Jesse Stone is the lead character in a series of detective novels written by Robert B. Parker. They were among his last works, and the first series in which the novelist used the third-person narrative. The series consists of nine books, starting with Night Passage (1997) and ending with Split Image (2010), which Parker completed before his death in January 2010 but did not live to see published. The series was initially continued by Michael Brandman. In April 2014, Reed Farrel Coleman assumed the writing of the series. The novels have been adapted as nine TV films. The first eight films were commissioned by CBS, and aired from 2005 to 2012. A ninth film was picked up by the Hallmark Channel, and aired on October 18, 2015.
The character begins the series at about 35 years old. He is a former minor league baseball shortstop whose career was cut short by a shoulder injury. He was raised in Arizona and California. He was asked to resign from his job as a homicide detective for the LAPD Robbery-Homicide Division because of a drinking problem that began after his divorce from his beautiful wife, Jennifer. Showing up drunk to an interview for a job as police chief for the small town of Paradise, Massachusetts (loosely based on the real town of Marblehead, Massachusetts), Stone is hired because the corrupt president of the town board of selectmen thinks he will be easy to control. Stone quickly notices that the town has big league crimes, struggling with the mob, white supremacists, wildly errant wives and a triple homicide, and that his job will be more difficult than he expected. But, he proves up to the task, beginning with making a corruption case against the town council president and arresting him.
The series chronicles Stone's cases as chief of the Paradise Police Department, as well as his struggles with alcohol and his complicated relationship with his ex-wife Jenn. He is respected and well liked by the police officers in the town police department. He develops a good working relationship and friendship with the State Police Homicide Commander, Captain Healy.
The character of Jesse Stone, a deeply troubled man, was a departure for the author. Parker, comparing Stone to Spenser, the protagonist of his first series and the one for which he was best known, said, "Jesse is a much more damaged individual who is coming to terms with himself as he goes along."
There is some overlap of characters with the Spenser books, notably with Healy and Sunny Randall, and (in Night and Day) indirectly with Susan Silverman.
, 1h27 OriginUSA GenresDrama, Thriller, Crime ActorsTom Selleck, Kathy Baker, Kohl Sudduth, Gloria Reuben, Stephen McHattie, William Sadler Rating70% Jesse Stone still misses the Paradise, Massachusetts police chief position, which he lost because the current town council president, Carter Hansen (Jeremy Akerman), wanted his son-in-law, William Butler (Jeff Geddis), to have the job. A suspicious police cruiser explosion kills chief Butler and officer DeAngelo (Vito Rezza). Curiously, the former town council president, Hastings "Hasty" Hathaway (Saul Rubinek), appeared to know about the incident before the current town council president was officially notified. Jesse is reinstated as "temp chief" by Hansen and uncovers apparent (but unproved) police corruption involving Butler. Jesse discovers a possible clue: the characters "2AH10" written on the April 24 page of Butler's desk calendar.
, 1h30 Directed byDick Lowry OriginUSA GenresDrama, Thriller, Crime ActorsTom Selleck, Kathy Baker, Kohl Sudduth, William Devane, Gloria Reuben, Stephen McHattie Rating69% After being replaced as the chief of police in Paradise, Massachusetts by the town council president's son-in-law, William Butler (Jeff Geddis), Jesse Stone is still without a full-time job (though he vows to one day be reinstated). Nevertheless, he continues to find ways to pursue investigations into two separate murders: one involves a friend with whom he had lost contact, and the other has him working as a consulting investigator for the Massachusetts State Police Homicide Division on a case involving a robbery and murder suspect. Both Jesse and his friend, State Police Captain Healy (Stephen McHattie), have doubts as to the robbery/murder suspect's guilt. All the while, Jesse deals with tensions between Butler, who expects him to give up his "concealed carry" gun permit, but who is informed, by Rose Gammon (Kathy Baker), that as a retired (not fired) police officer that he has a federally mandated right to "concealed carry" for life. His problems with his ex-wife, and drinking issues are still present.
, 1h27 OriginUSA GenresDrama, Thriller, Crime ActorsTom Selleck, Kathy Baker, Kohl Sudduth, Stephen McHattie, William Sadler, Krista Allen Rating71% The film begins with the shooting murder of a young man at night as he opens his car door in a parking garage. Jesse Stone is introduced who, after his suspension as chief of police, has sunk into seclusion and alcoholism. Ordered not to communicate with his former subordinates while on suspension, he has been out of touch with everyone. Eventually his colleague Rose, an officer, becomes concerned and asks Stone's friend Captain Healy, the State Police Homicide Commander, to check in on him. Healy is recovering from gunshot wounds and supposed to be on medical leave but, as he tells Stone, he’s taking his leave at his office. Healy finds Stone disheveled, drunk, and despondent. Shortly after Healy arrives, Stone receives a phone call from his ex-wife Jenn, so Healy leaves. Jenn tells Jesse that she needs to talk because she and Elliot had a fight. Angered, Jesse tells Jenn that they shouldn’t speak anymore, and rips out the phone. Later he buys a cell phone, which Rose helps him program. He gives the number only to her and a few others. Jesse and Rose are becoming close.
, 1h28 OriginUSA GenresDrama, Thriller, Crime ActorsTom Selleck, Kathy Baker, Kohl Sudduth, Leslie Hope, Stephen McHattie, William Sadler Rating70% State Police Captain Healy is attacked but is saved by Jesse, who is able to get off a couple shots at the unknown assailant despite also being wounded. At the hospital, Healy reveals to Jesse that he was spying on his nephew, who may be sleeping with his saxophone instructor. Jesse begins investigating the shooting despite protests from the Paradise town council. The town council members feel that the police department is already spread too thin, and they and Internal Affairs are concerned about six shooting incidents Jesse has been involved in. They also don’t like that Jesse ran Officer D'Angelo out of the department because he didn’t like him. The town council liked him very much because he wrote three times as many parking tickets as the other officers, and manned the speed trap into the town, bringing in substantial revenue for Paradise. Jesse refuses to have the speed trap manned, because he feels it is unethical, and cuts down the tree that blocks the speed limit sign so the speed trap won’t work anymore.
, 1h29 OriginUSA GenresDrama, Thriller, Crime ActorsTom Selleck, Saul Rubinek, Viola Davis, Kohl Sudduth, Polly Shannon, Mike Starr Rating71% One moonlit night in Santa Monica, California, former LAPD homicide detective Jesse Stone (Tom Selleck) looks out at the ocean, waiting to sober up before driving across the country with his dog Boomer to the small coastal town of Paradise, Massachusetts, where he has been offered the position of police chief. Forced to resign from the LAPD for drinking on duty, Jesse knows that the Paradise job is his last chance. From a motel in Missouri, he calls his ex-wife, actress Jenn Stone, with whom he still talks regularly despite their divorce. Jesse's drinking problem became serious after he discovered that she was having an affair with her producer.
, 1h27 OriginUSA GenresDrama, Thriller, Crime ActorsTom Selleck, Jane Adams, Viola Davis, Reg Rogers, Alexis Dziena, Kohl Sudduth Rating70% Jesse Stone (Tom Selleck) is the police chief of Paradise, Massachusetts, a small coastal town north of Boston. A former homicide detective in Los Angeles, Jesse resigned from the LAPD because of a drinking problem that began following his divorce. He was hired for the Paradise position by the corrupt president of the town council who thought he would be easy to control. After five years, Jesse is still in contact with his ex-wife Jenn, who calls him regularly. He also has a relationship with a beautiful lawyer named Abby Taylor (Polly Shannon), who sits on the town council. Although their relationship is mainly physical, they have a genuine affection and concern for each other.