Yeh - this book is the 3rd in the series and the 1st one where Detective J.P. Beaumont doesn't fall in love with a deranged female murderer. Someone else in the book does. If the reader has read future books in the series, this is the book where we find out how Beau's partner, Ron Peters, becomes paralyzed.A nude black High School coach, Darwin Ridley, is discovered behind a dumpster at a Seattle grocery store. He was the basketball coach at a prestigious all-white high school on Mercer Island. Peters suspects the very pregnant wife, Joanna Ridley, of committing the murder. Beau thinks she is too pregnant to have committed the murder. After discovering a despicable yearly tradition passed down among the cheerleaders, Beau begins to suspect someone from the school - could it be the principal, faculty advisor, a cheerleader, someone on the basketball team, or one of the parents? In the meantime Beau is finalizing a contract so he can move into his new apartment, the Bell Town Towers. This brings his inherited lawyer (his former murdering rich wife's lawyer) to town. They have become friends and Ralph Ames is there when Beau needs support after Peter's accident. Ames is always trying to bring Beau up to speed with the latest technology but it's "black heel marks" all the way with Beau - this time it's an answering machine. Peters has two small girls to be looked after, and it looks like it will be Beau to the rescue while Peters is in the hospital.We are left with a cliff-hanger at the end of the book as Peters is still precariously injured and in the hospital. Also, what will happen to his two daughters if he dies? Will Beau become a "father" by default?I liked the character development in this book and the police procedural during the investigations. But Beau is still an independent curmudgeon and likes to work a case his own way. A good read.
This was another decent mystery/police procedural by Jance. Beaumont is trying to figure out who killed a coach. The man left behind a pregnant wife, but it seems that he is not a perfect husband. Beau hates to think that his wife had something to do with his murder. One thing that separates Jance's books stand separate from many other series, is that the books can stand by themselves outside of the series. If you pick one up from the middle of the series you will still enjoy the book, and find out enough about the characters to have a good idea what type of people they are. I love Jance's character development. That's a major reason why I continue to read this series. Beau has been through a lot as far as personal life is concerned, but he has a great partner (who is constantly nagging him about what he eats), and he also has an inherited lawyer who has turned into a great friend. Jance always puts in more stories of their interaction with one another, as well as with the crime being solved, and it makes the books read very quickly. Good read.
What do You think about Trial By Fury (1986)?
JP Beaumont is a curmudgeonly Seattle PD detective and he is still trying to find his path in relation to the vast inheritance (see the 1st book!) and the impact of that on the way he is perceived professionally.I really enjoy reading the Beaumont books which take place near where I live. References to neighborhoods, venues and geography make the read that much more absorbing. The murder plot was convoluted, since there are a few potential directions which the violence could have come from. (semi-spoiler)This is the book where JP's long-time partner Det. Ron Peters gets severely injured.
—Deborah Darsie
I think the only fictional detectives who log more time in their vehicles than Beaumont and Peters are Tony Hillerman's Navajo tribal policemen Leaphorn and Chee and they have to cover the whole Navajo nation. Part way through this third novel in the Beaumont series, my wife and I downloaded a map of the Seattle are so we could follow their paths as they shuttled back and forth across the lake interviewing witnesses (always in restaurants) and following various leads as they investigate the apparent lynching of a black Mercer Island high school basketball coach targeted for seduction by the cheerleading squad. He leaves behind a pregnant widow Peters suspects may be responsible. However, other faculty as well as students come under suspicion before Jance finally cuts to the chase. BTW, Jance herself plays a cameo role. In a recent interview, the author revealed that the single mother and her daughter who provide useful information while selling Beau cases of Girl Scout cookies were were based on Jance and her daughter before she became a best selling author.
—Megargee
A high school football coach is found dead, apparently having been stripped and hung. When J. P. Beaumont and his partner, Ron Peters, go to inform his wife, they find her very pregnant and due in two weeks. Should they suspect a pregnant woman, or should they look farther afield for the murderer? These Beaumont novels are great and I now need to get to the next one to find out what is happening in the life of Beau, who recently purchased an interest in a condo building and is about to move into the penthouse, thanks to the very generous legacy from his late wife.
—Donna Mcnab
