Customer Reviews

Payment In Kind

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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!

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.

J.A. Jance's "Payment in Kind" is a great story. Again featuring one of the author's main protagonists, J.P. Beaumont, Jance weaves a spellnbinding trail that keeps the reader on edge and suspecting almost all of the characters in the story at one point or another; just as you are absolutely sure you know who did it -- you discover it wasn't them! Keeps you moving to the very last chapter.

One of the finest mystery writers today; a wonderful charcter (literally and figuratively) in Beaumont!

PAYMENT IN KIND by J.A. Jance is another installment in her fascinating J.P. Beaumount series. What isn't there to like about Beau? He's good at his job with just the right amount of cynicism. He doesn't have to work, but does because he cares about the victims and justice. He takes his problems to the line and battles his own personal demons head on with a little help from his friends.
Two bodies are discovered in a closet, the janitor and a woman educational executive in a building of the Seattle School District. Beau believes the betrayed husband is innocent, but who is guilty?
A fast read, that is well paced for Beau's fans.
Writing as a Small BusinessHaints

J.A. Jance's "Payment in Kind" is a great story. Again featuring one of the author's main protagonists, J.P. Beaumont, Jance weaves a spellbinding trail that keeps the reader on edge and suspecting almost all of the characters in the story at one point or another; just as you are absolutely sure you know who did it -- you discover it wasn't them! Keeps you moving to the very last chapter.

One of the finest mystery writers today; a wonderful charcter (literally and figuratively) in Beaumont!

First I must say in response to an earlier review, no the villian is not revealed early on! I don't know how she knew, but I didn't know until the very end! This was a good book and a fast pace read. I'm not usually a big mystery reader, but I really like Jance's style and most of all I like J.P. Beaumont. He is a great main character.

I thought the mystery in this book was very good. What got me was the main character who let everyone just walk all over him. Beaumont was a rug. His partner/ex partner/sarge/interviewees/friends/sponsors/enimies (even the heater in the building he lives in), treated him like crap and he while he fumes over it a little, he justifies their actions, and allow this behavior to continue. This doesn't make for a very compelling read.

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.

Jance is just coasting in this book. There is no character development, a thin plot and an unsatisfying criminal. Quite disappointing on the whole.