In the small town of Paradise, Massachusetts, chief of police Jesse Stone is on the phone with his ex-wife Jenn in Los Angeles, who tells him not to call her that night. She's started seeing someone, who finds it strange that the two still talk every evening. Stone is dealing with other changes: his deputy, Luther "Suitcase" Simpson, is still in a coma from a head-wound he received in a supermarket robbery; his other deputy, Molly Crane, resigned from the force to have a family. Her replacement, Rose Gammon, is learning to deal with Stone, as she had once worked for his predecessor.