Fun read with some unusual dynamics.Usually I am highly entertained by the Beaumont mysteries, and this case was no exception. The detective has to investigate a crime in a school that initially looks like a murder suicide. Soon enough things become complicated and we get a whodunit with plenty of twists and turns and a thrilling conclusion with plenty of revelations.I enjoyed the fact that the author keeps giving us more information about Beaumont's personal life and we get to see how he continues to deal with recovering from alcoholism and in this case also with a significant family grudge. The part that was interesting and different from any of the previous books is the relationship with Beau's arch-nemesis Max Cole. We are use to seeing the battle between the detective and the journalist, which in the past has become pretty heated. In this case however, due to Max knowing on of the the victims and being affected by the events, we end up with a very cordial relationship which threatens to become a friendship. I am not sure I liked this part, since I enjoyed the nature of the previous relationship between these characters.I did like the decision by Jance to have Beau work the case with a different partner than the one he usually has. Especially because this guy is obnoxious and creates many situations that add flavor to the story. Besides that, we get the usual cast of supporting characters, which are always welcome.Jance delivered another mystery that keeps us reading eagerly until finding out who the guilty party is and when we get there we are already looking forward to the next one. That in my book can be considered a success.
Back from rehab in Arizona, Seattle PD Detective J. P. Beaumont is paired with the glory seeking Detective Kramer to solve the killings of a female school district administrator and male nighttime security guard whose partially unclad bodies are found in a janitor's closet by a young receptionist. Beau has apparently traded in his active sex life for daily AA meetings as they compete to solve the case. The novel fails as a whodunnit because Jance withholds important information from the reader and leaves enough loose ends to make a floor mop. Spoiler alert: How and why was the security guard killed? How did one of the murder weapons end up in the female victim's underwear drawer?
This was yet another well crafted, interesting, enjoyable mystery in the J. P. Beaumont series. In this one, it looks like a straight up murder-suicide. Unhappily, Beau is saddled with his old "buddy" Kramer because Big Al and his wife Molly have both gotten a bad case of the flu. This had enough twists and turns to keep it interesting and once again Jance made the characters sympathetic enough to want to keep reading. The hatchet was somewhat buried between Beau and his oft nemesis Maxwell Cole. If you enjoy police procedural kinds of mysteries, this one is a story you just might really enjoy. I sure did.
—Marti
I find the J. P. Beaumont stories real page turners. The only explanation for why I was reading all night. Thus, sleeping through an appointment this morning. It looks like a murder - suicide but Beau isn't so sure. Plus, he is saddled with a new partner who is a real pain. A twist at every turn. on practically every other page we are being disabused of almost every fact we thought we knew. Even so, after a certain point, I was able to determine the killer. I was thrown a red herring and I thought, "you mean x isn't the killer? " No, x actually was the killer.
—Jan C
This is #9 in the series of Seattle detective J.P. Beaumont. Really good, fast moving and unpredictable. In this his first case since leaving rehab, he is still going to AA but nary a mention is made of "McNaughton's" his favorite Canadian Whiskey, as in all the previous novels. Two bodies are found in a closet at a school district office, one of a security guard and one of a woman administrator. The case takes several twists and turns and the ending is unexpected. Beau also meets his grandparents in this one. Loved it!
—Gloria Bernal
