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This page lists books that feature the police detective Jesse Stone.

Jesse Stone was created by Robert B. Parker who wrote 9 novels featuring the detective.

Following Parker's death in 2010 further Jesse Stone novels were produced first by Michael Brandman and then by Reed Farrel Coleman. The series continues…

Night Passage

Robert B. Parker

1997

A Jesse Stone novel.

"After a busted marriage kicks his drinking problems into overdrive and the LAPD unceremoniously dump him, 35-year-old Jesse Stone's future looks bleak. He is shocked, however, when a small Massachusetts town called Paradise hires him as their police chief. Once on board he doesn't have to look for trouble in Paradise - it comes to him. For what is on the surface a quiet New England community quickly proves to be a crucible of political and moral corruption - replete with triple homicide, tight Boston mob ties, flamboyantly errant spouses, maddened militiamen and a psychopath-about-town who has fixed his violent sights on the new lawman. He finds he must test his mettle and powers of command to emerge a local hero - or the deadest of dupes."

Trouble in Paradise

Robert B. Parker

1998

A Jesse Stone novel.

"Stiles Island is a wealthy and exclusive enclave separated by a bridge from the Massachusetts coastal town of Paradise. James Macklin sees Stiles Island as the ultimate investment opportunity: all he needs to do is invade the island, blow up the bridge, and get to work. To realise his investment, Macklin, along with his devoted girlfriend, Faye, assembles a crew of fellow ex-cons - all experts in their fields - including Wilson Cromartie, a fearsome Apache. James Macklin is a bad man - a very bad man. And Wilson Cromartie, known as Crow, is even worse. As Macklin plans his crime, Paradise Police Chief Jesse Stone has his hands full. He faces romantic entanglements in triplicate: his ex-wife, Jenn, is in the Paradise jail for assault; he's begun a new relationship with a Stiles Island realtor named Marcy Campbell; and he's still sorting out his feelings for attorney Abby Taylor. When Macklin's attack on Stiles Island is set in motion, both Marcy and Abby are put in jeopardy. As the casualties mount, it's up to Jesse to keep both women from harm."

Death in Paradise

Robert B. Parker

2001

A Jesse Stone novel.

"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."

Stone Cold

Robert B. Parker

2003

A Jesse Stone novel.

"Jesse Stone has a problem no officer of the law likes to face: Dead bodies keep appearing, but clues do not. A man takes his dog out for a run on the beach, only to be discovered hours later - with two holes in his chest. A woman drives her Volvo to the store to do some grocery shopping, and is then found dead, her body crumpled behind her loaded shopping cart. A commuter takes a shortcut home from the train, and never makes it back to his house. Hunting down a serial killer is difficult and dangerous in any town, but in a town like Paradise, where the selectmen and the media add untold pressures, Jesse feels considerable heat. Already walking an emotional tightrope, he stumbles; he's spending too much time with the bottle, and with his ex-wife - neither of which helps him, or the case. And the harder these outside forces push against him, the more Jesse retreats into himself, convinced - despite all the odds - that it's up to him alone to stop the killing."

Sea Change

Robert B. Parker

2006

A Jesse Stone novel.

"When a woman's partially decomposed body washes ashore in Paradise, Massachusetts, police chief Jesse Stone is forced into a case far more difficult than it at first appears. Identifying the woman is just the first step in what proves to be a difficult and emotionally charged investigation. Florence Horvath was an attractive, recently divorced heiress from Florida; she also had a penchant for steamy sex and was an enthusiastic participant in a video depicting the same. Somehow the combination of her past and present got her killed, but no one is talking - not the crew of the Lady Jane, the Fort Lauderdale yacht moored in Paradise harbour; nor her very blonde, very tanned twin sisters, Corliss and Claudia; and not her curiously affectless parents, living out a sterile retirement in a Miami high rise. But someone - Jesse - has to speak for the dead, even if it puts him in harm's way."

Blue Screen

Robert B. Parker

2006

A Sunny Randall novel.

"Buddy Bollen is a C-list movie mogul who made his fortune producing films of questionable artistic merit. When Buddy hires Sunny Randall to protect his rising star and girlfriend, Erin Flint, Sunny knows from the start that the prickly, spoiled beauty won't make her job easy. And when Erin's sister, Misty, is found dead in the lavish home they share with sugar daddy Bollen, there doesn't seem to be a single lead worth pursuing. But then Sunny meets Jesse Stone, chief of police in Paradise, Massachusetts, under whose jurisdiction the case falls. It immediately becomes clear that Jesse and Sunny have much in common. While searching for the killer, they learn an awful lot about each other - and themselves. Tracking Misty's murderer reveals a host of seedy complications behind Erin's glamorous lifestyle as well as Buddy Bollen's entertainment empire, made up of shady film deals and mobsters out for revenge. But in a world where there's little difference between the good guys and the bad, exposing the killer could prove to be Sunny's undoing."

High Profile

Robert B. Parker

2007

A Jesse Stone novel.

"When the body of controversial talk-show host Walton Weeks is discovered hanging from a tree on the outskirts of Paradise, police chief Jesse Stone finds himself at the center of a highly public case, forcing him to deal with small-minded local officials and national media scrutiny. When another dead body - that of a young woman - is discovered just a few days later, the pressure becomes almost unbearable. Two victims in less than a week should provide a host of clues, but all Jesse runs into are dead ends. But what may be the most disturbing aspect of these murders is the fact that no one seems to care-not a single one of Weeks's ex-wives, not the family of the girl. And when the medical examiner reveals a heartbreaking link between the two departed souls, the mystery only deepens. Despite Weeks's reputation and the girl's tender age, Jesse is hard-pressed to find legitimate suspects. Though the crimes are perhaps the most gruesome Jesse has ever witnessed, it is the malevolence behind them that makes them all the more frightening. Forced to delve into a world of stormy relationships, Jesse soon comes to realize that knowing who he can trust is indeed a matter of life and death."

Stranger In Paradise

Robert B. Parker

2008

A Jesse Stone novel.

"Jesse Stone is an ex LA cop who has taken the job of police chief in Paradise, Massachusetts. His drinking and his damaged relationship with his wife, define him as much as his supreme skill at policing his patch. When Crow, an Apache hitman, turns up in Jesse Stone's office, he is intrigued and very much on his guard. Ten years before, Crow was part of a gang that had taken a woman in the town hostage when a bank raid went wrong. The hostages were released unharmed, thanks to Crow's moral view that you didn't kill women, but he also got away with enough money not to have to work again. So why is Crow back in town? Why has he come to see Jesse? And why has he taken a job of kidnapping a young girl and her mother?"

Night and Day

Robert B. Parker

2009

A Jesse Stone novel.

"Stone is called to the junior high school when reports of lewd conduct by the school's principal, Betsy Ingersoll, filter into the station. Ingersoll claims she was protecting the propriety of her students when she inspected each girl's undergarments in the locker room. Jesse would like nothing more than to see Ingersoll punished, but her high-powered attorney husband stands in the way. At the same time, the women of Paradise are faced with a threat to their sense of security with the emergence of a tormented voyeur, dubbed "The Night Hawk." Initially, he's content to peer through windows, but as times goes on, he becomes more reckless, forcing his victims to strip at gunpoint... And according to the notes he's sending to Jesse, he's not satisfied to stop there. It's up to Jesse to catch the Night Hawk, before it's too late."

Split Image

Robert B. Parker

2010

A Jesse Stone novel.

"Cold-blooded murder. Police chief Jesse Stone is investigating two supposedly retired gangsters. But when one of them is found with a bullet in his skull, it is the wives who seem suspect. Meanwhile, the Markham family enlists Sunny Randall's help in rescuing their eighteen-year-old daughter from a religious cult. Are they just over-protective, or is there something sinister lurking beneath the sugar-free tea and desire to connect to the spirit? Jesse and Sunny are soon to discover that there is a fine line between virtue and vice."

Robert B. Parker's Killing the Blues

Michael Brandman

2011

A Jesse Stone novel.

"Paradise, Massachusetts, is gearing up for the busy summer season when a spate of car thefts places its quiet, tourist-friendly reputation in jeopardy. Jesse Stone fears an automobile theft gang has set up shop in town, and the silver-tongued, heavy-handed police chief vows to put a stop to their activity. Almost as soon as he starts tackling this threat, another materializes: one of a more personal nature. An old enemy, hell-bent on revenge, is fresh out of prison. Thus begins a tale of proactive policing and personal paranoia, in which Stone finds himself defending himself, his patch and - before long - his latest squeeze. In Killing the Blues, Michael Brandman combines all of Parker's tried and tested ingredients to create a highly enjoyable and authentic Jesse Stone thriller."

Robert B. Parker's Fool Me Twice

Michael Brandman

2012

A Jesse Stone novel.

"Hollywood has come to Paradise, Massachusetts. And Police Chief Jesse Stone has been distracted from his duty by a beautiful young producer. But before Jesse can get too cozy, the leading star of the movie, Marisol Hinton, approaches him for help. Her meth-addicted ex is terrorizing her, and, expecting him to turn up in town, she grows increasingly frightened for her life. Jesse, meanwhile, is waging a war against an off-the-rails teenage girl - the seemingly untouchable daughter of a local business magnate - whose reckless and dangerous driving is endangering Paradise's citizens on a daily basis. And as if he's not got enough to be dealing with, Jesse's juggling a third ongoing investigation: addressing a string of complaints from angered locals, claiming they are being charged suspiciously high fees by the local water company. Not one to give up a fight, Jesse throws himself into all three cases with his characteristic bullish vigour. But what he doesn't necessarily realize is that those that seem to present the least danger will prove to be the most deadly."

Robert B. Parker's Damned If You Do

Michael Brandman

2013

A Jesse Stone novel.

"The woman on the bed was barely out of her teens. She wasn't exactly beautiful, but she'd tried to make the most of her looks. Now, defiled and alone in a seedy beachfront motel, she was dead. And Paradise Police Chief Jesse Stone doesn't know her name. Whoever she is, she didn't deserve to die. State police captain Healy's resources turn up nothing helpful, and Gino Fish, who knows his way around dark places, is characteristically uncooperative. Unwilling to take no for an answer, Jesse continues digging his own way, only to find himself caught in the crosshairs of a bitter turf war between two ruthless pimps, Thomas Walker and Fat Boy Nelly, and a beautiful woman to whom they both lay claim. Jesse tries for a diplomatic solution, but more blood will be spilt before it's over."

Robert B. Parker's Blind Spot

Reed Farrel Coleman

2014

A Jesse Stone novel.

"When Jesse is invited to a reunion of his old Triple-A team at a hip New York city hotel, he is forced to grapple with his memories and regrets over what might have been. Jesse left more behind him than unresolved feelings about the play that ended his baseball career. The darkly sensuous Kayla, his former girlfriend and current wife of an old teammate is there in New York, too. As is Kayla’s friend, Dee, an otherworldly beauty with secret regrets of her own. But Jesse’s time at the reunion is cut short when, in Paradise, a young woman is found murdered and her boyfriend, a son of one of the town’s most prominent families, is missing and presumed kidnapped. Though seemingly coincidental, there is a connection between the reunion and the crimes back in Paradise. As Jesse, Molly, and Suit hunt for the killer and for the missing son, it becomes clear that one of Jesse’s old teammates is intimately involved in the crimes. That there are deadly forces working below the surface and just beyond the edge of their vision. Sometimes, that’s where the danger comes from, and where real evil lurks. Not out in the light - but in your blind spot."

Robert B. Parker's The Devil Wins

Reed Farrel Coleman

2015

A Jesse Stone novel.

"In the wake of a huge storm, three bodies are discovered in the rubble of an abandoned factory building in an industrial part of Paradise known as The Swap. One body, a man's, wrapped in a blue tarp, is only hours old. But found within feet of that body are the skeletal remains of two teenage girls who had gone missing during a Fourth of July celebration twenty-five years earlier. Not only does that crime predate Jesse Stone's arrival in Paradise, but the dead girls were close friends of Jesse's right hand, Officer Molly Crane. And things become even more complicated when one of the dead girls' mothers returns to Paradise to bury her daughter and is promptly murdered. It's up to Police Chief Jesse Stone to pull away the veil of the past to see how all the murders are connected."

Robert B. Parker's Debt to Pay

Reed Farrel Coleman

2016

A Jesse Stone novel.

"All is quiet in Paradise, except for a spate of innocuous vandalism. Good thing, too, because Jesse Stone is preoccupied with the women in his life, both past and present. As his ex-wife, Jenn, is about to marry a Dallas real-estate tycoon, Jesse isn't too sure his relationship with former FBI agent Diana Evans is built to last. But those concerns get put on the back burner when a major Boston crime boss is brutally murdered. Despite all evidence to the contrary, Jesse suspects it's the work of Mr. Peepers, a psychotic assassin who has caused trouble for Jesse in the past. Peepers has long promised revenge against the Mob, Jesse, and Suit for their roles in foiling one of his hits - and against Jenn as well. And though Jesse and Jenn have long parted ways, Jesse still feels responsible for her safety. Jesse and Diana head to Dallas for the wedding and, along with the tycoon's security team, try to stop Peepers before the bill comes due. With Peepers toying with the authorities as to when and where he'll strike, Jesse is up against the wall. Still, there's a debt to pay and blood to be spilled to satisfy it. But whose blood, and just how much?"

Robert B. Parker's The Hangman's Sonnet

Reed Farrel Coleman

2017

A Jesse Stone novel.

"Jesse Stone, still reeling from the murder of his fiancée by crazed assassin Mr Peepers, must keep his emotions in check long enough to get through the wedding day of his loyal protégé, Suitcase Simpson. The morning of the wedding, Jesse learns that a gala 75th birthday party is to be held for folk singer Terry Jester. Jester, once the equal of Bob Dylan, has spent the last forty years in seclusion after the mysterious disappearance of the master recording tape of his magnum opus, The Hangman's Sonnet. That same morning, an elderly Paradise woman dies while her house is being ransacked. What are the thieves looking for? And what's the connection to Terry Jester and the mysterious missing tape? Jesse's investigation is hampered by hostile politicians and a growing trail of blood and bodies, forcing him to solicit the help of mobster Vinnie Morris and a certain Boston area PI named Spenser. While the town fathers pressure him to avoid a PR nightmare, Jesse must connect the cases before the bodies pile up further."

Robert B. Parker's Colorblind

Reed Farrel Coleman

2018

A Jesse Stone novel.

"Jesse Stone is back on the job after a stint in rehab, and the road to recovery is immediately made bumpy by a series of disturbing and apparently racially motivated crimes, beginning with the murder of an African American woman. Then, Jesse's own deputy Alisha - the first black woman hired by the Paradise police force - becomes the target of a sophisticated frame-up. As he and his team work tirelessly to unravel the truth, he has to wonder if this is just one part of an even grander plot, one with an end game more destructive than any of them can imagine. At the same time, a mysterious young man named Cole Slayton rolls into town with a chip on his shoulder and a problem with authority - namely, Jesse. Yet, something about the angry twenty-something appeals to Jesse, and he takes Cole under his wing. But there's more to him than meets the eye, and his secrets might change Jesse's life forever."