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Product Description

Paradise, Massachusetts, police chief Jesse Stone confronts a town-s darkest secrets in the shocking new novel from the New York Times-bestselling author and -America-s greatest mystery writer- (The New York Sun).

Things are getting strange in Paradise, Massachusetts. Police Chief Jesse 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, then photographing them at their most vulnerable. 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.

Customer Reviews:

• A joke?
  I've been a Robert Parker fan since the earliest Spencer books hit the stands back in the 70s, but this is a writer who is clearly resting (coasting)on his laurels, who has become lazier and lazier as he ages and takes his readers for granted.
  Is this latest Jesse Stone book a joke? A peeping tom and a school principal who exceeds her authority are the villains of this piece. A peeping tom? A panty-inspecting principal? I know every story can't be about a serial killer, but sheesh, give us something a little more menacing, a more suspenseful story.
  And yes, I agree with other reviewers who have had their (gag) fill of Jenn, the slut who sleeps with anyone who can further her career in TV.
  It's getting hard to respect Jesse while he continues to moon after the unfaithful bitch he was once married to.
  Parker's books have shrunk and shrunk since the days of "The Widening Gyre" and other early novels, now read like a treatment for a TV movie of the week. I say again. This writer has become complacent and lazy. I won't be reading any more of his books....more info
• Jesse Stone returns to form
  After the rather awful Stranger In Paradise (Jesse Stone) I was afraid the whole series was going to just fizzle.
  
  I was pleasantly surprised with "Night and Day". It is a return to higher standard of reading to which I had grown accustomed. The plot moves along nicely, the witty banter is plentiful. The case is distressing but not super-hero level.
  
  I will not go into all of the plot details. Those are outlined by others on the page. All in all, this is a pleasant and quick read. Everything I look for in a Parker novel - detecting, banter, psychobabble and a bit of romance (in a macho sort of way, of course)....more info
• Robert Parker is my favorite author - I love all his books.
  This book was as good as others. I won't reveal the ending, but those of us who think Jesse is wasting his time with Jen got happy! ...more info
• Parker can do better
  As a devoted Robert Parker Jr fan, I thought this was a sub-standard offering. It looked like a minimum effort on the part of the author and no effort on the part of the editor. I was particulary upset with the dialogue and the "he said-she said" additions to the end of each sentence, even in a two party dialogue. It was as if the author was being paid by the word (which maybe he was-since the plot is more fitting for a short story). I agree with most reviewers that best that can be said for this book is we may have seen the last of Jenn. I recommend that you wait and buy this one when it's on the sale table....more info
• Go Jesse
  Night and Day gives us Jesse in a personal mood. All of the Jesse Stone novels do, to some degree, but this one does so with special emphasis. Jesse is involved with his former wife Jenn in an ongoing, self-destructive relationship. In Night and Day she has taken a job in New York that involves a live-in arrangement with her producer. Jesse pines, but finds solace in the company of Sunny Randall, Rita Fiore and his shrink, Dix. Meanwhile he is dealing with two cases--one in which a school principal has invaded the privacy of her female charges by inspecting their undergarments and a second in which the town of Paradise is dealing with a peeper who assumes the name of the Night Hawk and escalates his activities to include home invasions. These involve the photographing of women but the violence remains psychological and not (yet) physical. In short, Jesse must deal with a succession of sex and gender issues at the same time that he is trying to sort out his own. I don't want to spoil the ending, but suffice to say that it is satisfying and that all of the problems are (for now at least) resolved.
  
  A special pleasure in the Jesse Stone novels results from the fact that the film adaptations have been so successful. I now hear Tom Selleck's voice speaking Jesse's lines and the results are dead-on effective. Jesse is an attractive character; we welcome the chance to learn more about his personal experiences and travails and Night and Day satisfies our curiosity nicely. Highly recommended....more info
• Its Parker, not Hemmingway
  Parker does seem to be a little thinner on plot as of late, and some the lines are definitely recycled... But it has the feel of that ol pair of shoes. Familiar, comfortable perfect for a lazy sunday afternoon... Kinda sad I couln't pay 9.99 for, that was a big selling point on the Kindle. ...more info
• Stupid Book!
  I don't get people giving this book five stars! The plot was stupid, the characters have turned into moronic shadows of their previous selves and it is a waste of time to read. That being said, I know people will run out and buy this piece of drivel. And for that, Parker should be ashamed. He's turned into the male version of Patricia Cornwell - once great, now just plain awful!...more info
• Like being in the room when Sinatra belted o ut the famous Cole Porter song of the same title for the first time
  Robert B. Parker is the acknowledged dean of American crime fiction. His creation of the private eye with no first name, Spenser, revitalized the genre almost four decades ago, and the series has since become a classic of American literature. But Parker took a risk in 1997 when he branched out and introduced a new series starring small town Massachusetts police chief Jesse Stone. The comparisons to Spenser were inevitable.
  
  NIGHT AND DAY is the eighth novel featuring Stone. And the writing is so good that the arrival of a new Stone story is as much a cause for rejoicing as the arrival of a Spenser novel. Just as with Spenser, the Stone books are getting stronger with each outing. In Stone, Parker has created a more complex, troubled hero than his wisecracking Boston detective, Spenser.
  
  Paradise is a small town on the Massachusetts coast with a police force of only 12 members. Jesse's chief assistant and partner in playful banter is Molly, the only woman on the force. At one point in NIGHT AND DAY, she says, "I feel like I am serving and protecting Sodom and Gomorrah."
  
  Well, maybe.
  
  The perversity starts when Betsy Ingersoll, the female principal of the junior high, marches all the young girls into a locker room before a dance and orders them to lift their skirts. She needs to inspect their underwear to prevent them from becoming "sluts." Complicating matters is the fact that Ingersoll's husband is the managing partner of the biggest law firm in the state.
  
  Jesse is not sure what the principal can be charged with, but he wants to do something to stand up for the violated privacy rights of the kids. His interest deepens when one of the girls tells him of the existence of a "swingers club" in the town, with swinging parties going on in her house while she and her younger brother are present. She can come to Jesse for help. "Most adults aren't like you," she tells him.
  
  Then there's the weekly Wednesday night appearance of a "peeping tom" who not so gradually turns into a home invader. Calling himself "The Night Hawk" in creepy letters to Jesse, the man breaks into houses, orders the sole female occupants to strip at gunpoint and then takes pictures of them. Soon the Night Hawk is taunting and almost begging Jesse to stop him before he does something violent.
  
  And finally there's the problem of Jesse's alcoholism. His drinking is directly related to his relationship with the love of his life, his ex-wife Jenn. Jesse divorced Jenn back when he was an LA police detective. Having drunk his way off that force, Jesse came east to take the chief's job in the excellent NIGHT PASSAGE, which kicked off the series 12 years ago. But Jenn followed him, and in the years since they have had an on/off relationship. What is clear is that Jesse has never stopped loving her.
  
  Now Jenn is gone again and Jesse is hitting the bottle hard at night alone in his apartment, talking to his picture of Ozzie Smith on the wall and mourning both the loss of his woman and his once promising professional baseball career cut short by injury.
  
  But he is a functioning alcoholic, reserving his 16-ounce glasses of scotch for his off-duty hours. Jesse goes to therapy, but typically spends most of his time there trying to understand the motivations of the actors in his cases. He is especially worried about the Night Hawk and hopes that by understanding him better, he will be able to stop him.
  
  Personal demons aside, Jesse Stone is a great cop; he's compassionate and unable to let go of a case, traits he shares with Parker's greatest creation, Spenser. Jesse says at one point, "I know better, but I still have to believe that if I keep looking at it and turning it around and rolling around on it, eventually I'll come up with something."
  
  However, the power of NIGHT AND DAY is not just in the fast-moving plot and watching Stone tie all the disparate elements together. This is what good mystery writers do all the time. But Parker is not just good, he's great --- one of the greatest writers to ever work the genre. The greatness in this book is watching Stone struggle to come to grips not just with the obsession that drives the Night Hawk, but with the obsession that is driving and slowly destroying his own life: his obsessive love for Jenn.
  
  The true mystery is internal: the psychological struggle that is driving a good man into the darkness. And this is where Parker does some of the greatest writing of his career. Consider the following passage:
  
  "Jesse took in some more scotch. That was then. This was now. It all seemed a downward spiral. He was going to be a big time shortstop, and then he wasn't. He was a detective in Robbery Homicide in Los Angeles. Then he wasn't. He was married to Jenn. Then he wasn't. He finished his drink and went back to the bar to make another. He gestured with the full glass toward the picture.
  
  "`You and me, Wizard,' he said.
  
  "Now he was a small-town cop in the far corner of the country, drinking alone at night and talking to a f****** baseball poster. He took his glass to the chair and sat and looked at the phone. No need to turn the answering machine off, she wasn't calling back. He reached over and turned it on. He looked around the empty room and took a drink.
  
  "`After this, what? he said aloud in the empty room.
  
  "He sat and thought about what he'd said, and nodded his head slowly, and smiled faintly to himself.
  
  "`Nothing,' he said. `Nothing at all.'"
  
  Writing does not get any darker or any better than that in the mystery genre, or any other genre for that matter. Reading NIGHT AND DAY is like being in the room when Sinatra belted out the famous Cole Porter song of the same title for the first time. You know you are witnessing a master at work at the top of his game.
  
  --- Reviewed by Tom Callahan...more info
• Cat and Mouse Game
  This is an excellent Jesse Stone novel. Stone is after the criminal known as the Nighthawk. Who forces his victims to strip and takes their picture. It is a race to find out it's identity. As well the other dramas that taking place behind the scenes. It is a lot of twists and turns. You definitely won't be bored with this novel....more info
• Another winner in the "Jesse Stone" series!
  Before I jump into my review of Robert B. Parker's newest "Jesse Stone" novel, Night and Day, allow me to first to give a big plug for the five TV movies based on the series that Tom Selleck has produced and starred in, the most recent being Thin Ice, which was aired by CBS on Sunday, March 1st. Selleck captures the role of Jesse Stone perfectly, and each movie is a slow burn, filled with excellence on every level. If you're a fan of the novels, then you owe it to yourself to see the TV movies. Except for Thin Ice, the other four (Stone Cold, Night Passage, Death in Paradise, and Sea Change) are out on DVD. Also, CBS tends to broadcast a "Jesse Stone" movie every so often, so keep an eye out.
  
  Now, on to Night and Day, which is the eighth novel in the "Jesse Stone" series. Like the seven previous books, the small-town chief of police has to deal with three cases simultaneously, which keeps the story line moving along at a brisk pace and the reader from being bored. I probably should mention that while Jesse's attempting to solve his three cases, he's also battling his obsession with his ex-wife, Jenn, and with alcoholism, both of which are tied closely together.
  
  This time around, Jesse has to deal with a rather unusual situation that involves a female high-school principal and a panty check of the young girls going to the school dance on one particular night. The principal claims that she was only doing it to make sure the girls intended to be good and not naughty by wearing thongs and other sexy lingerie underneath their skirts. The parents of the children, however, are outraged over the act and want Jesse to do something about it. He pretty much agrees with the parents and thinks that it's definitely an invasion of privacy, but it doesn't help matters that the principal just happens to be married to the head of Boston's top law firm. Along with that problem, Jesse has to deal with a voyeur who calls himself the Night Hawk and likes to look into the windows of women as they're undressing at night. His antics soon escalate into daytime breaking & entering, not to mention home invasion, and Jesse's worried that someone may eventually get hurt during the commission of the crime. Last, but not least, a young girl approaches Jesse to complain about her swinging parents and how it's hurting the family. Jesse doesn't have a problem with consenting adults swinging, if that's what they want to do, but when children are experiencing the negative side effects in this type of behavior, he feels the need to step in and do something about it before more emotional damage is caused.
  
  The story line and pacing of Night and Day are similar to the other books in the series, and the reader doesn't really encounter anything new here. The fun of the books, however, is in getting to visit with Jesse Stone for a few hours and to see how he's doing and to find out what's happening in Paradise, Massachusetts. The reader knows going into the story that Jesse will solve the crimes in one fashion or another, but it's Jesse himself that's the big attraction. He a good man, a tough man when necessary, but he still has problems like everybody else. As a reader and fan, I want to know how's he coping with his alcoholism and with the addiction to his ex-wife. Actually, I want to see him happy and at peace with himself, which leads to one very good thing about this particular novel--private investigator Sunny Randall is back (she and Jesse decide to give it another shot), plus her best friend, Spike, is opening a new restaurant in Paradise.
  
  As with most of Mr. Parker's books, Night and Day is well written with sharp, crisp dialogue that makes the reader want to try out some of the lines at work. And, like the TV movies, the novels basically follow the saga of Jesse Stone's life to see where he's at and how he's dealing with the day-to-day challenges. I think most readers can identify with the chief of police on many levels, be it problems with the person you love, or the need to drink in order to escape the stress of everyday life.
  
  Robert B. Parker's novels are always a delight to read and certainly entertaining in every sense of the word. Night and Day is no exception, and is a wonderful addition to an already marvelous series. I'll also add that older readers tend to enjoy Jesse Stone somewhat more than the younger ones, but Robert B. Parker does have a large fan base of all ages. Coming in May, the third novel in the "Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch" western series. Yeeeeehaaaa!
  
  ...more info
• Invasion
  Jesse Stone is not Spenser. He is a police chief of a small community and he is a retread. NIGHT AND DAY is a nice come what may title. This series by Parker has qualities akin to Joseph Wambaugh's sadness.
  
  The issue in Paradise is possible invasion of privacy. The principal of a junior high school has probably not broken a law, but she has trespassed into private areas by requiring girls attending a dance to wear traditional underwear and calling an inspection to achieve that goal. Parents are alarmed. Jesse is threatened by the principal's husband who says that he will bury Jesse.
  
  Later Jesse Stone meets with Sunny Randall, a Boston PI. The story proceeds with sustained patches of dialogue rendered in the clipped Parker manner. It is interesting how much can be conveyed with so few words. The title of the book signals how differently the community functions during the day and at night.
  
  This book certainly has a familiar cast of character. In addition to Sunny Randall, the shrink is Dr. Silverman. ...more info
• Ugh
  I have never read this author before and thought I would give him a try. This had to be the most pedestrian piece of literary work I have ever seen. Predictable,judgemental and boring. I read the whole thing waiting for something to happen that might add a twist or some plot interest to the story. It never happened. This wasnt even worth the kindle price.At least it is good for the planet that the paperback version I would have purchased wont end up in a landfill. ...more info
• Far from Parker's best
  First Sentence: Jesse Stone sat in his office at the Paradise police station, looking at the sign painted on the pebbled-glass window of his office door.
  
  Police Chief Jesse Stone and his team are dealing with sex crimes. The high school principal, whose husband is the senior partner of Boston's largest law firm, conducted a "panty" check of the girls prior to a dance. The husband wants the case closed; Jesse wants to teach the principal a lesson and ensure she doesn't do it again.
  
  One of the students asks informs Jesse that her parents are members of a swingers group, and both she, and her eight-year-old brother, have witnessed the activities. There is a peeping tom in town. He started by looking through windows but has graduated to threatening women at gunpoint, forcing them to strip and taking their pictures.
  
  I don't have much to say about this book, which is rather surprising. I read Parker because I love his characters, sense of place and his dialogue. However, I did get a bit tired of the constant thread regarding sexual prowess which runs through much of the dialogue. Okay, Jessie is a stud, or thinks he is; I've got it.
  
  I was, however, very happy with the final resolution made by Stone. As far as plot goes, this one was a bit thin. The killer was obvious very early on and the other threads were relatively forgettable. I always know I'll read a book by Parker, but they don't make a lasting impression.
  
  I'd recommend it as a good paperback, airplane read.
  ...more info
• Time to End Both Series
  The mystery is not particularly consequential. There are no murderers running loose, no terrorists planning on taking over the town. What we have here is a Peeping Tom and a middle school principal who inspects her charges' underwear. This may be obnoxious, but the world won't end no matter what happens to the perpetrators.
  
  No, the real mystery here is Jesse's eternal (and mostly internal) ruminating over the embers of his failed relationship with his ex-wife, Jenn. I always resent it when an author gratuitously starts a book by negating everything that has gone on before, and in this book Parker has done it with two series: the Jesse Stone series and the Sunny Randall series. At the end of the previous book in each series, both Jesse and Sunny had seemed to reach a precarious stability with their significant others. Jenn had seemed to have a little more depth and Sunny was "dating" her ex-husband, Ritchie, who had recently divorced his new wife. In this book, Ritchie's wife is expecting a baby (I initially thought this book was set back in time, but no, Sunny's dog is now dead and Ritchie has another new wife) and Jenn has run off to New York with a producer who has offered her a job.
  
  Will Jesse finally get rid of the insufferable Jenn? Will Jesse and Sunny finally find happiness together? Who knows? What seems like a happy ending in one book can all too often turn into a miserable beginning in the next book. Parker has played this same game for far too long.
  
  Oh, yeah...the dialogue is witty, the story is too short. This isn't Parker's best book and it may not be his worst, and that's the best recommendation I can give it. ...more info
• Dark Humor Focused on Disgusting Sexual Obsessions and Marital Conflicts
  In Night and Day, Paradise is turned into a little Peyton Place for heterosexual deviants. Jesse Stone (like good small-town police chiefs everywhere) needs to straighten things out with persuasion (moral and otherwise) rather than prosecution and jail sentences. How will he do it? That's the main mystery in this book that is light on the mystery and heavy on the psychology of harmful sexual obsessions.
  
  The local principal, Betsy Ingersoll, has decided to check on the underwear that school girls are planning to wear to the dance. Naturally, the parents and girls are up in arms for her peeking where she shouldn't be peeking. Jesse has a problem though. The principal is married to the managing partner of New England's biggest law firm, and the husband wants it all kept quiet.
  
  A peeping Tom (self-named the Night Hawk) is out for a stroll on Wednesday nights, fascinated by unshielded windows. After the women in town become aware of his activities, he takes more invasive steps to satisfy his craving for viewing unclothed women.
  
  A schoolgirl is upset that her family is falling apart due to the parents' swinging life style. There's no crime against it, but Jesse knows it's wrong and wants to stop it.
  
  Meanwhile Jesse is having his ups and downs with his ex-wife Jenn. He's driven to drink and to avoid sharing what's upsetting him with his shrink.
  
  Instead, Jesse decides he wants to understand why all the weirdos in Paradise are letting their lives be ruined by sexual obsessions, including the police chief.
  
  The dialog is consistently witty and often hilariously funny . . . playing off the context of the sexual activities.
  
  Those who don't like to read about bad marriages won't like the book very much. These marriages aren't appealing in the least.
  
  I found the sexual context to be uglier than it was humorous. I graded the book down accordingly.
  
  Maybe in the next Jesse Stone book, Mr. Parker can go back to having Jesse Stone deal with mobsters, kidnappers, thugs, and other nasty characters who just want to get a lot of money for nothing. Those criminals make better fictional foils for Jesse Stone than these sickos.
  ...more info
• Another win for Jesse Stone
  Robert Parker is by far my favorite mystery author. His Jesse Stone series are the greatest. I was a little upset at the last movie made called Thin Ice but Mr. Parker made up for it in Night and Day. It was time for Jesse to realize Jen (his ex) was just using him. After all, he is the chief of police....more info
• more blank space than text
  more like a short story. get the free sample before you shell out more than fourteen dollars. you can read it in half an hour standing in the bookstore....more info
• RICK "SHAQ" GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "PARKER NEEDS TO GET RID OF JENN... OR READERS NEED TO LOWER THEIR STANDARDS"
  This is the eighth installment in the "Jesse Stone" novel series and the reader can't even get past the first paragraph without the author referencing Jesse's bothersome (to readers) ex-wife Jenn. Fans of the previous "Jesse Stone" novels have long since pulled their hair out with Jesse's on going on-and-off relationship with the unfaithful... sleeps with whoever can benefit her career at the moment... Jenn. Even with Jesse's own character deficiencies... no one in even half their right mind would believe that such a righteous... logical... beacon... of small town law enforcement... like Jesse... would put up with Jenn's treatment. This Stone episode has multiple plots, ranging from a school principal who makes thirteen-year-old female students line up in a room so she can lift their dresses up to check their underwear before a school dance... to a Peeping Tom... who dubs himself... "The Night Hawk"... whose voyeuristic peccadillos... are escalating to the point that Jesse is afraid where they may lead to... and to a local wife-swapping-club that is affecting the well being of two children.
  
  For loyal Jesse Stone fans... the endangered children... allows Jesse to once again show that despite his minimalistic dialogue... that a big caring heart... beats within. In addition to all these criminal activities that Jesse must deal with simultaneously... Jenn moves to New York for a TV opportunity... and lo-and-behold... she moves in with the TV producer. As a by-product of all these concurrent issues... the reader gets to spend many nights with Jesse in his home... meticulously mixing his scotch... sharing intimate conversations with the poster on his wall of his baseball idol... Hall Of Fame shortstop Ozzie Smith... and of course... there is endless gazing out of his French doors... to the sounds and views in the harbor.
  
  Parker threads the story with many of his characters that loyal Spenser/Randall readers have become acquainted with over the years... Rita Fiore... Sunny Randall... and the mentioning of the one and only... Susan Silverman... who luckily is only mentioned... and not involved in her normal "baby-bunny-like-nibbling-on-a-piece-of-lettuce". Price conscious potential readers may want to wait till the paperback is released or go to the library, since there really is not that much to actually read. Though the book is two-hundred-eighty-nine pages long, most of the seventy-four-chapters are four pages... and the last page is almost always 1/3 to 2/3's blank... and the first page of each chapter is ? blank... and most of the sentences in the book are extremely short.
  
  Here is an example of SEVENTEEN "full" lines of writing:
  
  "And his wife," Jesse said.
  "yeah, and me, for crissakes."
  "Insufferable," Jesse said.
  "Doesn't it make you mad?"
  "I was thinking about other stuff," Jesse said.
  "Like what?"
  "What do you think of her story?"
  Molly paused in mid-anger.
  "Her story," she said.
  "Yep."
  Molly sat back a little and thought about it.
  "He hit her," Molly said.
  Jesse nodded.
  "He fondled her," Molly said.
  "Uh-huh."
  "And"--Molly began to speak fast--"he tied her up."
  "Uh-huh."
  
  This is really a short story with probably one-hundred-twenty-five pages of complete writing. It's an enjoyable little tale (minus Jenn) that gets the reader in and out quickly. It may not get you through a one-way cross country flight.
  ...more info
• Mystery and humor Parker style
  Chief of Police Jesse Stone has his hands full in this book. High School principal Betsy Ingersoll is inspecting her female students' underwear. Stone would like to see the principal in court, but her husband is a big shot attorney. (Probably won't happen)
  A young teenage girl is upset because her parents are members of a "swingers" club. The poor kid is upset, and can Jesse do something about it? But she doesn't want her parents to know she had this discussion with Jesse, and, of course, sex is not illegal in Paradise.
  Next, Jesse is dealing with a peeping tom. The unsuspecting housewives are held at gunpoint and ordered to take off their clothes while he takes digital pictures. He looks, and takes the pictures , but doesn't touch.
  Of course, Jesse is still struggling with the bottle.
  And then there is is ex wife Jenn. She is off to New York City with her producer. Will she be back? And will Jesse welcome her with open arm or is she finally gone for good?
  Sunny also makes a brief appearance. Stay tuned....more info
• Jesse Stone retruns in "Night and Day" by Robert B. Parker
  Jesse Stone returns in "Night and Day" in a case liberally borrowed from the nation's headlines. There is a bit of a problem down at the local junior high school. Parents are mad, students are upset, and Principal Betsy Ingersoll is convinced that she did nothing wrong. The day before was the eighth grade dance held every year. This time, Principal Betsy Ingersoll, who has been principal for five years, took all the girls in to the girl's locker room right before the dance to personally check each girl's underwear.
  
  Girls that had underwear on that Mrs. Ingersoll didn't approve of were sent home. At least, that is what the kids and their parents say and they want her in jail and punished. Betsy Ingersoll is politically connected and she won't say what she did or why. All she will say is how she has done so much for the kids over the years and how she has the kid's interests at heart. But, she never really addresses what she did, why she did it, and whether she understands how upset everyone else is by her actions. The students are upset, parents are furious, and Jesse is pretty mad too. The real question is whether or not the principal actually committed a prosecutable crime.
  
  Along with that case, which despite increasing political pressure on Police Chief Jesse Stone he isn't about to let go of easily, Paradise also has a peeping tom and a swinger's club. This sort of thing isn't supposed to happen in small town America, and the fact that every one knows everyone else for years and years, just make it worse. If that wasn't enough, Jenn is being Jenn again and that is never a good thing for Jesse. Featuring the usual minimalist scene descriptions and theoretically witty repartee between Jesse and his staff, Jesse Stone works the cases, drinks heavily and often, and spends lots of time considering the past. That creates a slow moving book full of melancholy memories.
  
  The limited action in the book is provided by the secondary storyline in the mind and actions of the peeping tom who bills himself as "Night Hawk." Clich¨¦d and stereotypical, the storyline provides all the action in the book and easily becomes more important than the main storyline of administrator stupidity and political power. Even then, the "Night Hawk" storyline frequently drags because he is aware of his own issues and seems to be melancholy about his actions and obsessions.
  
  In recent years it has become increasingly obvious by the way the typeset is placed on the page, the very short chapters, and other tricks that the novels are padded for length requirements. That certainly is true here and made even more glaringly obvious by the lack of depth to the storylines. Instead of being a decent short story, the tale was elongated to the point of absurdity in an effort to reach the mandatory length.
  
  Despite those issues the novel is sure not to disappoint his fanatic legions of fans worldwide who still, without a thought, unquestioningly genuflect before each book.
  
  
  Kevin R. Tipple ? 2009
  
  
  
  
  ...more info
• Not that good
  Expected much more from this author. I Have really enjoyed his other books. This one not so much ,short empty....more info
• delightful police procedural
  The Chief of Police of Paradise, Massachusetts, Jesse Stone still loves his ex-wife even though she cheated on him when they were married. She goes with anyone who could further her career, but returns to Jesse when her life goes down the tubes. Fortunately Jesse is occupied with police work so he can block out thoughts of his selfish user beloved.
  
  He gets a call to come to the junior high school where parents look like they are going to lynch the principal, Betsy Ingersoll for making students show her their panties. Although she broke no laws and her lawyer-husband makes that clear, she embarrassed the kids. Thirteen years old Merry Clarke tells Jesse her parents are swingers which her and her little brother unhappy and confused because in her mind only Mom can have sex with dad. Jesse also is trying to catch a perp Nighthawk who escalated from peeping through windows to entering houses with a gun forcing women to strip before taking pictures; he writes Jesse telling him he fears he is out of control and will harm someone soon. Jess believes him and sets a trap to catch the culprit.
  
  Robert B. Parker has written a delightful police procedural containing the author's trademark witty repartee while showcasing a police chief working a small town in which eccentric characters may not break laws but cause harm to others. Jesse is determined to help the Clarke children, find a way to insure Mrs. Ingersoll pays for her affront, and catch the peeping tom before someone is physically hurt. NIGHT AND DAY is the police chief at his best.
  
  Harriet Klausner
  ...more info