Payment in Kind [Mass Market Paperback]

J.A. Jance (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 27, 2004 | Series: J. P. Beaumont Mysteries

Top ten New York Times bestselling author J.A. Jance brings us another exhilarating thriller featuring Seattle homicide detective J.P. Beaumont.

It looks like a classic crime of passion to Detective J.P. Beaumont: two corpses found lovingly entwined in a broom closet of the Seattle School District building. The prime suspect, Pete Kelsey, admits his slain spouse was no novice at adultery, yet he swears he had nothing to do with the brutal deaths of the errant school official and her clergyman-turned-security guard companion. Beau believes him, but there′s something the much sinned-upon widower′s not telling-and that spells serious trouble still to come. Because the secret that Pete′s protecting is even hotter than extra-marital sex.and it could prove more lethal than murder.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In his ninth appearance, Detective J. P. Beaumont of the Seattle Police is swamped with problems: a pair of corpses at the public school district office, and the unwelcome assistance of self-promoting Detective Paul Kramer. Marcia Kelsey, a district employee, and Alvin Chambers, a security guard, are found partially naked, legs entwined, dead of gunshot wounds. A note found nearby says, "A, See you tonight at the usual time. M." When Pete Kelsey learns that his wife may have been having an affair with Chambers, he calmly observes that she had always had "outside interests." Kramer is itching to pin the murders on Kelsey, and when the husband's name and identity turn out to be fake, the overly ambitious detective is ready to press charges. But Beaumont learns how 20 years of mostly innocent deceit have finally come to bear deadly fruit. This entertaining work moves along at a sprightly pace, sprinkling delicious clues along the way, but readers may conclude that Jance ( Minor in Possession ) isn't playing quite fair--Beaumont misses a crucial identification that a peripheral character makes easily late in the book. Author tour.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Solid Entertainment"--" Kirkus Review"Believable And Intense"--" West Coast Review of Books"Jance's Artistry Keeps The Reader Guessing -- And Caring."--" Publishers Weekly

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Avon; later printing edition (July 27, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380758369
• ISBN-13: 978-0380758364
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #168,716 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

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another excellent book in the Beaumont series, March 30, 2006

By 

KGANNON "kgannon" (Lake Forest, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Payment in Kind (Mass Market Paperback)

I really enjoyed this book. Like the others in the Beaumont series, this was a quick read. The plot was entertaining. Just when you thought you knew who the killer was there was another slight twist. I also enjoyed learning more about J.P. Beaumont as the story was peppered with a few more details about his character. I would definately recommend this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining reading, June 30, 2000

By 

Karen Potts (Lake Jackson, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Payment in Kind (Mass Market Paperback)

In this addition to this series, J.P. has returned from a rehab center in the Arizona desert to resume crime-fighting in Seattle. During a very unusual blizzard, a double homocide occurs at the Seattle School District's administrative offices. The head of Labor Relations and a security guard are found murdered in a closet. More than the murder victims come out of the closet as J.P. discovers some family secrets of the deceased. The reader is led through twists and turns in the plot until the true identity of the killer is uncovered. This is vintage Jance!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A solid read, familiar territory, February 10, 2001

By 

Robert H. Nunnally Jr. "gurdonark" (Allen, TX United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Payment in Kind (Mass Market Paperback)

This novel was an airplane read for me--a solid three hour flight plus a few moments at the hotel the next morning to finish it up. The plotting and characterization were solid, but not particularly novel. The "extras" added to the plot are in the main eccentric and interesting, as good mystery cameo players should be. Ms. Jance's protagonist was somewhat disappointing--a suitable sleuth, but some of the backstory just didn't work for me in this one. I'd pick up another Jance if I were in the airport and needed a good read, but I wouldn't go out of my way to locate the rest of this series. What do you get when you cross a dash of Christie, a dash of Hammett, a trace of Paretsky, and a lot of those modern "suburbanesque" detectives....something readable, certainly, but not quite a top flight mystery. If you need a good read, it's here, but it's a flawed work, and the villain is obvious from way too early in.