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Rating: 
Summary: JP Beaumont rocks!
Review: All of Jance's books are great, but the JP Beaumont eries is by far my favorite! Check them all out, they are great reads!
Rating: 
Summary: A kinder, gentler Beaumont
Review: As this series progresses, Detective J.P. Beaumont shows his human side more and more. As the book begins, Beau is babysitting his former partner Ron Peters' daughters (on New Year's Eve, no less.) In the course of the book he is saddened by the impending death of his ex-wife, and has some nice moments with her second husband. He also sheds tears over the death of one of the book's central characters. There are no tears shed over the intial murder in the book--that of Donald Wolf, a biotech corporation executive. He is a womanizer, a rapist, and all around bad guy. The identity of the murderer seems obvious at first, but Jance manages to create new possibilities as the book progresses. Unlike her previous book, Lying in Wait, Jance ties up the loose ends and provides an unusual and strangely satifying end. If this is ever made into a movie, Katherine Hepburn should play Grace Highsmith.
Rating:
Summary: A kinder, gentler Beaumont
Review: As this series progresses, Detective J.P. Beaumont shows his human side more and more. As the book begins, Beau is babysitting his former partner Ron Peters' daughters (on New Year's Eve, no less.) In the course of the book he is saddened by the impending death of his ex-wife, and has some nice moments with her second husband. He also sheds tears over the death of one of the book's central characters. There are no tears shed over the intial murder in the book--that of Donald Wolf, a biotech corporation executive. He is a womanizer, a rapist, and all around bad guy. The identity of the murderer seems obvious at first, but Jance manages to create new possibilities as the book progresses. Unlike her previous book, Lying in Wait, Jance ties up the loose ends and provides an unusual and strangely satifying end. If this is ever made into a movie, Katherine Hepburn should play Grace Highsmith.
Rating:
Summary: Fair to Middling Mystery
Review: Buried in all of J.P. Beaumont's personal problems in this novel is a halfway decent mystery. Between problems with his family, a child-services investigation, the insufferable Paul Kramer, his superiors in the Seattle P.D. (who seem to have forgotten that Detective Beaumont is a top-notch investigator), rush hour traffic, and the siren song of a MacNaughton's bottle, J.A. Jance somehow manages to shoehorn a triple murder into Beau's life. What any of it has to do with the blood-dripping icicle on the cover is beyond me.Other reviewers here at Amazon have commented on how overcrowded the book is with Beau's personal problems, and they're right. Either the family crisis or the child-services subplots could have been eliminated and the story would be stronger for it. Either would have sufficed to add depth to Beau's character, but the two of them together is overkill. With all the extra-vocational content in the book, we are left with quite a few loose ends; very little of Kramer & Arnold's side of the investigation makes it into the story, and Beau changes objectives suddenly without having time to go back and follow up on earlier leads. It goes without saying that "detective" Paul Kramer is going to cause problems, but for Sergeant Watkins and Captain Powell to heap on the grief makes little sense (good natured ribbing about Beau's transsexual fan club would have been appropriate; they should have at least heard his side of the story before climbing down his throat); it would be one thing if Beau was an underperformer, but the unceasing gruff boss shtick made no sense. One thing that Jance does do well in the book is convey a sense of how different police work is from what's shown on TV (how different it really is from the book's presentation is another question). From needing evidence ahead of getting an arrest warrant to ballistics and DMV registration checks, Beau does a good job of doing the routine business of police work. If he could learn to do periodic "saves" of his police reports on his laptop, his life would be significantly happier (okay, not in a week with as many problems as this story presents, but on a less-hectic week it'd help a lot). Beau manages to do a lot of sitting and listening in this book, which isn't very exciting - even with handguns falling out of purses. If that translates into "boring" for you, then this may not be among your favorite novels. All in all, I liked this book. It had a little bit of everything, with a bit much of only a few things. Even with all the sitting and talking I found it a quick read. Your mileage may vary, but as far as the book's conclusion is concerned, getting there was half the fun.
Rating:
Summary: Very Good
Review: I enjoyed this book very much. The one thing that is a little different about this Beaumont book is that you see a sensitive side of him not seen in the rest of the series
Rating: 
Summary: Not worth the time.
Review: I started reading this book on a camp trip, and only finished it because it was the only book I had. The author confuses the plot line by the introductions of too many characters, still adding them 2/3rds of the way through. Also, there are 2 plot lines of the detective's personel life which have nothing to do with the main story, with one of the plot lines being totally unbelievable. I don't recommend it. Don Stevens
Rating: 
Summary: not her best work
Review: I've read every J.A. Jance book, but this most recent one lacked the action, mystery/intrigue, and fun the other books had. This was entertaining, but I still liked her first book the best.
Rating:
Summary: Not worth the time.
Review: If you are like me, wondering why no modern authors can resist sprinkling in many gratuitus curse words like so many R-rated movies, then maybe you should try this one. The leading character, Detective J. P. Beaumont is a flawed hero with real human qualities. His life is in turmoil as he juggles the evolving multiple homicide with a number of side issues. I wonder how he could sleep. Most of the book is fairly believable. However, I could not get into the Grace Highsmith character, and her performance at the end was certainly "over the top." In the end, Beaumont wraps up the complicated story and the remnants of his personal life, leaving the reader satisfied.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty good crime drama - check it out
Review: If you are like me, wondering why no modern authors can resist sprinkling in many gratuitus curse words like so many R-rated movies, then maybe you should try this one. The leading character, Detective J. P. Beaumont is a flawed hero with real human qualities. His life is in turmoil as he juggles the evolving multiple homicide with a number of side issues. I wonder how he could sleep. Most of the book is fairly believable. However, I could not get into the Grace Highsmith character, and her performance at the end was certainly "over the top." In the end, Beaumont wraps up the complicated story and the remnants of his personal life, leaving the reader satisfied.
Rating:
Summary: This is an excellent book, in usual Jance style.
Review: Name Withheld, is the third Jance book I have read and while Trial by Fury was by the best so far, this book was excellent in its own right. It makes JP Beaumont seem very real and likable. The plot twists and turns make you keep reading and overall it makes me want to go to the bookstore and grab another Jance book just to see what Beaumont will be up to next.
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