Call number
Collection
Genres
Series
Publication
Description
Fiction. Mystery. Suspense. Thriller. HTML: J. P. Beaumont's latest investigation strikes too close to home in this riveting mystery from New York Times bestselling author J. A. Jance. Be careful what you wish for . . . Before he retired, J. P. Beaumont had looked forward to having his days all to himself. But too much free time doesn't suit a man used to brushing close to danger. When his longtime nemesis, retired Seattle crime reporter Maxwell Cole, dies in what's officially deemed to be an accidental fire, Beau is astonished to be dragged into the investigation at the request of none other than the deceased victim himself. In the process Beau learns that just because a long-ago case was solved doesn't mean it's over. Caught up in a situation where old actions and grudges can hold dangerous consequences in the present, Beau is forced to operate outside the familiar world of law enforcement. While seeking justice for his frenemy and healing for a long fractured family, he comes face to face with an implacable enemy who has spent decades hiding in plain sight..… (more)
User reviews
Can Beau find the truth about
Beaumont fans will be delighted with this newest adventure; those who have not yet had the pleasure of joining Beau on one of his adventures will find this tale has much to offer. Well-defined characters, a plot filled with unexpected with twists and turns, and an intriguing mystery make this narrative difficult to set aside.
Highly recommended.
J. P. Beaumont is now retired and Mel Soames has become the chief of the Bellingham police department. That requires some background to orient readers to their new situation: approximately 80 pages of relatively melancholy background as it turns out. The story drags during that early going pick up somewhat after that. Still, it's not the Beaumont/Soames offering we have come to anticipate.
Jance has devoted more time to her Joanna Brady and Ali Reynolds series in recent years. These characters are located in the warm, dry, sunny Southwest and in this book you can see further evidence of Jance detaching from Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. I found the grousing about the traffic and the rain to be somewhat jarring and out of character for the Beaumont series. Those of us who live here recognize those conditions as genuine but the early emphasis on these shortcomings in Proof of Life is decidedly more downbeat than in the past J. P. Beaumont offerings.
The story does not really begin to satisfy until the last third when Mel joins J. P. in attempting to bring the culprits to justice. For a relatively brief time it brings the old time pleasure. Unfortunately, the climax occurs over 50 pages from the end of the book and the remainder invoves the somewhat anticlimactic typing up of loose ends.
This is a below average offering in the J. P. Beaumont series. However, Jance signals a change at the end that raises the possibility of a return to the J. P. of old. That would be great.