<Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> External links </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Website </Th> <Td> www.tntdrama.com/shows/rizzoli-isles.html </Td> </Tr> <P> Rizzoli & Isles is a TNT television series starring Angie Harmon as police detective Jane Rizzoli and Sasha Alexander as medical examiner Dr. Maura Isles . The one - hour drama is based on the Rizzoli & Isles series of novels by Tess Gerritsen . It premiered on July 12, 2010, and aired 105 episodes in seven seasons, concluding on September 5, 2016 . </P> <P> The series' backstory is inspired by the Maura Isles / Jane Rizzoli series of novels by Tess Gerritsen . Rizzoli appears in the series' first novel, The Surgeon, and Isles is introduced in the second, The Apprentice, which serves as the basis for the television series . Boston detective Jane Rizzoli has been investigating a serial killer named Charles Hoyt . Hoyt, who was banned from medical school for fondling a corpse, used his vast medical knowledge to systematically torture and kill people, usually choosing couples so that he could induce the most fear in his victims . Jane ascertains Hoyt's location, but as she is searching for him, she is hit in the back of the head and knocked unconscious . She is pinned to the floor by scalpels and awakes as Hoyt prepares to cut her throat, but Vince Korsak, Jane's partner, locates her and shoots Hoyt, saving her life . Jane, reasoning that Korsak would never trust her as his partner after seeing her so vulnerable, applies for a new partner . </P>

Who plays rizzoli's mom on rizzoli and isles