Failure to Appear (Mass Market Paperback)

by J.A. Jance (Author) "It had started only three days earlier, although now that seemed a lifetime ago..." (more)
Key Phrases: chemical toilets, Guy Lewis, Gordon Fraymore, Tanya Dunseth (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Child pornography and revenge figure into this well-crafted novel featuring detective J.P. Beaumont.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Seattle sleuth J. P. ("Beau") Beaumont has reassembled his life after a painful divorce, the tragic death of his second wife, and a bout with alcoholism. All that's left to do is locate his runaway daughter Kelly, whom he tracks down at the Oregon Shakespearean Festival in Ashland. But Beau is in for a shock--not only is Kelly a bride to be, she's also quite pregnant. Then an old acquaintance of Beau's is brutally murdered after turning up at the festival, and there seems to be a definite connection between his death and a kiddie porn videotape featuring the festival's biggest star. Before the trouble ends, there's another murder, Kelly is seriously injured in a fall, and the house where the festival actors are staying blows up. Jance has written a well-crafted, entertaining story featuring a nice blend of humor and tragedy and some pithy comments on the ironies of life. But it's hero J. P. Beaumont--tough, principled, kindhearted, and well acquainted with the vagaries of human nature--who is the star attraction. Emily Melton --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Avon (October 26, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380758393
• ISBN-13: 978-0380758395
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #30,413 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 11 in The J.P. Beaumont Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A welcome addition to the J.P. Beaumont series, June 21, 2000

By	Karen Potts (Lake Jackson, Texas) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This is the first book of the series that I read and it hooked me and spurred me on to read the rest of them. Although the author, J.A. Jance is a woman, she writes very convincingly about a male character, J. P. Beaumont. We see the struggle between his personal and his professional life as he is summoned to a Shakespeare Festival where his daughter is pregnant and soon to be married. After his arrival, two actors are murdered and Beaumont uses his professional skills as a policeman to solve the murder while trying to be civil to his prospective son-in-law and his daughter's artsy friends. Beaumont has a wry way of looking at his own foibles which endears him to readers. If you enjoy this book, there are several more in the series.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The book that hooked me on J.A. Jance, May 4, 2003

By	"camip" (Ashland, OR USA) - See all my reviews

This was the first Jance book I encountered. I decided to read it because it takes place in the town I live and work in. As much as I enjoyed reading about the places and cities I know well what I really enjoyed was the character of JP Beaumont. He is an ordinary man (a Seattle Cop wih an extraordinarily inherited fortune) who is caught between his work and his family. The characters seem very real and Jance's writing gives them a life and humanity that appeals strongly and makes you really care about them. The story never lets up either and you will find yourself hard pressed to put the book down. I have read every book Jance has written now and she is always on the top of my list of series that I am waiting for the next installment of!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Personal Mission, March 1, 2008

By	Gloria McCracken (Brighton, MI) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Failure to Appear J.A. Jance does it again in this 11th J.P. Beaumont mystery novel. Unlike most of the previous books, this one starts out, not with a crime, but with a personal mission. Detective Beaumont ("Beau" to his friends and associates) has left his Seattle home area to look for his runaway teenage daughter in an artsy community in Oregon. Of course, as anyone could have expected, violent crime soon intrudes.

For those who are familiar with this series, you can be assured that it is true Jance writing: characters who act like real people; a fast-moving story; plenty of self-deprecating humor; and a sterling protagonist who is all too aware of his not inconsiderable faults.

For those who are not familiar with J.P. Beaumont or Jance's Joanna Brady, who appears in a separate series, you have the pleasure of delightful discovery to look forward to. There are lots of books in this series. I've read 12 so far (and a bunch of the Brady ones, too) and I have yet to be disappointed with any of them.

If you're one who likes to start at the beginning of a series (which I think is not a bad idea with this one, for a number of reasons), the first is "Until Proven Guilty". However, if this isn't important to you, you can't go wrong with this or any of Jance's books, if you're in the mood for a fast-moving mystery novel with a bit more than usual in the way of character development.