I love a good mystery! That’s why I watch the various incarnations of CSi, for example. But there is another television mystery series I am a big fan of–the Jesse Stone films starring Tom Selleck, who most people remember from Magnum, P.I.

On Sunday night, May 9, CBS aired No Remorse, the sixth and latest in the series. (I have all the previous offerings on DVD.) Once again, Selleck does a terrific job of portraying the title character, who is quiet, witty and still dealing with his wife’s loss and the death of his dog—both happening around the same time a few years ago. Stone is having trouble with attachments, including his “new” pet dog that has lived with him for three years.

Here’s the summary as presented by CBS: “In Jesse Stone: No Remorse, Police Chief Jesse Stone, who was suspended by the Paradise, Mass. Town Council, begins moonlighting for his friend, State Homicide Commander Healy, by investigating a series of murders in Boston, leaving Rose and Suitcase to handle a crime spree in Paradise on their own. Jesse pours his energy into his work in an effort to push away his twin demons: booze and women. When his investigation leads to notorious mob boss Gino Fish, Jesse’s pursuit becomes hazardous.”

The pacing is good even though life in the town of Paradise is slow. The characters are all colorful and interesting, and twists and turns abound, giving us a chance to examine life in the small town in New England from many angles.

Both stories come to interesting conclusions, but not necessary clean ones that wrap everything up nice and neatly. I really like that about these movies. Things too often are tied in a nice little bow at the end of a program. Life is a lot messier than that. And we also get a cliffhanger ending, so it seems they are optimistic that more films will be made.

I haven’t read the Robert B. Parker novels, but this series sorely tempts me to get into them. In a similar fashion, I became a fan of Jim Butcher and his Dresden Files novels because they were being made into a television series on what is now Syfy. When I started reading them, I was hooked. I imagine that the same thing will happen should I start reading these books as well. I was sorry to see about Mr. Parker’s passing, which was remembered at the end of “No Remorse.”

Here’s hoping that we get a lot more Jesse Stone in the future!

Here’s a video of Tom Selleck discussing the film:

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