Suspense

(2005) J P Beaumont as part of Washington's S.H.I.T. team is approached by a nun who witnessed a murder outside her home when she was a child. Beaumont is immediately at odds with the Seattle P.D. over turf and provides a lot of tension as he tries to solve this cold case. In the meantime, his ex-partner's daughter is implicated in the man's wife's murder. This eventually proves to be a complicated family dynamic that also causes the murder of the man's sister-in-law. Very good.KIRKUS REVIEWJ.P. Beaumont, a member of Seattle's Special Homicide Investigation Team, runs interference for two friends involved in murder.Former schoolmate Bonnie Jean Dunleavy, now Sister Mary Katherine, Mother Superior at St. Benedict convent, has been having excruciating nightmares. Another school chum, a hypnotherapist, brings her to Beau when his sessions with her indicate that repressed memories of a murder she witnessed 40 years ago are breaking through. Then Beau's best friend Ron Peters, a paraplegic involved in a nasty custody battle, becomes the prime suspect when his ex-wife Rosemary is killed. He yearns to confess, but Beau thinks he's covering for his daughter Heather, who didn't want to live with her mom. Amid wispy subplots, Beau must blast through a well-financed cover-up to bring Sister Mary Katherine to her childhood home for a confrontation with her neighbor's homicidal relatives, while Heather must cope with an unholy alliance between her boyfriend Dillon and her argumentative aunt before she can exorcise her demons. The conclusion finds Beau contemplating a professional and romantic partnership with Melissa Soames.The literary equivalent of a paint-by-numbers kit, with no real surprises but no major flaws from old hand Jance (Partners in Crime, 2002, etc.).Pub Date:Aug. 2nd, 2005ISBN:0-688-13824-1Page count:352ppPublisher:Morrow/HarperCollinsReview Posted Online:June 24th, 2010Kirkus Reviews Issue:June 15th, 2005

A nun is the unlikely catalyst that sets this mystery in motion. Witnessing a horrendous murder as a young child, the memories were suppressed for decades, until they emerged as recurring nightmares. Seeking help from a hypnotherapist, he connects the nun with Beau, who proceeds to investigate the cold case that was never solved. Meanwhile, Ron’s family is torn apart when his ex-wife is murdered. This page-turner will keep readers engrossed in both storylines as Beau tries to connect the dots in time to prevent any more murders. Well written and suspenseful, these novels just keep getting better. ( )

I used to love this series with J.P. Beaumont as a copy in Seattle. And then not so much. And then the author kind of put him on the shelf. She brought him out to share with another of series' characters and now, finally, he's on his own again. And, actually, a little better than the previous couple of books. The Beaumont books are really "learning about Seattle" books with some good characters tossed in. They don't read so well out of order but this one is good enough just on its own. ( )

I like JP Beaumont. But somehow this book gave me a couple of flashes of deja vu. Another series by the same author had plot progression in the course of a funeral - and this book has a funeral too. Also that series has a strong connection with a certain nun. A key player in this story is also a nun.
I enjoyed reading the book, but it's not my favorite by this author.
I'll probably take this one to the Little Free Library. ( )