Jesse Stone revolves around the classic tale of the principled cop who has turned rogue. Stone leaves his LA life and settles in the seemingly quaint town of Paradise in Massachusetts.
In Paradise, he gets an interview and is hired by the President of the Board of Selectmen in Paradise. The president perhaps felt that it would be easy to manipulate Jesse Stone and in doing that they could carry on with their corrupt activities.
The series is based on a book series written by Robert B. Parker where there is a character by the same name, Jesse Stone. The series had first begun in 2005 with Selleck in the role of Jesse Stone. The film series has seen a successful run from thereon and has had no reason to look back after its first success. Selleck has also confirmed that he is working on other installments of the project.
What are the Jesse Stone movies in order and where to watch them?
Despite having a traditionally much-exploited foundational plot, the Jesse Stone movies bring much creativity to the screen. That is the reason why even after 9 successful films the fans keep on expecting more.
While there are no brand new films to be included in the movie series anytime soon, you can at least binge-watch the ones already there if you happen to be missing the charming rogue cop’s escapades. Here is a list of all the fantastic films in the series in chronological order and where to find them.
1. Jesse Stone: Stone Cold (2005)
Some people might suggest that you start by watching the second installment of the movie series first. This is because the next movie gives you the premise to understand how exactly things turn out as they do in this particular movie. However, that would take much suspense out of the experience.
It is best to follow the release years while watching the film series. This particular movie revolves around the town of Paradise which is located in Massachusetts where a dead body is suddenly found on the shoreline. Two more victims follow. The story shifts to our protagonist Stone and follows his life in LA.
The most difficult part of making a 9 installment-long movie series is to keep the audience engrossed and engaged throughout the period. The Jesse Stone series does it beautifully as it begins on a very mysterious note and makes the story unfold in front of the eyes of the viewers. You can find this movie on Amazon Prime Video.
2. Jesse Stone: Night Passage (2006)
The second installment in the movie series is practically the first one. Night Passage shows us exactly how things begin. While the first film in the series had begun abruptly this particular movie gives us a more secure plot line. The movie revolves around Jesse Stone who has come to Paradise in Massachusetts under a complete miscomprehension that the town is a non-problematic place with a soft and quaint lifestyle.
It soon turns out that he could not have been further from the truth. Things turn rather mysterious when the dead body of the ex-police chief is found and it is revealed that he was somehow forced to quit the position.
This is a very engaging movie full of thrill and intrigue. You can find it on Amazon Prime.
3. Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise (2006)
Jesse Stone gets involved in investigations of all sorts as he gradually realizes that the town that he had taken to be a hamlet of peace is a space of intense and immense corrupt activities. In this particular movie, he investigates the death of a teenage girl. Her body is found floating in a lake.
After an autopsy is carried out it is revealed that the girl had been pregnant. It was also revealed that she had been under the influence of muscle relaxers and alcohol just before her death. All of this, along with a ring, found on her body points towards the fact it might have been a murder and a very intentional one.
As the investigation progresses many more disturbing and amusing facts come out. To find out how exactly Jesse Stone solves the case you can watch the full movie on Amazon Prime Video.
4. Jesse Stone: Sea Change (2007)
In one of the sessions with his psychologist, it is revealed that Jesse may have turned into a workaholic. He heavily drinks and drinks more than usual when he doesn’t have a case at hand. This is why he asks his colleague to fetch the list of all the unsolved cases that are there in the local files.
This leads to a case that catches his eye. Back in 1992, a bank teller had been taken hostage. This was during a robbery at the bank. However, the bank teller found the dead letter.
It turns out that the story behind this seemingly simple event might be much more complex. You can find this movie on Amazon Prime Video. You can watch it here online or rent it.
5. Jesse Stone: Thin Ice (2009)
Jesse arrives at a seemingly stagnant place and starts excavating all the problematic cases which doesn’t sit right with many. When his colleague is attacked do you bring a harmless task of keeping track of his nephew who he suspects is together with his saxophone teacher, Jesse realizes that the attack had a prior plan and motive. This disturbs the local council. They cannot understand why Jesse keeps on interfering in matters that our seemingly simple and do not concern him.
While Stone is in the middle of solving a case another case comes his way. A woman comes to him asking him to investigate the disappearance of her baby. This was a 7 years ago incident and Stone seems as reluctant to take up another cold case as Gammon seems interested in it. This movie is available on Amazon Prime.
6. Jesse Stone: No Remorse (2010)
The local council is not at all happy that Stone keeps on interfering in matters which they do not want him interfering in. So he is soon suspended from his post of the chief of police of Paradise. Stone also suffers a restriction on contacting his colleagues. As a result, he takes to heavy drinking again.
However, things take a brighter turn when Stone is again hired and this time as a private consultant to the Boston police. He is called to investigate a series of murders that have taken place in a parking lot. It turns out Stone knows the first victim to be Gino Fish, who was a member of the Boston mob.
While the Boston case keeps up its pace, Stone returns to look into the attacks that have been happening at the local convenience store. You can find this movie on Amazon Prime Video. You can rent or buy it from there.
7. Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost (2011)
The person who has been appointed in place of Jesse Stone as the chief of police is the son-in-law of the president of the town council. He is much more concerned about the public image of the town. He has no interest in solving the local cold cases and even forces Stone to give up his gun permit. However, as fate would have it, Jesse finds himself wrapped up in yet another case. He gets caught up in a couple of them!
These cases become matters of great significance as one of them is that of a friend. While the local council and the police chief rule out the case as a suicide, Stone is convinced that it is a murder. The other case finds him getting hired as a consultant for the Massachusetts State Police on a case that revolves around a robbery and a murder. You can find this movie on Amazon Prime Video.
8. Jesse Stone: Benefit of the Doubt (2012)
The newly appointed police chief, Butler, the son-in-law of the president of the local council, gets killed along with one of the other officers. It is suspected that it was due to their car explosion. Stone is appointed as the police chief of the town for a brief time.
As various other clues line up a picture seems to be getting put together in the head of our detective protagonist. Stone is once again drawn into the disturbing waves of criminal activities and local gangsters as he embarks on his new investigation. Things seem a little difficult this time as he is seen working on the case alone. You can rent or buy this Jesse Stone movie on Amazon Prime Video.
9. Jesse Stone: Lost in Paradise (2015)
Even though Jesse is now reappointed to his post of police chief he agrees to act as a consultant for the Massachusetts State Police just for the sake of having something interesting to work on.
While going through the case files of several murders in Boston, Stone comes across this one woman named Mavis Davis. She is believed to be the 4th victim of Boston Ripper, a serial killer. However, when Stone visits the killer who is now in prison things take an interesting turn. While the killer admits that the first 3 killings had been his doing he also insists that Mavis had not been of his victims.
This particular movie, the last of the Jesse Stone movies as of now, sees our protagonists struggling in a lot of spaces, both professional and personal. We also see a significant growth in the character arc of Jesse Stone in this particular movie. You can watch the movie online or rent it on Amazon Prime Video.