Customer Reviews

Improbable Cause

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Often, either late in a "mystery author's" career or posthumously, the author is found by the "snobberati" at the NY Times or one of the weekly newsmags. Since these critics would hate to be caught reading mysteries, the author is labelled a "NOVELIST" by the critics and given a big push in the media. It happened to Raymond Chandler, Ross MacDonald, and John D. MacDonald among others. why wait until a deserving author is old or dead? It's time to give early attention to J A Jance. Her work transcends the genre and becomes a tale of characters-characters as well developed as those of a fine Dickens novel. In Improbable Cause, Jance weaves these characters into the story surrounding a dentist who is a spouse abuser. Why he was killed is plain. Who killed him becomes an investigation of sympathetic characters, none of whom you want to see arrested for the crime. When an ex-con is implicated, Beaumont finds himself at odds with his superiors who would rather settle for the obvious and easy suspect. In a rather unique ending, Beaumont solves the case and at investigation's end is covered with elephant manure and commended by the mayor. Although I had the killer figured early on (gut feeling, not clue finding) , the story carried me to the satisfying conclusion.

I genuinely enjoyed this book. J.P. Beaumont is one of my favorite detective characters. While he has the usual jaded outlook on life of a lot of fictional detectives, he does transcend the genre and is rather a complex person instead of the stereotypical hardboiled cop. In this book, the victim is distinctly unlikeable and the suspects are almost uniformly sympathetic. It's the rare mystery where you want the reader to know the answer, but not necessarily the police. The reason I marked this one down a bit is because Beaumont seemed a little flatter somehow here and the writing somehow did not draw me in as usual. While one would certainly not expect a "dark night of the soul" in every book, one also should not expect to see him flattening out to become "everydetective" either. If you're a Jance fan, this one is definitely entertaining and worth reading, though. If you're new to her books, I woul suggest starting with the first book in the series - Until Proven Guilty.

While I usually enjoy reading about J.A.Jance's hero, J.P. Beaumont, I was disappointed by the predictable plot and resolution of this novel. As a current Seattleite, I relish Jance's descriptions of my fair city which are both amusing and accurate. Try others of Jance's novels, but I would recommend skipping Improbable Cause.

A dentist is found dead in his own dental chair. There is no shortage of suspects as he was disliked by many people for many different reasons. The trick is to find the real killer. The usual false leads are detailed until Beau solves the case. J.A. Jance is a habit-forming author. When you've read one of her books it makes you want to read the rest. This is not the best of the series, but it's not the worst either.

I really enjoy the Detective Beaumont books and this one was among the best. I recommend it to anyone enjoying detective series.

In this installment of the J.P. Beaumont series, J.A. Jance gives us a well-crafted mystery, with many layers, and plenty of twists and turns. But she also allows us a further "peek under the tent" of the main character, which increases the enjoyment of these books even more and leaves us seeking the next one in the series.

This time, Beau is summoned to a dentist's office, where the professional that generally makes the patients fear for their "life", has been murdered in a gruesome fashion and left to simmer for a couple of days. Right away, we get several people that have motive for murdering the dentist, and some of them are clearly doctoring their tale. A carpet installer was arguing with the victim before the dentist's demise, and there is a carpeting tool with blood on it. The assistant seems to be hiding something. The victim was separated from his wife, who claimed he beat her, and she was scheduled to meet the victim the day of the murder. And there are many other people that are not bothered in the least by the events.

So J.P. and his official and unofficial partners, Big Al Lindstrom and Peters (helping from the hospital where he is recovering), start their quest to find the killer. In the process, Beaumont has to deal with the ever-annoying Maxwell Cole, who is back with his personal attacks through the newspaper column. Of course, there is also a female that Beau will have to figure out. In the last book his bad streak with women was not reverted, but at least the ending was not as bad as in previous cases. Will this be the time when his luck changes? The information we get on this book regarding the detective's relationship with his ex-wife and her betrayal will allow us to understand better some of the interactions we have seen in the past books.

This book is another ride on a fast and furious roller coaster. I am bruised after reading it, because Jance has pulled the rug from under my feet so many times in this one that I have lost count of the times I was wrong about who did it. I don't mind the bumps though, because the end result is really satisfying. The only thing that I found a little over the top in this book was the way in which the top brass in the police reacted to Beau's decisions throughout the case. I understand the intent of showing the detective as a guy that has no regard for authority, but showing that authority in such an unreal light took a little away from this story. Anyway, the final result is still good enough to leave us satisfied, so do not miss it.

Great book by a great author. I love her writing and anyone buying her books needs to look at her website and read the books in order.

Another one of J.A. Jance's book that is hard to put down. She brings the characters to life, and you feel their fears and love.

Dr. Frederick Nielson is murdered in his office and isn't discovered for several days. J.P. Beaumont catches a case loaded with suspects who have all the reason in the world to avoid telling the truth.
Beau gets help from his partner Big Al Lindstrom and his former partner, but the job is anything but simple.
A strong police procedural that is a little heavy on the department kingpins opposition to the manner of the investigation. Excellent addition to an interesting series.
Writing as a Small BusinessQualifying Laps: A Brewster County NovelSweet Man Is Gone (Five Star Mystery Series) (Five Star Mystery Series) (Five Star Mystery Series)