Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Justice Denied by J.A. Jance

Originally posted July 20, 2007

Be sure to read the Prologue which starts off like a shot and grabs you from the first sentence. I found this book to hold my attention from beginning to end with no flagging of interest. J.A. Jance lets you pick up where you left off if you have been reading the series. However, the book does not constantly dredge up superfluous references to what has happened before. I have only read one of this series in the past, "Failure to Appear", and was pleased to learn more about the continuing characters.

I found the book enjoyable, which follows a change in the hero (J.P. Beaumont)'s life and circumstances. A lot of the story is written through dialogue, which I found interesting and more personal. This gives the reader a chance to view the thought processes and workings involved in solving the crime. It is always fun to see the use of very current news and technology involved in these novels. One would almost suspect the author saves some space in the writing to insert the most up-to-date news in the book. The story itself goes in several interlocking directions and although there are a few constants in the story that appear to give away the ending, there are still surprises in store.

There were a lot of different names mentioned throughout because of the scope of the mystery, which was a bit distracting at times, but I learned a lot from the book. I do like mystery books that give you insight into other areas, in this case in the psyche. I would say this book runs the gamut of genres from cozy to police procedural, including some humour. I definitely liked this book and will be looking for more books by Jance in the future.

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