Partner in Crime
J. A. Jance (Reviewed by The Editor - Rebecca Brown)
2002 William Morrow
ISBN: 0380977303
Sheriff Joanna Brady & retired police detective J. P. Beaumont join forces to solve a homicide of a person in the witness protection program.
A black artist, with her first art gallery show about to propel her into the public eye, manages to call 911 only to succumb before the paramedics can get to her. Suddenly a new killing agent found in car airbags surfaces to administer a horrible death. What did Rochelle Baxter know that someone wanted her silenced?
The clues lead Cochise County Sheriff Brady to a telephone number which, when she gets through, connects her with Washington State's attorney general. Before she knows it, she is informed she will get help from his Special Homicide Investigation Team (make the anagram, & you'll see where Brady & Beaumont get their first smile.)
Meanwhile, up north in Seattle, J. P. “Beau” Beaumont comes out of retirement to be an investigator for his state's top dog lawyer. Now he's flying down to Bisbee, Arizona where Anne Corley, his second & deeply troubled wife, came from. He's not in a good mood, really uncomfortable on the plane, hates his little rental SUV & the overpowering heat of Arizona.
Then when Brady & Beaumont meet, it's all clashing egos & seared nerves, until they see each other in action. Then a bond of respect & trust begins to form.
At last, Beau gets his groove back & Joanna gets her spine aligned, & the sparks fly in this vintage J. A. Jance tale. With Partner in Crime this author has brought together her two memorable crime-fighters in one riveting mystery about a horrible corporate cover-up of a deadly byproduct of a ubiquitous life-saving equipment.
J. A. Jance doesn't write earth-shaking mysteries, she does, however write a good read & Partner in Crime is one of her best.
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