Death in Paradise: A Jesse Stone Novel (Paperback)

Review Summary: Death in Paradise is the best novel in the Jesse Stone series before Stone Cold. Jesse Stone, 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!