Customer Reviews

Lying in Wait: A J.P. Beaumont Mystery

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

 

 

This book suffers from the lack of a good editor. There were two illogical rough spots in the book that should have been caught before going to print. Sorry, Ms. Jance.

J.A. Jance is back in form with this J.P. Beaumont gem. There is a new partner to work with, grisly murders to solve, nazi war criminals and helicopter chases. What more could you want?

Usually books in the J.P. Beaumont series written by J.A. Janceare thoughtful, well-planned, and exciting. Lying in Wait is a hugedisappointment! How did she ever throw that ending together? So many unanswered questions. The whole ending was one big unanswered question. For example: 1) Where has Nazi Hans Gebhardt been for 30 years? Why did it take 30 years for this plot to happen? How did he connect up with Denise Whitney; what was their relationship? Did he actually kill his own son and why? None of this is ever explained and this is involving only one of the characters! 2) Who was the bigamist? What is that whole thing about? It was alluded to and never explained. 3) What happened to the gold? Did the Jewish Nazi hunters really steal it back or was it still in Gunther's house? It was all left up in the air. So unsatisfying for the reader. 4)Why were the other Nazis tortured and killed? Should we assume Hans did that or was it Erika or who? And why did it even happen - all because of the gold? More unanswered questions. I hope Jance never writes anything this ambiguous ever again!

Brutal,, shocking and ritualistic murders throw J.P. Beaumount and his new partner, Sue Danielson into an investigation that has more questions than answers. Else Didriken disappeared from Beau's life thirty years earlier to return as the widow of one of the victims.
The pace is pure Jance, but the trip is convoluted and many threads never unravel the reader is left wondering if a sequel is planned or if answers were dropped on the cutting room floor.
LYING IN WAIT is a fair read for J.P.'s fans.Writing as a Small BusinessHaintsTravelers

J.A. Jance is a prolific and reliable author, but this book is not up to her usual standards. The murders in this book are brutal and both follow the same m.o. A person is burned to death and each finger and toe are severed. J.P. Beaumont and his new partner, Sue Danielson, do enough investigating to make a connection with a Nazi past and some missing gold from a German death camp. Perhaps in an effort to infuse something more exotic into this series, Ms. Jance sacrifices some of the basics of good writing. There are indeed, many unanswered questions at the end. I began to wonder if I had drifted off somewhere in the reading process! We do catch the usual glimpses of the attractive environs of Seattle and J.P. Beaumont is more human and more attractive as a recovering alcoholic rather than a man who reaches for a McNaughton's every time the going gets tough.

As a recent JA Jance fan, I have read all but her latest 'Breach of Duty". This was my least favorite. The storyline had too many nooks and crannies (false leads)- normally the spice of Beaumont - which were focused on for far too long. It is lovely that the names in this book got there by making charitable donations - but perhaps the size of the donation correlated directly with the amount of focus which maybe lead to this "lull" time?

Product arrived on time and as described. Why does a review have to be a certain length? I want to protest Amazon forcing me to write more than I feel NECESSARY! I feel others should do the same. I also resent constant emails "reminding" me I forgot to review my purchases.

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.

While I much prefer Beaumont to Jance's other character Joanna Brady, this Beaumont novel falls a bit flat. It's fast paced. The story becomes a bit predictable. The twists in the story are just not surprising enough. It's an oldie (1994). It's worth a quick read, just don't look for a major thriller in this one

Every time I get a JP Beaumont book to read I enjoy it. This book is no different. JA Jance does a great job at describing everything. I look forward to getting the other books that I haven't read yet. I hope she never stops writing about him. She makes him a real person.