Justice Denied: A J. P. Beaumont Novel (J. P. Beaumont Mysteries)

J. A. Jance

Edition	Hardcover
List Price	$25.95
	$17.13 (Save 33%)

Published by	William Morrow
Release date	2007-07-24
ISBN	0060540923
Availability	Usually ships in 24 hours

The investigation of LaShawn Tompkins's murder seems straightforward enough. Upon his release from death row, the ex-drug dealer returned to his old neighborhood, where he was gunned down on his mother's doorstep. Just another case of turf warfare.

At least that's what it looks like on the surface to Seattle investigator J. P. Beaumont, who's been handed the assignment under the strictest confidence. But as Beau starts digging, the situation becomes more complicated than he'd thought. It appears that LaShawn really had turned over a new leaf at the King Street Mission and his murder was premeditated. Someone had targeted the man for death.

Meanwhile, Beau's lover and fellow cop, Mel Soames, is given her own hush-hush investigation. A routine check on registered sex offenders has revealed a disturbing pattern: they're dying off at an alarming rate, and not all due to natural causes. Details of the latest death suggest an inside job, and Mel isn't letting this go.

Suddenly, Mel's investigation becomes entangled with Beau's, and the two begin to uncover a nightmarish conspiracy that could involve people in high places?including their own top brass.

Customer Reviews - courtesy of Amazon.com ( Marked4Sale.com is not responsible for review content )

Not her best, but still good

I've been a fan of J.A. Jance since she was writing the Beaumont books as paperback originals back in the early 80s. I can still remember when the owner of the local mystery bookstore (long since gone) showed me the inside cover of one of Jance's paperbacks, five years or so after I'd read the first one, and we all were shocked to find the author was a woman. I've been reading the series ever since, and I think the author has, if anything, gotten better with time.

Justice Denied has to put Jance well into the 20s, in terms of the number of books in the series. She's got to be one of the more prolific and long-lived authors in the mystery genre, topped only by behemoths like Robert B. Parker, who has written Spenser novels since private eyes wore hats and smoked (though Spenser never did, of course). These days, Jance's books are set into a routine now, as all series books are at some point. Jance's main character, J.P. "Beau" Beaumont is a now-retired Seattle homicide detective. He currently works as an investigator for the Special Homicide Investigative Team (I'll let you work out the acronym on your own) out of the state Attorney General's office.

Beau's current case involves a pair of mysteries. First, he's been ordered to investigate a particular homicide in a run-down neighborhood in Seattle's inner city. The victim was a long-term convict and all-around bad guy who, it turned out, hadn't committed the crime for which he'd been convicted. He'd probably committed hundreds of other crimes, but not the one rape/murder, from which he'd been exonerated by DNA. While in prison he'd found God, and when he was released he had joined a church which did outreach in the community, trying to minister to gang members, pimps, and prostitutes. One day, while visiting his elderly grandmother and caring for her, someone shot him...and the Attorney General wants to make sure that there's sufficient attention paid to the case.

Meanwhile, Beau's significant other, who also works for the Team, is checking up on sex offenders, and discovers a disturbing pattern--too many of them are dead. When Beau begins to help her in the investigation, a disturbing pattern emerges, and of course he wonders if history is repeating itself. Those who have read the first book in her series will know what I'm talking about.

I really enjoyed this book, like the characters of course, and enjoyed the interplay between them. By now the series holds few surprises other than plot twists, but of course there's fun in that. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it.

Justice Denied

I love to read about JP Beaumont, his new girlfriend took over all conversations, roles, work. The story revolved around the woman not JP. I want to read about JP, get rid of the girl friend or keep her in the background. J. A. Jance already has two other main characters who are women in her two other novel series. Please keep JP. Thank you. Iva Jeane

Justice denied

Being a fan of all J A Jance mysteries I enjoyed this book. It lives up to the excitement and energy of all the JP Beaumont mysteries. Jance has a style of writing that keeps you enthralled beginning to end. You don't want to put the book down until the last page, and then you are still longing for more.

J. P. Beaumont is back and better than ever

J. P. Beaumont has been given a top-secret special assignment by his boss to look into the murder of an ex-con released when DNA evidence proved him innocent. Mel, J.P.'s live-in girlfriend and partner, has been given an assignment to investigate released sex offenders who have died under suspicious circumstances. Life at home gets very tense when J. P. has to keep his investigation from Mel.

Soon their cases collide and there are lots of strains put on their relationship as well. Can they untangle the web of these deaths and put things right at home as well?

There was a point I didn't like this series as much as I used to. That has long since passed. This series just keeps getting better and better. I can't wait for the next book. Unfortunately since she writes three series, it'll be a bit of a wait. Luckily I like the other two series as well.

J. P. Beaumont has really grown over the years. I'm glad. I didn't like it when he was an alcoholic. He has gotten his life together and his family as well. I really like Mel and hope that she will be around for quite a while. I can't wait to see where this series goes next!

I highly recommend this book and series as well as her other two series, too.

First and Last

This is the first J. A. Jance novel I have read, and it will certainly be the last. I found it sophomoric, banal, and positively boring. The characters were shallow, with a very poor attempt to bestow them with wit and humor. Please, enough with the assinine acronyms!