"A winner"

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

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted September 13, 2001