Temperance Brennan
mystery
Series · mystery
Jesse Stone
The Jesse Stone series by Robert B. Parker has 23 known books (22 published; 1 with an undated publication record) and is best read in publication order, starting with Night Passage (1997). Robert B. Parker wrote the series; it was continued by Michael Brandman, then Reed Farrel Coleman, then Mike Lupica, then Christopher Farnsworth.
- Books
- 23 known books (23 novels)
- Published
- 22
- First published
- 1997
- Status
- ongoing
- Shelved under
- Mystery & Crime
- Last checked
Start here: Night Passage (1997) — then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
Night Passage
Night Passage opens the Jesse Stone series in 1997, introducing the former LAPD homicide detective fired for drinking who takes the police chief's job in the small fictional Massachusetts town of Paradise -- a town council that expected a broken big-city cop to be easy to control. It runs 318 pages and is the first of Robert B. Parker's nine original novels in the series.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Night Passage - Book 2:
Trouble in Paradise
Trouble in Paradise, from 1998, is the second of Robert B. Parker's nine original Jesse Stone novels, following Jesse as he settles into the Paradise police chief's job while fighting his drinking problem and staying tangled with his ex-wife Jenn. It runs 324 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Trouble in Paradise - Book 3:
Death in Paradise
Death in Paradise, published in 2001, is the third of Parker's original Jesse Stone novels, part of a series that sits stylistically close to his Spenser books -- terse and dialogue-driven, but scaled to a small-town police department rather than a lone investigator. It runs 289 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Death in Paradise - Book 4:
Stone Cold
Stone Cold (2003) is the fourth Jesse Stone novel, one of the nine Robert B. Parker wrote before his death in 2010, continuing to dig into Jesse's addiction and his on-and-off relationship with ex-wife Jenn against the backdrop of small-town Paradise. It runs 309 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Stone Cold - Book 5:
Sea Change
Sea Change, from 2006, is the fifth of Parker's original Jesse Stone novels, following the gifted-but-troubled Paradise police chief through crimes far more serious than his small coastal town's board ever expected. It runs 320 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Sea Change - Book 6:
High Profile
High Profile, published in 2007, is the sixth Jesse Stone novel and one of Parker's nine originals, keeping to the terse, morally serious style he brought to small-town corruption and violence throughout the series. It runs 304 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of High Profile - Book 7:
Stranger in Paradise
Stranger in Paradise (2008) is the seventh of Robert B. Parker's original Jesse Stone novels, continuing the series' close attention to Jesse's drinking and his relationship with Jenn as he keeps solving crimes well beyond what Paradise's town council bargained for. It runs 293 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Stranger in Paradise - Book 8:
Night and Day
Night and Day, from 2009, is the eighth of Parker's nine original Jesse Stone novels, published the year before his death in 2010 brought the original run to a close. It runs 289 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Night and Day - Book 9:
Split Image
Split Image (2010) closes out Robert B. Parker's original nine Jesse Stone novels -- it was published posthumously after Parker's death that year, the last entry before the series passed to four further continuation authors. It runs 277 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Split Image - Book 10:
Robert B. Parker's Killing the Blues
Robert B. Parker's Killing the Blues (2011) opens the series' first continuation phase, with Michael Brandman picking up Jesse Stone directly after Parker's death with no reboot or timeskip. It's the tenth entry in the series, running 274 pages, the first of Brandman's three novels.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Robert B. Parker's Killing the Blues - Book 11:
Robert B. Parker's Fool Me Twice
Jesse Stone continued with Robert B. Parker's Fool Me Twice in 2012, positioned after Robert B. Parker's Killing the Blues and ahead of Robert B. Parker's Damned If You Do.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Robert B. Parker's Fool Me Twice - Book 12:
Robert B. Parker's Damned If You Do
Robert B. Parker's Damned If You Do sits between Robert B. Parker's Fool Me Twice and Robert B. Parker's Blind Spot in the Jesse Stone series, appearing in 2013.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Robert B. Parker's Damned If You Do - Book 13:
Robert B. Parker's Blind Spot
Robert B. Parker's Blind Spot (2014) opens Reed Farrel Coleman's six-book run continuing Jesse Stone after Michael Brandman's three novels, carrying forward Jesse's drinking and his relationship with Jenn without any reboot. It's the thirteenth entry in the series, running 339 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Robert B. Parker's Blind Spot - Book 14:
Robert B. Parker's The Devil Wins
Robert B. Parker's The Devil Wins, from 2015, is the second of Reed Farrel Coleman's six Jesse Stone continuations, keeping the series' terse, morally serious take on small-town corruption and violence. It's the fourteenth novel in the series, running 288 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Robert B. Parker's The Devil Wins - Book 15:
Robert B. Parker's Debt to Pay
Jesse Stone continued with Robert B. Parker's Debt to Pay in 2016, positioned after Robert B. Parker's The Devil Wins and ahead of Robert B. Parker's The Hangman's Sonnet.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Robert B. Parker's Debt to Pay - Book 16:
Robert B. Parker's The Hangman's Sonnet
Jesse Stone continued with Robert B. Parker's The Hangman's Sonnet in 2017, positioned after Robert B. Parker's Debt to Pay and ahead of Robert B. Parker's Colorblind.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Robert B. Parker's The Hangman's Sonnet - Book 17:
Robert B. Parker's Colorblind
Robert B. Parker's Colorblind sits between Robert B. Parker's The Hangman's Sonnet and Robert B. Parker's The Bitterest Pill in the Jesse Stone series, appearing in 2018.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Robert B. Parker's Colorblind - Book 18:
Robert B. Parker's The Bitterest Pill
Robert B. Parker's The Bitterest Pill sits between Robert B. Parker's Colorblind and Robert B. Parker's Fool's Paradise in the Jesse Stone series, appearing in 2019.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Robert B. Parker's The Bitterest Pill - Book 19:
Robert B. Parker's Fool's Paradise
Robert B. Parker's Fool's Paradise (2020) opens Mike Lupica's three-book run continuing Jesse Stone after Reed Farrel Coleman's six novels, picking the series up with no reboot or timeskip. It's the nineteenth entry, running 352 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Robert B. Parker's Fool's Paradise - Book 20:
Robert B. Parker's Stone's Throw
Robert B. Parker's Stone's Throw, from 2021, is the second of Mike Lupica's three Jesse Stone continuations, following Jesse's ongoing drinking problem and his tangled relationship with ex-wife Jenn. It's the twentieth novel in the series, running 336 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Robert B. Parker's Stone's Throw - Book 21:
Robert B. Parker's Fallout
Robert B. Parker's Fallout sits between Robert B. Parker's Stone's Throw and Robert B. Parker's Buried Secrets in the Jesse Stone series, appearing in 2022.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Robert B. Parker's Fallout - Book 22:
Robert B. Parker's Buried Secrets
Robert B. Parker's Buried Secrets (2025) opens Christopher Farnsworth's run continuing Jesse Stone after Mike Lupica's three novels, the twenty-second entry in a series that now spans five different authors across more than two decades. It runs 352 pages.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Robert B. Parker's Buried Secrets - Book 23:
Robert B. Parker's Big Shot
Robert B. Parker's Big Shot, dated 2026, is Christopher Farnsworth's second Jesse Stone continuation, the twenty-third novel in a series that began with Robert B. Parker's Night Passage in 1997. It runs 237 pages, the shortest entry since Parker's own originals.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Robert B. Parker's Big Shot
About the Jesse Stone series
Jesse Stone is a former LAPD homicide detective, fired for drinking, who takes the police chief's job in the small fictional Massachusetts coastal town of Paradise mostly because no better-qualified candidate wanted a small-town posting — and because the town council figured a broken big-city cop would be easy to control. He's harder to control than they hoped: a genuinely gifted investigator who keeps solving crimes far more serious than Paradise's board expected, while fighting a drinking problem and staying tangled, on and off, with his ex-wife Jenn. Robert B. Parker wrote nine Jesse Stone novels between 1997 and his death in 2010, and the series has one of the longest continuation runs of any of his creations, extending to more than twenty books across five different authors.
Stylistically, Jesse Stone sits closer to Parker's Spenser novels than to Sunny Randall — terse, dialogue-driven, morally serious about small-town corruption and violence — but with a small-department, small-town scale that lets Parker dig into Jesse's addiction and his relationship with Jenn across the whole run. After Parker's death, Michael Brandman continued the series for three books, followed by Reed Farrel Coleman for six, Mike Lupica for three, and, from 2025, Christopher Farnsworth. This is the series for readers who want Parker's terse, hard-boiled style applied to a police chief with real authority and real institutional weight behind him, rather than a private investigator working alone.
Frequently asked questions
Who writes the Jesse Stone series?
Robert B. Parker wrote the series; it was continued by Michael Brandman, then Reed Farrel Coleman, then Mike Lupica, then Christopher Farnsworth.
How many Jesse Stone books are there?
Robert B. Parker wrote nine Jesse Stone novels (1997–2010). After his death the series continued: three by Michael Brandman, six by Reed Farrel Coleman, three by Mike Lupica, and an ongoing run by Christopher Farnsworth starting in 2025 — 23 novels tracked here in total.
What order should I read the Jesse Stone books in?
Publication order, across all five authors. Jesse's addiction, his relationship with his ex-wife Jenn, and Paradise's town politics all develop continuously across the whole series regardless of which author is writing.
Who continued the Jesse Stone series after Robert B. Parker died?
Michael Brandman wrote three novels (2011–2013), Reed Farrel Coleman wrote six (2014–2019), Mike Lupica wrote three (2020–2022), and Christopher Farnsworth began a new run in 2025 with Robert B. Parker's Buried Secrets.
Is Jesse Stone connected to Robert B. Parker's Spenser novels?
They share an author, a similar hard-boiled Massachusetts setting, and a similar prose style, but the two series don't crossover on the page — you don't need to read one to follow the other.
Is there a new Jesse Stone book coming?
Yes. Christopher Farnsworth's Robert B. Parker's Big Shot is scheduled for February 2026.
If you like the Jesse Stone series
Reading order last verified .