Joe Huff is a tough, go-it-alone cop with a flair for infiltrating dangerous biker gangs. The FBI blackmail Joe into an undercover operation to convict some extremely violent bikers, who are angry at the capture of their leader.

When Police Chief Jesse Stone's relationship with his ex-wife worsens, he fears he will relapse into alcoholism. To get his mind off his problems, Jesse begins working on the unsolved murder of a bank teller shot during a robbery. Meanwhile, Stone's investigation of an alleged rape draws him into conflict with the town council, which hopes to preserve Paradise's reputation as an ideal seaside resort.

When the body of a fourteen-year-old teenager is found in the margin of a lake in Paradise, Massachusetts, the Chief of Police Jesse Stone and his officer Simpson seek clues in the spot. Through a class ring of a student that they find near the corpse, they identity the dead girl, the local slut Billy Bishop. Meanwhile, his department deals with a domestic violent situation with an aggressive and abusive husband who beats his wife. Along his investigation, Stone discloses that the famous writer...

The rivalry between the manipulative boss of an advertising agency and her talented protégée escalates from stealing credit to public humiliation to murder.