her worthlessness, although he does flirt with the idea. An okay read.
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Summary: Entertaining, but light...
Review: Death in Paradise by Robert Parker is a very entertaining, but very light mystery. We follow the exploits of Paradise chief of police, Jesse Stone, as he tries to solve a murder mystery, get his drinking under control and get his love life on track. While Parker's dialogue is first rate, it seems to read more like a screenplay than a novel. Also, the plot seems to resolve itself just a little too quickly. My biggest complaint, however, is all the wasted paper. With 1 to 1-1/2 blank pages between each chapter--and we're talking 66 chapters and almost 300 pages here, it's almost as if Parker tried to make a novella into something larger. So for Parker fans, you'll enjoy this book but don't expect a deep, complicated or dramatic mystery.
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Summary: But nobody seems to care about Billie...
Review: As this series continues, this novel may well portray crucial developments in Stone's life and career, but it fails to satisfy as a crime novel. Jesse Stone faced a home-grown militia group in his debut novel, followed by a group of cold-blooded criminals pulling off a spectacular robbery in the second. So the murder of a 14 year old girl who's been disowned by her parents due to promiscuous behavior seems rather pedestrian in comparison. Indeed, the girl Billie's parents, her former boy friend, and her high school principal have little interest. Unfortunately, Parker doesn't seem terribly interested either since we really don't get to know the girl. However, the focus on Stone's drinking may be a crucial development in the series. Other people's problem drinking is involved in two incidental plotlines, and, along with Jenn's encouragement, may be what it takes to drive Jesse to accept counciling for his own problem. There are a couple of other developments. After Gino Fish and Vinnie Morris appearing in the two previous books without actually meeting Stone, he meets them face to face for the first time. There's also development in the relationship between the Chief and his main assistant. Spenser of course has Hawk, and Sunny Randall has her strong support. Jesse Stone has--Suitcase Simpson? Seems like he got shortchanged, but Suitcase does show promise. He still has a bit to go, but under the Chief's tutelage, he might be a respectable police officer yet. I can't recommend this as a mystery, but do advise Parker fans to read it anyway because it does seem to be leading someplace.
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