Death in Paradise (A Jesse Stone Novel)

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.

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.

There are authors who, after reading their works, make me wonder how they were able to publish anything in the first place. After reading Death in Paradise, I wonder the same about Mr. Parker. The characters are shallow and undeveloped. The story is boring and not engaging. But worst of all, Mr. Parker is utterly unable to write a story without repeating himself over and over and over again. Throughout the entire book, whenever two characters interact with each other, it is always as the following: A said..., B said..., A said..., B said..., A said..., B said..., .... I lost track of how many times Mr. Parker used the word "said" in this book. There are so many other words Mr. Parker could use to indicate that a character said something, such as: A asked, B replied, A hinted, B implied, A ordered, B instructed, A explained, B exclaimed, A cried, B yelled, A screamed, B begged, .... In my opinion, an author, like Mr. Parker, who does not take the effort to choose the right words, is simply being lazy. Perhaps Mr. Parker should take a creative writing class to learn some basic writing techniques and enrich his vocabulary.

Robert B. Parker has been writing for a long time, and there are critics everywhere. As he's progressed, his writing has gotten more and more spare, and careful. It's to the point now where he almost doesn't write the book, and you almost don't read it. It sort of flows past you, and only the characters and the action are important. Interesting phenomenon.
This time around, Jesse Stone's weekly softball game is interrupted by the discovery of a dead girl floating in a nearby lake. Stone investigates, and eventually discovers who she is and why she's there. Meanwhile there's a domestic disturbance call (a wife being beaten) that slowly escalates to something worse. The problem with the book, as much as there is one, is that neither of these plots is that interesting, so you have to pay attention to the characters. They at least are diverting, and I did have some fun watching Jesse do his thing. Neither bad guy is that smart, though. I suppose much of the time that's the way it is in real life.
All in all, a decent entry into Parker's library, but not his best book.

...this is a slight book. Uninteresting characters, predictable plot, an endless subplot about the main character trying to figure out if he has a drinking problem, passionless love interest. Parker used to be one of the best but now he's on autopilot, I fear.

"Death In Paradise", by Richard B. Parker. Audio version (Five tapes) read by Robert Forester. New Millennium Audio, Beverly Hills, CA.
In short, staccato bursts of dialogue, Robert B. Parker tells the story of Chief of Police, Jesse Stone, in the small town of Paradise, north of Boston, Massachusetts. Chief Stone had lost his police job in Los Angeles, lost his first wife and ended up in the small town of Paradise. His experience in Minor League Baseball makes the Chief a star in the local softball league, and that's where the story begins. The softball team's reverie after the early evening game is broken by the discovery of badly decomposed body floating in the lake. The story then grows around Chief Stone's development of his tiny police force by instructing them, with on-the-job training, in big city police tactics.
The dead girl's family has disowned her; the girl had run away, and become part of a sex for pay group. Stone shows his police officers how to act on routine (and boring) stakeouts and finally, he tracks down the murderer. Throughout all of this, the author has interspersed tales of Stone's alcoholism, failure at married life and regrets with the injury that cost him a promising baseball career. About three-quarters of the way through, you begin suspecting the identity of the killer, but these side issues in the life of Chief Stone continue to make the book interesting.
This book appears to be better if it is read aloud. The audio version, read by Robert Forester, flowed naturally and rapidly. Everything seemed to fit together as the book was read. It certainly helped me in the traffic of I-495, around Boston. Speaking of Boston, please let the reader know that the pronunciation of Copely Square is "COP-lee", not the "Cope -lee" used in this presentation.

...P>But I think what we have in this novel is pure craftsmanship, the kind where the artist paints the leaf and the twig and leaves the tree and the landscape to the viewer's imagination. Jesse Stone doesn't NEED to say any more than he does, nor do any of the other characters in the book. And the plot is really quite complicated and intricate, with all lines coming together by the last page...as well as the final hint of more to come and life and intrigue resuming even after we have put the book down.
Parker, you get better with every novel. Reader, don't be decieved. This is one really well written book!

I love Robert Parker, and I think his Jesse Stone series is actually more entertaining than his Spenser books at this point. DEATH IN PARADISE is the third novel in the series, and it's an enjoyable read. The plot essentially centers around the death of a young high school girl, but there are various subplots involving Stone's love life and his involvement in a domestic abuse case.

I think STONE COLD is by far the best in the Jesse Stone series, but this entry is quite solid. Parker is great at writing funny and entertaining dialogue, and the main murder plot in this novel is quite engrossing. This book is short and leanly written, and Parker doesn't waste a single word in describing what is going on. This novel is very short, and you can finish it in a few hours.

DEATH IN PARADISE, like all the Jesse Stone novels, has a lot of graphic language and sexual activity, since Stone is a relatively young, sexually active character (and pretty much every female character throws herself at him). This is the type of novel where the hero sleeps with two or three different women without batting an eye. If you don't care for these types of scenes, you should definitely skip this book.

This is the type of novel that you will either love or hate, I think. The characters aren't particularly realistic, and the dysfunctional relationship between Stone and his ex-wife can try the reader's patience. But I find Parker's books highly enjoyable, and I enjoy passing the time reading them. They are definitely not boring, and they are much better than a lot of the overwritten, serious-minded stuff that passes for crime fiction these days.

If you dislike this book, you will probably not like any of Parker's Stone novels. My advice is to try this one first, or STONE COLD, and then move on to the rest.

Jesse Stone is a cop - and a boozer. Don't call him an alcoholic because he doesn't admit it to himself. And he's certainly not going to go to AA meetings. The mystery is so-so. Parker certainly has done better, and I expect he will again. What I enjoyed, however, was Jesse Stone's struggle with his own weakness and his slow but steady progress toward redemption. The rapid-fire dialogue sometimes plays a bit thin - maybe I've seen it too often in the Spencer novels. It makes for fast reading, but after a while it becomes an affectation, rather than an interesting way to show characters in action. Certainly this isn't the best Parker novel ever published, perhaps it might even be a bit below average, but even a less-than-average Parker is better than 99% of the rest of what's out there. Certainly worth an afternoon in the recliner with a NON-alcoholic beverage on the side table.

I like Parker as a writer. Easy on the imagination. But I saw the Tom Selleck movie versions before I read Parker's books. I like Selleck's version of Jesse Stone. I didn't like the Jesse Stone in the books. So far as I'm concerned, the Jesse Stone in the books deserved Jenn. It is interesting that in the last Jesse Stone book by Parker, his Jesse Stone began to resemble more Selleck's version. I understand that Parker and Selleck were friends. Maybe that's why. Parker died in 2010. Selleck's last movie was in 2012. Probably would have liked Parker's later Jesse Stone books had he survived. Another Selleck Jesse Stone movie will air on 10-18-1015 (tomorrow). I can't wait. Seeing as Selleck's Jesse Stone is my #1 TV mini-series. Unfortunately, Joe the Dog who portrayed Reggie died a couple of years ago. The Jesse Stone movies won't be the same without him. He's an integral part of the show to me.