Death in Paradise

A Jesse Stone Novel

By: Robert B. Parker

Narrated by: Robert Forster

Length: 5 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

Chief of Police Jesse Stone returns to investigate the murder of a troubled teenager in a seemingly bucolic New England town.

The Paradise Men's Softball League has wrapped up another game, and Jesse Stone is lingering in the parking lot with his teammates, drinking beer, swapping stories of double plays and beautiful women in the late-summer twilight. But then a frightened voice calls out to him from the edge of a nearby lake. There, two men squat at the water's edge. In front of them, facedown, was something that used to be a girl.

The local cops haven't seen anything like this, but Jesse's L.A. past has made him all too familiar with floaters. This girl hadn't committed suicide; she hadn't been drowned; she'd been shot and dumped, discarded like trash. Before long it becomes clear that she had a taste for the wild life; and her own parents can't be bothered to report her missing, or even admit that she once was a child of theirs. All Jesse has to go on is a young man's school ring on a gold chain, and a hunch or two.

©2001 Robert B. Parker (P)2001 New Millenium Audio, All Rights Reserved

Critic reviews

"A page-turner...one of the master's best." (The Washington Post Book World)
"Prose whose impeccability speaks of decades of careful writing." (Publishers Weekly)

Excellent

Parker is his usual brilliant self in this Jesse Stone tale.

Awesome

Just another good book in the series. That keeps you ready for the next book.

I loved it

a real good mystery i was thrilled
a suprising ending.wonderful narration
i imagined it in my head

True to the series

What made the experience of listening to Death in Paradise the most enjoyable?

The narration is very true to the feel of the series, particularly the main character.

Any additional comments?

Story is involving and interesting, the outcome is believable and not intelligence insulting.

Robert B Parker

This is the third book in the Jesse zone series. This is also made into a movie by Tom Selleck and the other book is quite good. Dr Parker got his PhD by writing about Raymond Chandler and Hammett, and his work in his own novels is excellent.

Great listen.

Heard just about all the Spenser books so decided to give a listen to Parker's new hero - Jessie Stone. Turned out to be a great choice. Stone has all of Spenser's knowhow but is a lot more flawed - and more human. Very easy to identify with. The mystery was also excellent and had me guessing to the end.

Story Ok, but Narrator Very Singsong

I decided to buy this because I have enjoyed reading a couple of Robert Parker's books, and I really enjoyed the Jesse Stone TV movies. And while the story was certainly ok, and the dialogue had the same dryly sarcastic wit I enjoyed in the movies, I found the narrator's singsong cadence, pacing and overall performance annoying and distracting. My pet peeve is that he would go directly from one scene to another without a pause or breath, so the listener (me) got lost a lot. I managed to make it to the end of the book, but I won't be buying any more books narrated by Robert Forster...

Favorite Jesse Stone!

Story, narration...all good ! highly recommend.... I started out reading the Spenser series years ago - but quickly came to like Jesse Stone, even better. This is my favorite in the series...

Jesse Stone is Jesse Stone

This Jesse Stone series in never going to keep you on the edge of your seat. The stories are slow and easy. I mean that in a positive way. Once you get to know Jesse they are very enjoyable. I will continue with the series.

Writing not good for audio.

I found the writing style uninspiring and formulaic. He'd throw in descriptions of clothing in pointless interruption of dialog. Our hero jumps into the sack with anybody, all the women are beautiful...
What I found irritating in the audio that wouldn't matter as much on paper was the dialog. Somehow the rhythm of "He said...She said...He said...She said" really stood out as repetitious in a way that hasn't bothered me in the hundreds of other audio books I've listened to.