Customer Reviews

Birds of Prey

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

After many years as a homocide detective with the Seattle PD, J.P. "Beau" Beaumont has now retired. In this addition to the series, he is on a cruise to Alaska as a chaperone to his 86 year old grandmother, Beverly and her 87 year old husband (and Beau's AA sponsor)Lars. Early in the cruise, a wealthy divorcee goes missing and a murder plot is suspected. Beau of course can't relax and immediately gets involved in several plots. There are a number of side plots involving cruise passengers and another murder. Lars' reminiscences of his Alaska days as a fisherman are also quite entertaining. It does seem to be a stretch that Beau as a civilian has as much access to crime scenes as a policeman. He is eager to help and get involved which shows he has not accomodated himself to the role of retired ex-cop.

The story proceeds at a fast pace and was entertaining but still was not of the higher quality of some of the earlier J.P. Beaumont series. I look forward to reading Partners in Crime, when Beau works for the Washington State Attorney General's office and teams up with Joanna Brady......

This was my first J.A. Jance novel, and if I had only this to go on, I probably wouldn't read another. Fortunately, other readers here have indicated it may be weaker than her usual work, so I'll give her another shot or two.

First off, what is the reason for the title of the book? Okay, it's set on an Alaska cruise, and birds of prey (such as Bald Eagles) are abundant in Alaska. However, birds are not even mentioned in the book, and, as far as metaphors go, I don't believe any of the murder suspects on board could be thought of as predators.

Second, I didn't believe Beau's explanation for being on the cruise ship in the first place. His newlywed grandma wanted him there in case she or her groom took ill or something. Don't they have medical doctors on board (or in nearby ports) for that very reason? What more could her grandson provide? And even if you swallow that, why would Beau sit at a different table from the octogenarians at dinner? He says it's to give them their privacy, but heck, he's already on their honeymoon cruise with them, and it's not like they're not sitting with a bunch of other people anyway. Jance's explanations for things that have to be a certain way to further the plot are too thin -- I could see right through them. I wish she'd found another way -- surely Beau could have been seated separately due to a cruiseline screw-up or something.

Another thing: Beau takes an immediate dislike to Margaret Featherman, and it's hard to see why. He goes on and on about how obnoxious she is when they meet at dinner the first night (they're seated at the same table). But try as I did to find evidence of her awful behavior, all I could find her doing before Beau expresses his dislike is 1) ask him what he does for a living, and 2) indicate the empty chair next to him and ask if his wife will be joining them. How dare she! Margaret exhibits behavior later that is indeed questionable -- she just doesn't do so before Beau makes up his mind about her.

Finally, the reader who earlier questioned the ability of one victim to fall off a cliff from inside a tunnel was right on the nose. That IS how it happened. I wondered about it myself, but as logistical things are not my strong suit, I doubted my own conclusions.

This book is not without its charms, but it is flawed. I can recommend it, with reservations, to diehard Jance fans who never miss her work, and to readers who are interested in one of the settings (the cruise ship OR Alaska). Jance is not a very descriptive writer, but I enjoyed reading about these places anyway.

I was born, raised, and currently reside in the Pacific Northwest. I go out of my way to find and read fiction stories about the Pacific Northwest especially when J A Jance writes the story. I like to read about my house. J A Jance writes about my house, she lives there too. Actually she lives in a more expensive part of the house. Just the same I consider her to be my neighbor. (We both belong to the same writer's association so I really do see her around the house on occasion.)

I will not review the plot of Birds of Prey. Everyone else has done that or will do that. I'm not going to say that J A Jance is a great writer or that she a wonderful storyteller. We already know this. What I am going to tell you is that when I read a book about my home I want it to be entertaining and I want it to be accurate. I know that J A Jance will never fail me in that regard and so I read her books.

My advice to you; from an author, an avid reader, and a Seattleite (that's what they call us web-footed moss backed humans up here) is to put Birds of Prey on your "must read" list. It is excellent

After twenty long years on the Seattle police force, J.P. Beaumont retires. The traumatic incident from last year on top of his ex-wife's death proves too much for J.P. Though he has a good job waiting for him, J.P. chaperones his step-grandfather and grandmother on an Alaskan cruise. The two octogenarians feel they need a much younger person to handle matters if something happens to one of them.

Though cruise ships are supposed to be relaxing, Beau becomes involved in one incident after another. He obtains proof that a patron, J.P.'s dining companion, was dumped overboard by persons unknown. The FBI asks J.P. to keep an eye on the participants of a medical conference because some of the guests might be targets of extremists. One of the individuals J.P. guards almost dies and an Alzheimer's patient goes overboard and dies on a train ride under suspicious circumstances. J.P. begins to seek the identity of the perpetrator before someone else dies.

J.P. Beaumont has entertained readers for years and the his latest starring role in BIRDS OF PREY still contain his sardonic humor, compassion to his elderly grandparents, and friendly courtesy to the ship's patrons who make him feel like a real hero. He easily returns to his police role when strange things occur and he is so good at it, the Feds enlist his assistance. The audience will want J.P. starring in another tale soon.

Harriet Klausner

Jonas Piedmont Beaumont (Beau) has retired from the Seattle PD, homicide. Now he's on an Alaskan Honeymoon Cruise with his 86 year old grandmother and her blushing new 87 year old groom as a kind of Chaperone/EMT. He's hoping to have a good time and forget all the corpses in the closet of his former occupation. Such is not to pass. A group of socio-medico zealots calling themselves "Leave It To God," are homicidally opposed to Doctors, researchers and patients pursing modern medical advancements and heroic measures that save lives that prior to the advancements would have been left in God's hands. Are they stalking attendees of the medical conference on board?

This is not the "Love Boat." People are dying and Beau is back on the case. This was my first reading of J.A. Jance and I enjoyed the cruise. Alaskan fun facts, history, and travelogue are included at no extra charge. The Quixotic quest is on!

If you are an avid Jance fan and have come to like and expect fast-paced action and lots of excitement from the "Beaumont" books, don't buy this one. I usually can't quit reading a Beaumont book. I've stayed up well past my bedtime on many, many, many occasions because I just couldn't put the book down. I will usually spend hours reading the whole book in one setting. But this book.....well, it just doesn't cut it. I've started and stopped it on several occasions to read something else and only came back to it when I needed "filler" reading. For one thing, several characters have undergone major personality changes. Beverly, who was previously sort of a mousy, quiet, obedient character has suddenly become fiesty and mouthy and full of independence. And I scarcely recognized Lars. And the plot is too contrived and the whole Kiksadi, Quicksady, Quixote thing is really stupid. If this is the first Beaumont book you've read, please read some of the older books. You will enjoy them. But don't read this one.

I enjoy Jance's plotlines. HOWEVER, I do wish someone would pay attention to how her series evolve.
With Beaumont, she loses track of her characters ages and time doesn't flow. For instance, in one book a 6 yr old boy is rescued from a closet. THEN, a couple years later (in Beau's life) there is a "sulky teenager" attening a funeral. THE SAME CHILD has aged many years in just 2 years.
This type of thing happens so often in her books, both Beau and Brady. Lack of cohesion ruins the "movie" in one's head.... drops us right back in the reality of the theater.
PLEASE use an editor and a timeline !!!!

Having read all of the previous J.P. Beaumont mysteies, I couln't wait for the publication of Birds of Prey. The story was well written but the character had changed. While Beaumont was a member of the Seattle Police Department, he was a better than average detective. Judith Jance made each book exiciting and each novel was distinctive in its presentation of the case. Even though the Birds of Prey was well written, just the fact that the reader knew that Beaumont was no longer a member of the force, tended to down play the story. While Jance kept the story moving and gave great attention to unfolding the mystery, I think most of her readers would agree that J.P. Beuamont needs rejoin the force or at least hire out in some form of law enforcement. Hopefully, if Jance writes any more J.P. Beaumont novels the main character will once again be sworn.

A retired cop, chaperoning his newly married grandmother on her honeymoon, travels to Alaska on a cruise. Sounds like a pretty old group that nothing much should happen to. However after the first sitting at dinner as the cruise gets underway, our cop hero finds himself stuck in the middle of a group of old friends who may or may not like each other that much even though they are traveling together. When one of the women turns up missing and then is reported to have gone overboard, the suspense begins to pick up. Having taken the same Alaskan cruise, I found the bood a fun read, but the characters could have been a bit more intense. This was my first Jance novel and I will try one more.

This was the first book I read by J.A. Jance. I enjoy a good detective story. J.P. Beaumont was a likeable character; a retired cop. (It's funny how a cop tries to go on vacation or retire, but the crime always find the cop anyway). The setting on a cruise ship bound for Alaska made this story different from most.

The story was interesting but I felt bogged down by so much background and detail on non-essential people. There seemed to be a lot of setting up of things we just didn't need to know. Then later in the story a character, who we have no background on, just plops in and suddenly becomes very important. This was frustrating. Why spend so much time setting up all those other characters, then not set this one up at all?

I was disappointed with the ending. It came too fast without enough information to back up the resolution.