A couple of truly sad cases come across the desk of police chief Jesse Stone of Paradise, Massachusetts. The first involves the appearance of the body of a 14 year old girl who had been in the water for a few weeks. The second is an ongoing domestic dispute between an abusive husband and his battered wife. Patient and methodical as always Tom Selleck gets the job done. The domestic couple is John Diehl and Debra Christofferson who steals acting honors here in a scene with Selleck where she talks sadly about how few options she has in life other than stay in this relationship with this dirtbag. One of Selleck's officers is nearly killed because of the volatility of the situation.The second after long search because she was never reported missing turns out to be Mae Whitman whom we see in flashback. She was the school tramp for the past couple of years. Again someone you can weep for because had she lived she would have had a really horrible life with lots of issues. Of no help is her parents especially her father who actually kicked her out of the house. She was also a few weeks pregnant.Going through her relationships is what eventually leads Selleck to a conclusion he was supposed to arrive at. But actually it's the knot that came loose that allowed her body to rise is what ultimately leads him to her murderer.A fine film with one bad slice of humanity for Stone to deal with.

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.

When the body of a fourteen years old teenager is found in the margin of the river in Paradise, Massachusetts, the Chief of Police Jesse Stone (Tom Selleck) and his officer Simpson (Kohl Sudduth) seek clues in the spot. Through a graduation ring of a student that they find nearby the corpse, they identity the dead girl, the local slut Billy Bishop. Meanwhile, his department deals with a domestic violent situation with an aggressive and abusive husband that beats his wife. Along his investigation, Stone discloses that the famous writer Norman Shaw (Gary Masaraba) was too much close to the victim and intended to write the biography of the famous gangster Leo in his next book. Joining the pieces of evidences like a puzzle, Stone unravels the identity of the criminal."Death in Paradise" is the second excellent movie that I see with Tom Selleck in the role of Chief Jesse Stone. Both films show simple, credible and effective police stories, with great performances, magnificent cinematography and realistic screenplays. Jesse Stone seems to be tailored to Tom Selleck, who is perfect in the role of the cynical, stubborn and flawed but fair chief of police. I believe this character deserves a TV series, so good these stories are. I have just seen in IMDb that there are two other movies of this character, unfortunately not released in Brazil. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): "Crimes no Paraiso 2" ("Crimes in Paradise 2")

I enjoyed watching the movie and have currently finished reading the next Jesse Stone book. Hooray for TV movies that are of the quality of big screen movies with well written, defined, true to life characters. Tom Selleck as Jesse Stone is my hero as he struggles with problems of work, alcohol, and loneliness as we all do. The story deals with the subject of child abuse and the resulting trauma that some people try to sweep under the rug or ignore rather than deal with which in this story results in a murder of an abused child. The other returning actors are great as the friends and co-workers who provide their own story lines interweaving with Selleck's.