Name Withheld (J. P. Beaumont Series #13) »

You might call J. A. Jance a true town and country novelist, since she writes one series set in Seattle and one in small-town Arizona as she shuttles between the two in real life. In big-city homicide detective J. P. Beaumont and in small-town sheriff/mom Joanna Brady, Jance has created two mega-popular mystery franchises.

An explosive novel of betrayal and blood vengeance from the New York Times bestselling author of Long Time Gone.

There are those who don't deserve to live — and the corpse floating in Elliot Bay may have been one of those people. Not surprisingly, many individuals — too many, in fact — are eager to take responsibility for the brutal slaying of the hated biotech executive whose alleged crimes ranged from the illegal trading of industrial secrets to rape. For Seattle Detective J.P. Beaumont — who's drowning in his own life-shattering problems — a case of seemingly justifiable homicide has sinister undertones, drawing the haunted policeman into a corporate nightmare of double deals, savage jealousies, and real blood spilled far too easily, as it leads him closer to a killer he's not sure he wants to find.

Publishers Weekly

Investigating the shooting death of a man whose corpse is found in Elliott Bay, Seattle homicide detective J.P. Beaumont, seen last in Lying in Wait, turns up an excess of suspects. Nobody grieves when the victim is identified. An executive at biotechnology start-up company, he had been involved in everything from corporate power grabs to rape. The rape victim's aunt, a local antiques dealer, confesses and demands to be arrested; the dead man's boss declares himself a prime suspect. Meanwhile, a woman-possibly the murder victim's wife-is found shot to death. The one person who may understand what's happening, a wheelchair-bound PI, vanishes. Faced with these puzzles, Beaumont also confronts personal problems: his ex-wife is dying of cancer; his sometime partner remains jealous of Beau's independent wealth; and a social worker seems to be trumping up charges of child abuse against him. Juggling these elements with her usual sure hand, Jance also controls a supporting cast that ranges from diabolical to dotty. The big finish, when Beaumont and his unlikely allies battle the killer, by itself deserves a movie sale. (Jan.)