Breach of Duty
   J. A. Jance
  1999 Avon Books, NY USA
   ISBN: 0380974061


J.P. Beaumont makes a much-awaited reappearance with his partner to investigate the murder of an unloved elderly woman. Beau is distracted by his partner's domestic problems & the sudden retirement of their long-time captain.

Beau is back! J. A. Jance has given us one more engagement with her aging, changing Seattle Police Department Detective involved not only with a gruesome, unaccountable homicide, some mysterious Native American bones discovered in a new recreation game of war & a partner whose married life is in turmoil.

I have willingly devoured all of J.P.'s mysteries - immersing myself in the goings on & character of a city I enjoy. I've grown up along with Jance's detective & if he's gotten a little squeaky-clean over the decades then so have I!

Breach of Duty stands on its own & gives us a solid, exciting read! Strange reasons for a homicide draw you onto the next page; the discovery of the bones of a dead shaman makes for even stranger happenings.

Meanwhile Beau's long-time department captain has decided to retire to spend what remaining months are left with his wife & Beau's latest partner has a couple of boys with whom he connects strongly & a husband who is in trouble up to his wallet & giving his family grief.

That all of this ties into each other is the mark of J. A. Jance's artistry. Effortlessly she pulls you along, showing sections of Seattle you might never find & sides of people you never thought to see.

A very satisfying read! Well Done.

Also by J. A. Jance: Hour of the Hunter
J. P. Beaumont Mysteries: Until Proven Guilty; Injustice for All; Trail by Fury; Taking the Fifth; Improbable Cause; A More Perfect Union; Dismissed with Prejudice; Minor in Possession; Payment in Kind; Without Due Process; Failure to Appear; Lying in Wait & Name Withheld.
Joanna Brady Mysteries: Desert Heat; Tombstone Courage; Shoot/Don't Shoot; Dead to Rights; Skeleton Canyon & Rattlesnake Crossing.
(11/21/99)

Rebecca