Read this first book of The Jesse Stone series because I liked the Jess Stone TV movies with Tom Selleck as Stone. This is also the first book I've read by the recently deceased Robert B. Parker.I wish I could say I liked the novel but I didn't. Jesse Stone, an alcoholic ex-LAPD cop with an ex-wife he can't drop becomes the police chief of tiny Paradise, Massachusetts. I could not get Selleck's sensitive but tough portrayal out of my mind, partly because he was so good in the role and partly because Parker's Stone was blah and kind of pathetic. The plot was pedestrian and over-blown at the same time.
Over-all it was a grade C mystery melodrama. Not terrible but not memorable. I might try another Stone novel some day but I can't say I understand why Mr. Parker had such a strong following with the mystery fans.
