Description:

Amazon.com Review

Long before she started her hot new series about Arizona sheriff Joanna Brady, J. A. Jance was already one of the stalwarts of the police procedural genre because of her books about Seattle homicide detective J. P. Beaumont. Like the Brady novels, the Beaumont books are a perfect balance of the personal and the professional--placing the main characters in human contexts without making them seem cute or trite. The latest Beaumont, just out in paperback, is one of the best in the series: Beau wrestles at home with his own dying ex-wife and the vindictive former spouse of his best friend, while his office time is spent trying to discover who murdered a very nasty biotech executive. Previous Beaumont books in paperback include: __, , , , , , .

From Publishers Weekly

Investigating the shooting death of a man whose corpse is found in Elliott Bay, Seattle homicide detective J.P. Beaumont, seen last in Lying in Wait, turns up an excess of suspects. Nobody grieves when the victim is identified. An executive at biotechnology start-up company, he had been involved in everything from corporate power grabs to rape. The rape victim's aunt, a local antiques dealer, confesses and demands to be arrested; the dead man's boss declares himself a prime suspect. Meanwhile, a woman?possibly the murder victim's wife?is found shot to death. The one person who may understand what's happening, a wheelchair-bound PI, vanishes. Faced with these puzzles, Beaumont also confronts personal problems: his ex-wife is dying of cancer; his sometime partner remains jealous of Beau's independent wealth; and a social worker seems to be trumping up charges of child abuse against him. Juggling these elements with her usual sure hand, Jance also controls a supporting cast that ranges from diabolical to dotty. The big finish, when Beaumont and his unlikely allies battle the killer, by itself deserves a movie sale.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.