Combines characters from two of Jance's ongoing series -- Sheriff Joanna Brady and J.P. Beaumont.
Beaumont is dispatched from Seattle when a woman murdered in Brady's jurisdiction turns out to have been under a witness protection program overseen by Washington state authorities. There's a bit of clashing before the two settle down to work together and the somewhat overplotted situation is resolved by the convenient death of the major bad guy, which only momentarily seems to leave some questions unanswered.
Like most of the Brady series, the real attraction of the plot is watching the main character navigate a complicated personal life while treading a non-traditional career path. There's a brief, distracting, and totally unnecessary what-if scene between Brady and Beaumont which comes out of nowhere and then goes back to the same place over the space of just a few pages, but it's enough to distract and detract. Better each of these characters should remain in their own wheelhouse and do their own things, separately.
Beaumont is dispatched from Seattle when a woman murdered in Brady's jurisdiction turns out to have been under a witness protection program overseen by Washington state authorities. There's a bit of clashing before the two settle down to work together and the somewhat overplotted situation is resolved by the convenient death of the major bad guy, which only momentarily seems to leave some questions unanswered.
Like most of the Brady series, the real attraction of the plot is watching the main character navigate a complicated personal life while treading a non-traditional career path. There's a brief, distracting, and totally unnecessary what-if scene between Brady and Beaumont which comes out of nowhere and then goes back to the same place over the space of just a few pages, but it's enough to distract and detract. Better each of these characters should remain in their own wheelhouse and do their own things, separately.
The worst J. A. Jance book is better than most good books! Brady and Beaumont-- what a combo. Very good.
This lady sheriff knows how to do the job.
