Long Time Gone [Mass Market Paperback]

J. A. Jance (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 25, 2006

Fifty years ago, when she was five, Sister Mary Katherine witnessed something terrible . . .

A former Seattle policeman now working for the Washington State Attorney's Special Homicide Investigation Team, J.P. Beaumont has been hand-picked to lead the investigation into a half-century-old murder. An eyewitness to the crime, a middle-aged nun, has now recalled grisly, forgotten details while undergoing hypnotherapy.

It's a case as cold as the grave, and it's running headlong into another that's tearing at Beau's heart: the vicious slaying of his former partner's ex-wife. What's worse, his rapidly unraveling friend is the prime suspect.

Caught in the middle of a lethal conspiracy that spans two generations and a killing that hits too close to home -- targeted by a vengeful adversary and tempted by a potential romance that threatens to reawaken his personal demons -- Beaumont may suddenly have more on his plate than he can handle, and far too much to survive.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Two family tragedies 50 years apart challenge J.P. Beaumont, Seattle investigator for the Washington Special Homicide Investigation Team, in bestseller Jance's taut, colorful 17th entry in a series that started 20 years ago with Until Proven Guilty. The state attorney general assigns Beaumont a cold case after a nun, Sister Mary Katherine, reports horrific dreams that indicate a long-repressed memory of witnessing a murder. But he's distracted when the former wife of his best friend, Ron Peters, is killed and suspicion falls on Ron's family, causing havoc. Jance is smart enough not to combine the two disparate cases in anything but locale, but she forces Beaumont to choose between friendship and duty—his relationship with the distraught Peters family forbids him from working their case, but he aches to help. The clever and complex plot line involving the nun shows Jance at her best, revealing a coverup that still threatens after many decades. The Peters plot is a frightening lesson in miscommunication, and though the reader may suspect the murderer early on, the stunning motive is only slowly revealed. While Jance writes without the humor of an Ed McBain or Robert B. Parker, fans of those authors will appreciate Beaumont.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

“Taut . . . entertaining.” (Entertainment Weekly )

Praise for J.A. Jance:“Jance delivers a devilish page-turner.” (People )

“Suspenseful, action-packed.” (Dallas Morning News )

“Crisply written and filled with suspense.” (Tucson Citizen )

“J.A. Jance knows suspense. Her latest thriller shines. . . .Jance is addictive.” (Statesman Journal (Oregon) )

“Taut, colorful...The clever and complex plot line...shows Jance at her best.” (Publishers Weekly )

“J.A. Jance does not disappoint her fans.” (Washington Times )

“Credible and entertaining.” (Orlando Sentinel )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Avon (July 25, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380724359
• ISBN-13: 978-0380724352
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #358,033 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

J.A. Jance is the top 10 New York Times bestselling author of the Joanna Brady series; the J. P. Beaumont series; three interrelated thrillers featuring the Walker family; and Edge of Evil, the first in a series featuring Ali Reynolds. Born in South Dakota and brought up in Bisbee, Arizona, Jance lives with her husband in Seattle, Washington, and Tucson, Arizona.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LISTENERS ARE HELD IN THIS READER'S SPELL, July 29, 2005

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Long Time Gone: A Novel of Suspense (Audio CD)

Sometimes even the passage of half a century cannot bury the secrets of a horrific crime. That's what J.P. "Beau" Beaumont learns in this thriller from the estimable J.A. Jance.

Readers will remember that Beau has put in 20 years with the Seattle Police Department. He's now with the Washington State Attorney's Special Homicide Investigation Team, and finds himself dubbed to track a cold case, a very cold case. A nun, Sister Mary Katherine, has undergone hypnotherapy during which she recalled a heinous crime, a murder, that she witnessed when she was a child. Evidently fear had kept this memory from surfacing, and fearful she should be because while the victim is long dead the complex plot behind the killing is not.

As if that weren't enough to keep Beau busy the former wife of his best friend, Ron Peters, is killed and the Peters family seems to be emerging as prime subjects.

Jance is at the peak of her powers with the seventeenth in this series, and Harry Chase is a sterling reader. His calm, distinct voice ranges easily from sincere to sinister holding listeners in his spell.

- Gail Cooke

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is Jance at her best!, July 31, 2005

By 

Karen Potts (Lake Jackson, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Long Time Gone: A Novel of Suspense (Hardcover)

J.A. Jance masterfully weaves two plot lines in this, her latest J.P. Beaumont book. The first plot has to do with a nun who is beginning to remember that she was the witness to a murder when she was a 5-year-old girl. Her memory is being encouraged by a hypnotherapist who comes to Beau for his help on the police aspects of the case. The second plot has to do with Beau's old friend and former partner Ron Peters, whose ex-wife has just been killed. Both Ron and his daughter Heather are implicated in the murder, and Beau is determined to find the real killer. Mercifully these two plots never intersect, but instead run as two separate stories which are skillfully told in one book. Many of Beau's friends and some of his enemies show up in the novel, along with a relatively new character whose presence promises some romance for the aging lawman. Jance fans will be pleased by this entry in the series.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great plotting and altogether good mystery, December 2, 2005

By 

M. C. Crammer (Decatur, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Long Time Gone: A Novel of Suspense (Hardcover)

I listened to the unabridged CD version and found the reader a bit distracting -- strange accents on some of the characters (Peters, for some reason, sounded Irish, and Lars was over the top -- like a caricature -- Scandanavian). The voice he puts to J.P. is just too John Wayne for my taste -- when I read the books in the series, I have in my head someone less gruff and more polished.

Oh yes, the book. I thought it was consistent with the quality I've come to expect from Jance. The story begins when special homicide investigator Beaumont is asked to speak to a woman who has a memory uncovered in hypnosis of a murder she observed as a child. Beaumont is at first skeptical until he watches the videotapes, and then he begins to believe she really did see something. Before you know it, he's investigating this fifty year old murder. At the same time, Beaumont's best friend/former partner is under investigation for murder -- the man's ex-wife -- with whom he is having a custody fight -- is murdered and the crime is linked to him in ways beyond the obvious motive. Beaumont's special investigation division is investigating this murder because Peters, the former partner, is a police officer. Beaumont butts heads with various people in the course of both investigations. And oh yes, there's a budding romance for Beaumont.

J.P. Beaumont fans will really like this book.