Night and Day (Penguin Twentieth Century Classics)

I thought the last Jesse Stone novel, STRANGER IN PARADISE, was a little bit over the top. The laidback rhythm was missing; the relationship between Jesse, Molly, and Suit was muted. Not to worry, with NIGHT AND DAY the old Jesse is back.

This version is more about obsession than anything. Jesse and his staff are investigating a Peeping Tom case that turns into home invasion. In a similar vein, a young girl comes to Jesse complaining about her parents' wife swapping, and then there's a school principal who checks her students' underwear to make sure they're not wearing thongs. Jesse himself is still obsessed over his ex-wife Jen, who uses him as a kind of crutch. All of these threads tie together by the end.

For me the most impressive and entertaining aspect of the Jesse Stone series is the rhythmic interplay between Jesse, Suit and Molly. Their dialogue is laconic to say the least with the occasional hint of humor. Here's a brief sample. Suit has been talking to his friends about the wife swapping:

"Anything that might help us with the Night Hawk?" Jesse said
"I'm not sure," Suit said. "There are people who like to watch their spouses with someone else."
"Men?" Jesse said
"Yeah."
"Names?"
"She won't tell me names," Suit said. "It's like a club rule."
"You think if you brought her in, she'd talk to me?" Jesse said.
"Not here," Suit said.
"Where?" Jesse said.

It's like that most of the time, and it grows on you. Early on we learn who the Peeping Tom is and that lessons the suspense, but this book really isn't about the Peeping Tom or the wife swapping. It's more about Jesse's growth as a person. He's been receiving letters from the Peeping Tom with pictures of the women he forces to pose for him and Jesse sees a relationship between this deviant and his own obsession. Kudos to Parker for the psychological thread.

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." Clichéd 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

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

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.

Night and Day, Robert B. Parker

A kind of mellow "thriller" 4*

One of my favorite Sherlock Holmes stories is "The Blue Carbuncle," in which there is no murder to be solved but the mystery involved a fabulous gemstone found in a Christmas goose. "Night and Day" does not involve a murder either, nor the usual quota of bodies that litter most Parkerian novels. For that matter, there's barely a mystery -- of the three police matters that Jesse frets over this time, in two (the notorious thong check and the kid with sex-partying parents) the actions are clear (if icky) but whether there is even a crime involved is less obvious, and in the third (the peeping tom Night Hawk) the perp becomes obvious early on but catching him and proving it is the problem. Nonetheless, these are all significant problems for the people involved, and Jesse gets stuck trying to resolve them because, as he puts it frequently, "he's the chief." With the skirt-flipping principal, how can he ensure that there are consequences for her, and perhaps figure out what caused her actions? Is there anything he can do to extricate the girl who comes to him for help from her detrimental home situation before she and her brother are irretrievably harmed? Cop as social worker, not a lot of adrenaline, but a good deal of moral quandary.

On the personal front, Jesse's relation with Sunny Randal continues in a subdued fashion, and a few other Parker-World characters are referenced (Rita Fiore, Spike, the dread Susan). Of course there's the on-again, off-again ex-wife Jenn, and it seems like Jesse has made a breakthrough on this front ... unless Parker changes his mind in the next novel.

Overall, I found this one an engaging, if laid-back, read.

Sex plays a prominent role in the various themes running though this latest Jesse Stone novel. Jesse, the Chief of Police of Paradise, Massachusetts, is confronted with three situations, not to mention his own personal mystery concerning his feelings for his ex-wife. He has to analyze and solve each of them in his own way.

First of all, there is the matter of the school principal who gathers all the girls in the locker room to inspect their underclothing, leading to a parental uproar. The principal is married to the managing partner of Boston's largest law firm, with political connections, so Jesse is hamstrung in his efforts to take any action against her. Then there is the wife-swapping swingers club, an activity that breaks no laws. However, the child of one of the couples informs Jesse of the effect on her and her brother, asking him to help her in some way.

Then there is the voyeur who calls himself the Night Hawk (no relation to Hawk of the Spenser series, thankfully) Soon, peeping in people's windows isn't a sufficient thrill and he begins invading homes and forcing women to undress so he can photograph them. The peeping began at night but the escalation starts in the day, giving rise to the title of the book.

Written in Parker's terse style of short sentences and chapters, with the usual smart-witted language, the book is a joy to read. And each solution to a problem is ingeniously worthy of a shrewd Chief, no less a very talented author. Jesse comes up with an original and fitting plan for each of his problems. As usual, the sparkling dialogue of the master keeps the reader engaged and amused. Highly recommended.

This is the eighth book in a series about Jesse Stone, the Chief of Police in the small town of Paradise, Massachusetts. I have not read any of the other books in the series but that didn't impact on my enjoyment of the novel. I'm not sure how to categories it - technically I suppose it's a crime novel, but of the three central (and interlinked) cases only one is actually a crime and it's a pretty small scale one at that. Jesse is dealing with a voyeur on the loose and a school principal who is violating her female pupils' rights by inspecting their underwear. Jesse is also grappling with the breakdown of his marriage.

The novel is very dialogue driven and it hums along with a wry sense of humor. It's a quick read, similar in writing style to Neil Cross but with less violence and more wit. Jesse is a terrific character but so are the rest of his team. It also reminded me of Steve Hamilton's series about a detective in Paradise, Michigan.

Night and Day Jesse Stone Mystery by Robert B. Parker
Lewd conduct by the junior high school principal. Others have stated she's looking at the girls underwear. Her husband is the town's lawyer and she knows she's protected.
And the peeping tom now goes into houses and at gun point takes pictures of nude women.
One of the girls wants the police chief to stop her parents from being swingers.
Love how the investigations go with all the things going on at one time.
What a town, Paradise, MA.

Here is an artist at work, painting the nuances of the heart, creating living people, reacting to the subtleties of mood, ambiance, the weather, and external perceptions that make up how we live and who we are. No matter what you think of these people, you have a chance to live with them and understand them, feel their conflicts, their love, and their pains. Virginia Woolf is the ballast that offsets all the one-book-wonder authors, the cynics, the nasty moderns, and those authors who have given up on anything positive in the world. Like Shakespeare, her work will live on long after so many others are forgotten. That's because she offers us art, hope, vision, and the truth about our humanity. It's all here in this book, if you choose to read it.

I guess Robert B. Parker cant write Spenser novels at the pace that his writing style allows. So he created two other characters to fill in the time. Then he began writing Westerns and young adult novels. So now the Jesse Stone novels have Sunny Randall as a sidekick.

This time around Stone has his hands full with a school principal who checks girls underwear and a peeeping tom who might be escalating to something more dangerous. Theres a lot of discussion with his shrink and various other characters. Stone resolves everything intelligently and the plot moves right along.

I found this book quite good except that it also was pretty predictable. Thats not that big a thing with Parker. If youve read him much you know its usually about why people do things. Who did them is rarely much of a mystery.

Robert B. Parker's Jesse Stone series has consistently built upon the world he created within the books. New readers are encouraged, especially with this new book, to begin reading with the first one in this series. The characters change and grow, not just Jesse, but Suit, Molly, and the others that live in Paradise, Massachusetts. Stone, and Parker, have settled into the role of small town police chief in what now feels like a natural fit. The police procedural parts are good, steeped in observation and patience, two of a police officer's greatest assets. Forensics doesn't play a major role in these books.

One of the best things I have enjoyed about this series, and I've come to truly appreciate, is the fact that most of the cases seems to revolve around sex and gender. And yes, those are two very separate things. Parker keeps them separate as well. Sex is a physical act, and gender is a physical and emotional state of being.

The Jesse Stone novels have become more and more an examination of how people deal with each other on a sexual level as well as emotional expectations. Of course, that has been the main crux of Jesse's personal problems. He has an ex wife that he loves, Jenn, but can't get over her even though she cheats on him again and again.

In this book, Jesse Stone deals with a peeping Tom that breaks into people's homes while the wife is alone. He forces the women strip, then takes pictures of them. Stone begins wondering why men are wired to relish a woman's nudity while women don't maintain the same interests. His questions and his views are informative and engaging without being professorial. I hadn't thought about this male trait that much myself. After having spent 50 years as a male, I just accepted it. Upon reading the book, I found myself talking to my wife and friends, male as well as female, about this predilection of the male of the species.

In addition to delivering thought provoking material, Parker also delivers a fast paced tale of investigation and deduction. As usual, the dialogue is crisp and dead on. No one writes dialogue as pared down to the bone as Parker. This is excellent in the prose form, but I have noticed that it's somewhat detrimental when listening to the stories on audio book. I really recommend reading these books and enjoying them as audio books on a second go around.

The opening pages of the book are rather shocking. I know our generation has become overly protective of our children, but I couldn't imagine my daughter going through a panty check while in high school. I would've had someone's head. I don't recall the story like this in the news lately, but I wouldn't be surprised to find that I had missed one.

Parker handles all of this well, but it's just enough to make you think deeply about both sides of the issues. As he mentions of the book, schools are being expected to raise children more and more as parents duck those responsibilities. My wife is a fourth grade schoolteacher so I'm very familiar with the problems out there. This is just a small point that Parker touches on the book, but it's one that needs more discussion.

I have to admit, that over the last few books I've gotten thoroughly irritated at Jenn and her whining ways. And I've got irritated with Jesse for putting up with them. A new crisis dawns in this arena again, which is no surprise, but things are different somewhat and I'm more interested than ever in seeing the next book. Also, Sunny Randall, Parker's female private eye, returns to the series for cameos in this book. She brings along her best friend Spike for another heartwarming cameo.

Tom Selleck plays Jesse Stone in made-for-television movies on CBS. The latest movie, JESSE STONE: THIN ICE, debuts this Sunday, March 1. This is an original story, not based on one of the novels.

I had a great time with this novel, but like with all of Parker's works, I was finished much too soon. But there will be at least three more Parker books the rest of this year, so I have a lot of good reading to look forward to.

Here is an artist at work, painting the nuances of the heart, creating living people, reacting to the subtleties of mood, ambiance, the weather, and external perceptions that make up how we live and who we are. No matter what you think of these people, you have a chance to live with them and understand them, feel their conflicts, their love, and their pains. Virginia Woolf is the ballast that offsets all the one-book-wonder authors, the cynics, the nasty moderns, and those authors who have given up on anything positive in the world. Like Shakespeare, her work will live on long after so many others are forgotten. That's because she offers us art, hope, vision, and the truth about our humanity. It's all here in this book, if you choose to read it.

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.

There have been a lot of "real" reviews of the story and writing of the book, so I won't go over the same things again. I just wanted to make a note that the font type for this book is TINY - maybe 7 or 8 font. If you have trouble seeing small print at all, this particular book will be a real challenge for you. I had no idea that the print was that small when I purchased this book.

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.

This is an entry in Robert B. Parker's Jesse Stone series. A Peeping Tom is on the prowl in Paradise, and Jesse and his team must hunt him down before the perp graduates to more serious criminal activity. In the meantime, Jesse also has to deal with the case of a school principal who has decided that it would be a good idea to inspect the underwear of the young female students. And, on top of all of that, Jesse must sort out his love life, which continues to be a confusing mess.

Like much of Parker's later work, this is a fairly light book that doesn't take itself too seriously. The plot is very thin, and serves mainly as a device that allows Jesse Stone and the other characters to trade witty banter for a little over three hundred pages. That said, it's not a bad book, and it's a fun way to spend an afternoon relaxing by the pool. But it's not a book that most readers will remember and still be thinking about for very long after they've finished it.

Parker wrote at least one other Jesse Stone novel before his untimely death, and in a way, that's almost too bad. "Night and Day" ends on a note of apparent resolution that would have been a fine way to close the file on these characters.

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

I've been a faithful follower of the Robert B Parker stories through all the Spenser stories and on through Sunny and Jesse. To read this current story you really need to at least have read the previous Jesse stories, if not the others. They are all intertwined like a giant soap opera, with characters, scenes and dialogue which trace back to the very roots of the tales.

I've commented in the past that it seems unlikely that Jesse, a small town cop in a quiet, seaside area of Massachusetts, was encountering murder after murder year after year. In this story he does NOT have a bizarre string of murders in his small town. On one hand this is great - just what kind of an evil jinx is on Paradise, anyway? But on the other hand, it makes the story really boring. You don't really care about this slightly deranged school principal. Some of the families are wife swapping. So? With all the issues in the world, we really care if they have consensual sex every once in a while?

Spenser is set in Boston, but Jesse is set in Paradise. This is part of the issue. You can believe that Spenser keeps running into mob families and murders and prostitution. He's in a big city. Jesse is in a tiny town. Just how much chaos can there be there year after year? So either Paradise has to become an extremely unlikely hotbed of evil, or the stories are going to get boring. I'm afraid the latter happened here.

It doesn't help that - for the umpteenth book - Jesse is still moaning about his ex-wife who he sleeps with, longs after, and is used by. The parallels between Jesse's obsession for Jen and the stalker's obsession for the women he chases are extremely blatant. As is the mystery of who is involved. There just isn't much real tension here, or sleuthing. It is all about characters you know and dialogue you expect.

The book spacing and quick dialogues mean the book is a VERY quick read - as in maybe 3 or 4 hours tops. Some of the talk was still laugh out loud funny - Parker does have a way with words and it can shine through. Much of the time, though, it was very predictable.

I love Parker's characters - but there are too many recycled ones here, too many one dimensional characters that you can identify immediately when you see them.

There's also a great deal of "telling" in the story. You hear about Jesse's right-hand-man that "He was called Suitcase after the baseball player, Harry 'Suitcase' Simpson." That's rather blatant! In previous stories there was at least some semblance of introducing the information during actual character interplay. Or does Jesse just have these sorts of expositional thoughts as he's drinking his coffee?

It's also intriguing that quotes such as "Readiness is all" - which are repeated in almost every other Spenser / Jesse book - are tripping off the lips of characters such as the stalker. I don't mind Spenser and Jesse always running into literary-minded evil doers, but can they please at least expand the book of quotes they choose to share?

I'm torn. I love Parker's style when he's writing thoroughly. I would never want him to stop. But I really think he's spreading himself too thin and doing a disservice to each book as a result. He has the Spenser line going. The Appaloosa line. Now a new "Baby Spenser" book. He is trying to crank out too many projects in too little time and the result is less than great literature. I would much rather see just one book a year, and really treasure it.

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.

I usually rate Parker books higher than the average. This time I'm on the low side. I was undecided between 2 and 3 stars. But decided on 2.
Of the reviews that I read I think Jeanne's review is closest to mine. I think it is Parker's worst effort of either the Sunny Randall or Jesse Stone series. The two main story lines are a panty inspection of 13 year old girls by a Middle school principal and a peeping Tom/Home invader, with a swingers club as a spinoff from the panty inspection. NONE of the stories evoked any interest from me. The major plus of "Night and Day" is it looks like Jesse is finally going to be rid of Jenn.

I think I've probably read everything written by Robert B. Parker. I like his pacing, his characters, his dialogue and his plots. He creates worlds of black and white and periodically it satisfies me to inhabit these worlds. I love how the mysteries unfold themselves and his ability to embrace morality without seeming cheesey. Once again, this novel made me a very happy reader.

The plot for this Jesse Stone novel is easily relatable. No big time crime lords here, the story centers on quiet desperation and crossing boundaries. As always, the reader gets to witness Jesse's struggle with alcohol and women but this time, he seems to be making progress on all fronts.

Robert B. Parker is in my top 5 of favorite authors and I'm already looking forward to his next novel. Fingers crossed that Private Detective Sunny Randall will be the focus of his next published effort.

If you are looking for a long detailed Police Procedural look elsewhere. But if you are looking for a fun, quick read that will keep the pages turning and keep you guessing, Night and Day is for you.

Featuring Jesse Stone, my favorite Parker Character, and set in Paradise, MA, this story is a great read. This time Stone is casing a peeking-tom around who seems like he might be escalating his activities, as well as finding out more and more about himself and his self-destructive behavior and relationships.

This book was a very quick read, 3 hours, and even if it was quick, it was really good entertainment. I'm looking for fun when I read, not War an Peace. Parker might spit out more books each year than anyone, but boy some of them are real winners. I'm only giving 4 stars because I wanted more!!!

Katherine Hilbery has everything - she is beautiful, well-born, intelligent, kind, reflective, sensitive, though not in a sentimental way, but... bored. She must find a purpose in life, other than being of a wealthy Chelsea family and the descendant of a famous poet, and she must choose between the weak-willed sophisticate William and the tempestuous Ralph. Though the love of the self-sacrificing suffragette Mary Datchet for Ralph and the upcoming law-clerk's failure to realise he is in thrall to Katherine provide a few twists and turns, such is in essence the plot of Night and Day.

All would be well if this were the psychological drama it appears to be, set in an atmospheric turn-of-the-century London. But Virginia Woolf also pursues a political message: in this novel, women answer to male stereotypes and vice versa. The women are logical and career-minded, the men coy and romantic. This might be fine, and it makes for a few good scenes, except that it doesn't quite fit the characters. Mary's ill-starred fate seems gratuitous. Katherine's interest in mathematics is too obviously a code, never properly illustrated. And her falling in love with Ralph isn't credible - she is too good for him, and it is all too sudden. It seems Night and Day can't quite choose what it is supposed to be: psychological or social comedy. It lacks the simplicity of Woolf's first novel The Voyage Out, the wistfulness of Mrs Dalloway, or the experimental complexity of her later works.

I like to read a Robert Parker novel whenever I want a book that is fast and simple to read. The characters are familiar, dialogue moves the action, and you can be distracted externally, and pick up where you leave off with ease. His books are ideal for travel: like snack food. The eighth police chief Jesse Stone novel, Night and Day, focuses on the theme of obsession. Readers know that Jesse remains obsessed with his ex-wife Jenn. After a peeping Tom in the town of Paradise increases his obsession and progresses to home invasion, molestation and then murder, Stone and his police team work to track him down. Along the lines of "it takes one to know one," Stone examines the obsessive Night Hawk, as they call him, from the perspective of Stone's own obsession with Jenn. Sunny Randall and Spike make cameo appearances, as does Spenser's Susan Silverman. The pace of the novel is as quick as ever, and the dialogue is peppery. Before you know it, you'll have finished the book, the flight attendant will be announcing imminent landing, and you'll be somewhat satisfied that you didn't totally waste a boring flight doing nothing.

Rating: Three-star (Recommended)

Generally the Jesse Stone novels of Parker are the best of all of his characters IMHO. But this book doesn't really grab you until it is 3/4 complete. We have Jesse, Molly, Suit, Jenn, and all the other fun characters that come with the obsession with Jenn and the scotch. But in this book, Parker uses characters from all of his mystery novels in an interesting way. It was a disappointment until the very end. But the give and take of the characters and the devil may care attitude of Stone, still is what sells the book for me. Understand? Good! Proud of you!

MY first exposure to Jesse Stone, Paradise, and R.B. Parker. I enjoyed the persona of the police force, particulaarly Jesse's laid back style and commitment to virtueously serving and protecting. Story line, as discussed by other reviewers was mildly engaging. Ending quite predictable as was most of the story. As an audio book while driving, the "he said," "she said" abysmal dialog was beyond annoying. If not for favorable reviews by ardent fans, I would have put Parker and Jesse in the "to be avoided" category. They may be worth another try, but with the comments about Jenn I am not sure.

...but still a "good read" as Parker deftly develops three separate story lines and puts paid to one of the recurring threads in Jesse Stone's life, his obsession with his ex-wife Jenn. The waterside Town of Paradise is safer, several families are better off thanks to their police chief's problem-solving skills, and Jesse Stone appears to be able to get on with his emotional life since we first met him nine books ago. Good job, Jesse. Good job, Robert B. Parker.

Got to thinking about this man's work and am so glad I've been able to read his stories. His prose has a timing and gait that set him apart a yet make him so easy to read. This didn't just happen, it was planned by a lifetime of observation and wit. Great read as always.

“Night and Day” is the eighth entry in Parker’s enjoyable Jesse Stone set. Compared to some of the others, the storyline is a little tame, although three sets of events bother Jesse enough to seek righting some wrongs, crimes or not. First, a middle school (female) principal is caught literally inspecting a bunch of the girl student’s panty underwear, prompting numerous complaints to say the least – but her husband, a high-powered attorney, tries to keep the lid on that virtually all-book long. Meanwhile, a peeping Tom is seen spying through some bedroom windows – and his actions soon escalate into home invasions and nude photo ops with unwilling women! Lastly, a couple who is hosting wife-swapping parties at their house, and traumatizing their kids in the process, comes to Stone’s attention via the visits of their teenaged daughter. All this action gives Jesse’s cop shop plenty to work on, in the process providing plenty of digressive material for Jesse to discuss with his shrink rather than pursue his troubles with ex-wife Jenn. Another Parker character, PI Sunny Randall, puts in a few token appearances as well, mostly as Jesse’s latest girlfriend – and will things finally start to get more serious there?

So: a typical novel in the series, a quick pleasant read, with not much blood and guts, but with our world-wise favorite small town police chief prevailing in the end, as totally expected!

Big fan of Parkers and the Jesse Stone series. NIGHT AND DAY no exception, liked it. Not much violence but good storylines that run the entire series. This story deals with swingers and peepers and comes to a violent end. Love Molly and Suit, oh yes, Spike is opening a place in Paradise. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.. Series and book

Parker's read fast. I knocked this out in about a day. You know, if you look closely, this book is actually made to look and feel longer than it is. For instance, the pages are very thick paper. More so than most books. Plus, the most obvious clue being there are so few words on each page, short chapters, and narrow page lettering layout. Not sure why I felt like pointing this out today. I bet it's all designed so people feel okay paying $27.95 for this book that is more of a long short story or pamphlet than actual book. But hey, I loved it!!!

I started reading this book because I've enjoyed a few E.M. Forster books lately and was told that if I liked Forster, I should give Woolf a shot. So far I'm disappointed. "Night and Day" is the story of four young British adults: Ralph, William, Mary, and Katharine . The plot so far goes like so: four people who have varying degrees of attraction for each other move in the same social circles in spite of their differing educations and ambitions. But being British, none of them are able to take anything resembling decisive action. Thus hamstrung by annoying characters, the plot fumbles along awkwardly.

I'm now on chapter 31 of 34 and the book just gets worse and worse. The dialog is horribly contrived and the characters are actually getting MORE indecisive and whiney. Woolf has this little technique that is super-frustrating, and she uses it ad nauseum... she creates situations in which the reader grasps what is occurring but the characters in the story are ignorant. So being clueless, they stumble and say things like: "I surely don't know what you mean" and "I fail to comprehend what you are saying". Because of this, all the characters are forced to reiterate plot points that the reader already knows. And she does this A LOT. It's not a super dense book, but still I'm pretty certain you could cut the book in half if you could purge this annoying technique from her writing.

I pretty much picked this book at random, and have been told since that it is not among her more highly regarded works. I'll probably give Woolf another chance eventually. But if I weren't so close to the end, I'd probably quit. Only my stubbornness assures I'll finish it... it certainly isn't the book's compelling plot.

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.

I couldn't put this book down. I love the Jesse Stone series, and this one was awesome! I love how Parker writes dialogue, especially between Jesse, Suit and Molly. Their subtle jokes and banter make this a joy to read. Parker's timing and pacing is excellent.

I liked that the bad guy wasn't the same sort of bad guy you see in crime books. This was a unique way to present a story.

Tom Selleck was the perfect choice for the TV version of Jesse, and I can hear him speaking the dialogue as a I read the book. Not too shabby!

I simply love the Jesse Stone series. I have now read them all. Only disappointment, this wasn't in DVD format; I purchase book on CD. Wish Mr. Parker would make all his Jesse Stone series into movies; I have all five that are in DVD format. Keep writing the Jesse Stone series, Mr. Parker.

A delightful edition of a masterpiece! Woolf was a profound writer and she stories are deep and complex. She wrote about the feelings that most of us have experienced at one time or another. This is why her work is considered by so many of her readers as something very special. Understood by women everywhere and a book that women should read at least once, its also a good book for men to read, to help understand women.

To understand love, read Night and Day.

Profound!

I'm a big Parker fan (Spenser more than Stone or Randall), but this was not my favorite. Like others, I've had enough of the ex-wife, but he does make her go away.........let's hope it's permanent! I was happy, however, that there were educational issues addressed here; as a long-time middle school teacher, I can tell you that we are now charged with teaching everything from manners to morality, and that's wrong. I also still admire Parker's wit -- he's great at poking fun or making a point in a sly and entertaining way.

I actually ran across this book in my public library (my lucky day!) and though I normally buy all of this author's book and then pass them on to my 31 year old son and my 84 year old dad, I'm glad that I didn't pay for this one. Good beach reading, I guess, but that's about it.

but still, parker undoubtedly drank more and more like jesse stone. i just wish that parker would not end up like lawrence sanders who later became an AA member and also made all of his main characters all qulified AA members. besides main characters' heavy drinking problems, parker also played with lot of words as a incurable hobby (or disease?), spenser, hawk, jesse stone, molly, suit, virgil cole, Everett Hitch, they all played with lot of words. it's just like some priests play the so-called 'god words' in front of their churches, you just want to drive by, trying very hard not to read those crappy words from god (obviously god has nothing to do with it but the priests).

Finally, Jesse Stone hangs up on his ex-wife. I have been waiting for this moment through 8 books. Yippee!!! I like Robert Parker because of the dialogue of his characters. Whether it is Spenser, Sunny, or Jesse I always enjoy them. No they are not literary but I read them to give my brain a rest from the literary. Another good book.

Very good book. Robert Parker did a tremendous job with this story. Throughout the book it showed that the Chief of Police was very ethical and all the characters recognized it. What I like about Jesse Stone novels is that the characters are similar in each of the books and you get to know each of them. That is nice as you read each novel.

I chose to read this book on my Kindle because we've seen and enjoyed several of the Jesse Stone TV episodes. The book did not disappoint at all -- same style, easy to read, and very entertaining. I look forward to reading many more and seeing more of the TV shows, as well.

This was my summer read. No heavy brainer, no complicated plot. Lots of dialogue. The whole book is like a screenplay. In fact, I wanted to read this book after seeing a TV movie version of the author's Paradise series. It's remarkable how his terse, mono-syllabic dialogue can convey so much about the characters. And how the simple plot can still explore more than skin-deep issues while keeping the story thoroughly enjoyable.

My favorite character of Robert b.Parker. the stories are easy to read and love the town of Paradise. The group of characters have a real camaraderie as well as family feel. Repartee is great. So sorry Mr. Parker is no longer with us.

Past Parker books I have compared to all that is good in the Earth - chocolate, etc. I continue to feel the same about his books.

As with his other's, the book reads exceptionally quickly and the exchange between the characters is extremely well written.

As to the developements that take place in the book, they are timely and reflect our times. The solving of the mysteries was not complex - but the tone of the book was extremely upbeat and kept showing the "goodness" that can be found in mankind, as well as the "dark" qualities.

It was also entertaining to watch a number of the characters from Parker's other series continue to interact.

Thank you Rober Parker for another GREAT book.

I wanted to give this book 4.5 stars. It is almost a 5, but not quite. I have read two Jesse Stones and watched three. This is the best of them, with some Elmore Leonard elements. A page turner. I really got to know Jesse in this installment.

Good writing and much to the point. For an avid reader can most likely be read in one sitting. The Pleasant Point characters are believable, what you would expect from a small community and ongoing from one book to the next.

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.

I have read this book many times over the past 25 years at different stages in my life and I have loved it every time. Virginia Woolf is my favorite author (this and To The Lighthouse are her best works, in my opinion), and have given the book to my daughter, Katharine, for Christmas. (Guess who she's named after?) This book is an "easy" read, unlike many of Virginia Woolf's other novels, and follows a conventional style. However, there is nothing conventional about her writing; I have yet to come across another novelist with her ability to touch on everyday life with such subtlety and nuance. The characters in this book are very likeable - it's as if I have known them in my own life. Love this book!

I LOVE Robert B. Parker. More than 20 years ago I read his graduate thesis on Chandler, Hammett and Ross Macdonald on microfiche at the Library of Congress. With some exceptions, the Spenser books are marvels, re-readable too, which is rare. But Night and Day, featuring Jessie Stone, is a dronefest, an endless succession of two-word paragraphs and flat-splatting wisecracks. The first of dozens of Parker novels I'll not take the time to finish. Fellow readers, stick with Spenser, or check out the excellent Apaloosa.

I clicked on 1, 2, and 3-star reader reviews for Night and Day, and it took a while to reaize that those reviews are NOT for Virginia Woolf's book, but for Robert Parker's book of the same title. I'm bringing this to readers' and the stores' attention in case anyone else was confused. I don't know if any Woolf reviews appear under Parker's book, but somehow I doubt it! Haven't read Woolf yet, but something I'd likt to get to on my reading agenda.

As a lover of audiobooks, and a fan of the Spencer for Hire TV show, I was familiar with Parker but had never read him, so when I saw a copy of this cheap I snatched it up. I knew the character of Jesse Stone was played by Tom Selleck in a series of TV movies, and, as I was listening to the story unfold, I could not help picturing Selleck as Jesse. This book got me hooke and on the hunt for more Jesse Stone books, either in print or on CD.

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.

I like Jesse, but Night and Day is thin on details and reads like a screenplay instead of a novel, and could go right to TV production without much re-write; and that's not something we should expect from a novel.

If you liked the other Jesse Stone novels you'll like this one. However, RBP needs to stop phoning in his novels and put one together that we can really sink our teeth into !

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.

LOVED IT!
I love all the books in the Jesse Stone Series.
This one is no exception.
I just love Jesse ... Plain and Simple.
I picture him as Tom Selleck while reading and I am gone.
Can't wait for the new Jesse Stone movie on CBS Sunday March 1st.

Odd one this. The plot is quite linear, but the characters were good.

It's not so much a crime novel, it's more a view of humanity in a small town. But don't let me put you off, because I read this book really quickly, which is a sign I've usually enjoyed a book. It's easy to read, and driven by spoken language rather than a background plot, and it is well worth a read.

This was just the type of detective story I was looking for, although I didn't realize that until I found it. I was hooked on this novel after the first chapter. The action starts right away, and I read the whole book in a few hours. Although it isn't quite an action packed thriller, it held my interest to the last page.
Parker writes in an easy, straightforward style. There is a lot of humor in his dialogue, which was enjoyable. I like the way he tells the story without adding unnecessary details. He creates several very likeable characters, who are a bit jaded by life, but still care enough to keep trying. The setting and the situation are mostly realistic. There are no super heroes or supernatural powers. That would be completely out of place in Parker's novels.
Paradise reminded me of my own hometown in Massachusetts, although it could be anywhere in the U.S. There are a whole host of local characters, and of course the usual suspects. As another reviewer noted, the crimes seem to be mostly sexual in nature, and the people in this town talk a lot about sex. Nevertheless, as a movie this could probably get a PG-13 rating, if certain elements were described rather than shown. The book is written from a male perspective, and I suspect that men will enjoy this more than women, although there are strong male and female characters. It would be a good choice for an airplane ride, or a vacation escape. I recommend it.

a complete wast of time and money a complete waste of time and money. the entire 7 chapters i read were nothing more than a long series of so and so said with a few so and so nodded thrown in. i never thought i woud come across the written word that would discourage reading. this is it

I am a big fan of the Jesse Stone novels...but this one....hmmmm..not quite sure. I have mixed feelings about it. This did not pull me into
the plot, as they usually do. This is a very different look for Jesse.
I don't think I would place this in my top ten list for the J Stone books.

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.

While many women romance authors have moved to the mystery thriller genre, this appears the first shift I'm aware of where a man who is great in the mystery thriller area shifts to romance novels. Come on Parker. Dump those feelings and add some crashes and murder. You're a guy!!.

I have always enjoyed the Jesse Stone novels; not this one! It was the usual Jesse and his Ex talking in circles around a peccadillo: a peeping Tom! Even in Paradise, I am sure something more interesting could happen! I will wait for the paper back next time Parker comes out with a new one. This deserves less than one star!