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Death in ParadiseRobert B. ParkerPublished 2003 |
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Reviewed and Researched by Lisa Shea
In Jesse Stone's third year of being a captain in Paradise, you'd think he had somehow brought trouble with him. This sleepy little town has already had murders, island takeovers, and now a dead body washes up on shore. He has to track down the mystery girl which brings him to Boston, to the arms of a local school official, and of course around and around with his ex wife who he just can't shake loose. Along the way he cleans up an abusive husband and gets to know the 'Spenser' world a bit more.
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Lisa's Notes I was about halfway into this book when suddenly it hit me - there's just no Hawk here. Part of why this hit me is that the entire story / character is SO much like Spenser that it's not really a different character at all. Jesse does the finger-shooting of Vinnie, he talks the same way, he has the same ever-maddening "I love you but I can't live with you" relationship with his ex-wife, Jenn. It is literally like having transplanted Spenser into a new town and erased a few years from his life. But part of what made Spenser so much fun was the relationship with Hawk, his alter ego. You don't even get that in this version. There is "Suitcase", but he is more like a slow wannabe that follows Jesse around. There is no "equal" here. Jenn certainly doesn't count as an equal - she doesn't even count as a Susan. She whines that he asks her who else she is dating? This is pretty important if you are sleeping with someone! In general it just didn't have a storyline that grabbed me, it felt very cookie-cutter. It seemed like it had been written to order, and very rushed. By page 7 we were already on Chapter 3. Healey shows up, and you get the Spenserisms like when Jesse runs into a sensual woman, "He knew - and she knew he knew". You get reviews of the whole Spenser world. "Broz is gone. Marcus has Roxbury/Dorchester. Burkes has the Irish / Southie. Fast Eddie Lee has Chinatown. Gino has South End / Back Bay". You even have a shrink - Dix - to help reluctant Jesse with his problems. Perhaps the only moment that really struck me was when Jesse - the sexaholic - refuses to have sex in the stationhouse, because it would risk the only thing he has left - his job. But even that scene was a bit stilted. Otherwise you have an ageing Ford Explorer, an ageing cop and hot summer Boston days. And yet, it's said "you are like a cold stone". He's more like a hot crusty mud pack :) |
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Traveling in Jesse's Footprints baseball field Paradise Pizza Sumner to Morton by lake cul de sac - up hill off Newbury Swampscott High Restaurant at Fisherman's Beach Swampscott - Garland Terrace - Bishop home (2 story colonial brick / dark green shutters) Gray Gull - can see Paradise neck & stiles island Condo 5th floor off 1A behind mall near Salem line his condo, 2 blocks from Gray Gull Church - Jamaica Plain (kid's home) Oleanna in Cambridge Dev Assc in Boston South End, Tremont near Cyclorama / Boston Ballet OCU - Detective Sg Brian Kelly Car Dealership - Rte 1 north of Paradise Boat club on the neck Walk along by Tremont - Exeter - Brownstone is girl's building. Newbury St Star Market in Brighton Boundary Suites on Rte 1 - "No Tell Motel" Paradise Public Library (brick / brownstone) Footbridge - Storrow by Hatch Shell Four Seasons Hotel Atlantic Market Swampscott - Fisherman's Beach |
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Jesse's Menu and Drinks lite beer Pizza and beer in the car 4 scotch and soda before bed Tunafish salad with Lilly Cranberry Juice and Soda (Jenn had Chardonnay) Lobster salad Iron Horse sparkling wine, white iwne w/lobster scotch & soda Discussion of Lilly not liking beer and how some like 'room temp = complex' for beer Riesling and merlot together at condo scotch and soda clam chowder Coke at stakeout Laughs at the 'run cool water on wrists to get cool' idea here Coke on deck at Jesse's condo Pizza at Dartmouth Pepsi at Condo |
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