A former L.A. homicide cop with a drinking problem, a broken marriage, and some lost dreams, Stone has just been hired to be police chief of the small Massachusetts town of Paradise. The Paradise power brokers are sure surprised when Stone not only doesn’t look the other way at various goings-on but also starts looking into such matters as money laundering, militia activities, and murder.

The murder of a notorious public figure places Paradise, Massachusetts, police chief Jesse Stone in the harsh glare of the media spotlight.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. Yet 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 whom he can trust is indeed a matter of life and death.

Jesse Stone, still reeling from the murder of his fiancée by crazed assassin, must keep his emotions in check long enough to get through the wedding day of his loyal protégé, Luther “Suitcase” Simpson. The morning of the wedding, Jesse learns that a gala seventy-fifth birthday party is to be held for folk singer Terry Jester, has spent the last forty years in seclusion after the mysterious disappearance 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 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.