I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Blistering performances.

The late Robert B. Parker turned out easy-to-read novels prolifically, the majority featuring 'series' characters like Spenser and Jesse Stone. Several of the Jesse Stone novels were adapted for television and all of those I have seen have been excellent primarily because the producers have had the good sense to cast most of the roles with fine actors rather than signing a half-decent lead and then surrounding him/her with a group of ho hums. Apart from Tom Selleck as Jesse Stone the standout supporting actor is Viola Davis by a country mile, unfortunately she fell or was pushed halfway through the series and her character was renamed. Another of its strengths lies in having Stone concentrate on one main case yet still manage to deal with others, just as a real chief of police in a small town would. Excellent.

Mr Tom Selleck has often been sold short,particularly in the early stages of his career when he appeared to be just another good - looking big guy,albeit one with a sense of humour.More recently he has been flexing his acting chops and in the "Jesse Stone:Death in Paradise" he gives a performance well beyond the call of duty. Chief of a four person police department on the Massachusets coast,he is a man to inspire loyalty and confidence,respect and obedience;a remnant,if you like of all our distant memories of what we would like small - town cops to be. He is not a perfect man by any means,arriving in Paradise on the back of a marriage break up and he has a drink problem that he seems unable to resolve. He is stubborn,principled,brave and flawed,not unlike Robert B.Parker's more famous character,Spenser. He does not show emotion but he is not emotionless. Mr Selleck portrays these complicated and contrary characteristics with very little indications other than the eyes.Mostly he looks impassive but his true feelings are visible through his eyes.It is an exceedingly impressive performance of a depth rarely seen in TV productions. The story is almost ancillary to the character development,Mr Selleck is obviously in this for the long run. Mr W.Devane is excellent as the cop - turned - shrink who dishes out tough love to Jesse at $180 per hour. Lovers of Mr Parker's novels will appreciate the characters that cross from the Spenser series,Commander Healey of the State Police and Gino Fish the Boston mobster with a whimsical turn of mind. I have just read the first post - Parker Jesse Stone and the character has made the difficult transition between the authors quite flawlessly. I wholeheartedly recommend the "Jesse Stone" series to all lovers of joined - up TV cop shows.

I like the Jesse Stone series---with generally very good acting, good production values, atmospheric photography and good direction, they are head and shoulders above average TV fare (I could do without the corny freeze-frame cuts, though). Selleck delivers an excellent performance, and his supporting cast turns in some fine acting as well. The movies are a bit formulaic: some big crime mixed with a human interest piece that Chief Stone usually handles by threatening someone or beating someone up, plus a romantic interest, usually the first reasonably attractive woman to walk onto the screen (although this time it was the second---my money initially was on the dog owner, but she wasn't it). However, the small-town atmosphere comes across nicely, the plots are reasonably complex, and the human interest story lines provide some intermittent satisfaction and an opportunity for Selleck to show another side of his character.SPOILERS! The one problem I had with this installment is that its resolution is somewhat sudden, and also not a little corny. Even though a viewer might have guessed it (it was pretty clear that the false suspect would turn out to be misdirection), the piece of evidence providing the crucial insight is delivered a few seconds before the final showdown (unless I missed a clue at the false suspect's maritime experience before then), and then it's a few seconds of high noon in a warehouse and that was it: game over.Still, not the worst way to spend 90 minutes or so, which you probably have discovered for yourself already, otherwise you hopefully wouldn't read this spoiler-ridden review.

Like the film before this one, "Jesse Stone: Night Passage", "Death in Paradise" is a flawless, highly entertaining television movie that is so powerful and so realistic that it almost looks like something you would have to go see in the theaters. When a low-budget television show becomes that, then you know that you are really looking at a true masterpiece of film-making. I've seen big budget Hollywood mysteries that weren't as good as this. It stars Tom Selleck in another fabulous performance as Chief Jesse Stone, a troubled cop in a small town called Paradise on the eastern seaboard if I'm not mistaken.What I liked a lot about "Death in Paradise" was how it didn't just focus on one single case by itself. Instead of just Tom Selleck and his team trying to solve the main mystery, the death of a girl, they also tries to handle a second case at the same time, which enhances the power and overall authentistic atmosphere of the movie.I'll keep my review short and just end it by stating that "Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise" is like "Night Passage" and the sequel after this one, "Sea Change", a fantastic mystery movie and a delightful discovery to find. It's really impressive that a movie this magnificent could have been made on such a small budget, if it was. Most television movies are like that, but I can't be sure. If it was made on a higher budget, I can believe it. It's highly recommended by me.