Too Much Tequila, Too Little Sunscreen

I can’t figure out whether it’s the Jesse Stone of Robert B. Parker’s novels or the Jesse Stone played so wonderfully by Tom Selleck in the made-for-TV movies that I like better. Both equally, I guess. Jesse was a minor league shortstop who injured his throwing arm and still regrets and misses the baseball career he never got to realize. Strike one. His second strike came when his beautiful wife dumped him for a career in TV, and his third strike was being fired from the LAPD because of a drinking problem. His career and his life are at rock bottom as he, the big city cop, deals with the small town issues of dinky, little Paradise, Massachusetts. Jesse brings a strong sense of right and wrong and a no-bullshit style to his position as Paradise’s chief of police. As you read or watch Jesse you’ll want to drop your book or pause the TV and see if you can reach out and somehow help this deeply troubled man.

I’ve read and watched everything ever written or filmed about Jesse Stone. Here’s the list so you can begin your adventure. Enjoy!

Books by Robert B. Parker
1997 Night Passage
1998 Trouble in Paradise
2001 Death in Paradise
2002 Stone Cold
2006 Sea Change
2007 High Profile
2008 Stranger in Paradise
2009 Night and Day
2010 Split Image

Movies with Tom Selleck
2006 Night Passage
2006 Death in Paradise
2005 Stone Cold
2007 Sea Change
2009 Thin Ice
2010 No Remorse
2011 Innocents Lost
2012 Benefit of the Doubt

Books by Michael Brandman
After Robert B. Parker’s death in 2010, his estate granted Michael Brandman, who had co-written and produced the Jesse Stone movies, the right to continue the series.

2011 Robert B. Parker’s Killing the Blues
2011 Robert B. Parker’s Fool Me Twice

Books by Reed Farrel Coleman
2916 Robert B. Parker’s Debt to Pay