Birds of Prey

At his grandmother’s request, Beau accompanies her and her new husband on a honeymoon cruise. Because, as she said, you never know what might happen. What happens is a passenger on the cruise ship disappearing, and another one falling off a train during a side excursion. Beau might not be a police force detective anymore, but he can’t escape detecting. Pressed into service on board the ship, he, with some help from the FBI and others, figures out what really happened. It’s another well written installment in the series, exciting with a touch of romance thrown in. After all, romance blossoms on the high seas. But so does murder.

Haven't read a Jance book in years so when I got this one as a gift, I was looking forward to reading it. I found it a thoroughly enjoyable mystery - lots of interesting characters, fast paced plotting, even though it's clearly part of a series and there were some references to past stories, it wasn't disruptive to the current story.

I forgot that her stories are set in Seattle and even though this took place on an Alaskan cruise, there were still plenty of references to my home town. A couple of twists and some action at the end wrapped it up nicely. Recommended.

This latest in the Beaumont series is much like the others - if you like them, you'll like this. JP Baumont, retired Seattle Police Detective, is on an Alaskan cruise with his grandmother and step-grandfather. And things start happening. I first started reading the Beaumont books when I moved to Seattle nearly 10 years ago. They aren't great mysteries but they were a wonderful way to learn about Seattle.

Beaumont - former Seattle detective - is escorting his grandmother on cruise to Alaska. Light reading, ok plot. Average read -

“Birds of Prey”
by J. A. Jance

BIBLIOGRAPHIC DETAILS:
-Print: COPYRIGHT ©: 20 Feb 2001; ISBN 9780380716548; PUBLISHER: Avon; PAGES: 352 pages; UNABRIDGED (Hardcover Info Amazon)
-Digital: COPYRIGHT ©: 17 Mar 2009; ISBN: 9780061739637; PUBLISHER: Harper Collins eBooks; PAGES: 452 pages; UNABRIDGED (Digital Info from Amazon)
-*Audio: COPYRIGHT ©: 18 Feb 2008; ISBN: CD ISBN: 1-58116-150-6, MP3-Not found; PUBLISHER: Books in Motion; DURATION: 12.1 hours; Unabridged; (Audiobook Info from Books in Motion)
-Feature Film or tv: No.

SERIES: J. P. Beaumont, Book 15

SUMMARY/ EVALUATION:
-SELECTED: As I said in the previous review, I’d say the selection was a no-brainer, because we’d finished book 14, but actually, I think we need to switch to show more the Joanna Brady series, as we’ve gotten ahead in this series if you go by when they were written, and I don’t want to get to one where the characters meet (as I think I read will happen) without being up to speed on both of them. Hubby wanted to see what would happen next with Beau after leaving the Seattle police force though, so we’ll go to the other series next time.
-ABOUT: Funny that in my previous review I said the story had a sea change, and this one has a sea location. Beaumont is on a cruise with his newlywed grandmother and his AA mentor, when he discovers that he falls in the category of “once a detective, always a detective”. Aside from the murder mystery that develops, is a potential relationship. I am hopeful that it develops in future episodes.
-OVERALL: In fiction, a writer is free to assign any name to any group of activists, but I was curious if the LITG (Leave it to God) group was fictitious. A brief search in Google lead me to believe that perhaps it is fictitious. I then checked on “Secular Humanists” that the group is reported to refer to themselves in their manifesto, and I found that this term actually is described in Wikipedia, but seems to have an opposite meaning than is ascribed to it in the novel. They are antireligion, and pro science. But for the purposes of this great story, I doubt anyone cares.

AUTHOR:
J. A. Jance
“J.A. Jance is the New York Times best selling author of 46 contemporary mysteries in four different series.
A voracious reader, J. A. Jance knew she wanted to be a writer from the moment she read her first Wizard of Oz book in second grade. Always drawn to mysteries, from Nancy Drew right through John D. McDonald's Travis Magee series, it was only natural that when she tried her hand at writing her first book, it would be a mystery as well.
J. A. Jance went on to become the New York Times bestselling author of the J. P. Beaumont series, the Joanna Brady series, three interrelated thrillers featuring the Walker family, and Edge of Evil. Born in South Dakota and brought up in Bisbee, Arizona, Jance lives with her husband in Seattle, Washington, and Tucson, Arizona.
Jance is an avid crusader for many causes, including the American Cancer Society, Gilda's Club, the Humane Society, the YMCA, and the Girl Scouts. A lover of animals, she has a rescued Dachshund named Bella.” __From Amazon.com

NARRATOR:
Gene Engene
“Gene Engene is an award-winning reader with an astounding catalog of audiobooks to his credit. He is best known as J.P. Beaumont in the J.A. Jance mystery series. Gene is a veteran stage actor, director, and is a retired Professor of Drama at Eastern Washington University. Gene Engene Audiobooks at http://www.booksinmotion.com” __From Books in Motion’s Facebook

*ME: I have grown quite attached to Gene as the narrator of these novels. Gene IS Beau (AKA, JP) Beaumont.

GENRE:
Mystery; Thriller; Detective; Crime; Suspense; Activists

TIME FRAME:
Contemporary (2001)

SUBJECTS: (not comprehensive)
Cruise; Alaska; Juno

DEDICATION:
"For Pat Hall and Mary Daise"

SAMPLE QUOTATION:
Excerpt from Prologue:
“DURING DINNER I did my best to hold up my end of the conversation. That wasn’t too difficult, since I was no longer Margaret Featherman’s principal target. That dubious honor was now bestowed on poor Marc Alley. Casting herself in the role of magnanimous hostess, Margaret saw to it that wine—a high-priced Cabernet—flowed like water. So did the double entendres.
From the moment Marc sat down at the table, I suspected that Margaret had every intention of using him, later that evening, to tick off another notch on her bedpost. By the time the second bottle of Cabernet had made the rounds, I think Marc was picking up on that same message. I don’t believe he was particularly happy about it.
The tipsy looks Margaret beamed in Marc’s direction were about as subtle as a fully loaded Mack truck. And about that enticing. Reynaldo and his assistant waiter, an attentive Portuguese named Joaô, were delivering the crème brûleé when Naomi Pepper, the woman sitting next to me, leaned over and whispered, “If Marc hadn’t shown up, my money would have been on Joaô to get lucky tonight. As things stand, I’m betting Marc is it.”
Startled and struck momentarily dumb by her comment, I glanced furtively in Naomi’s direction, only to have her wink at me. That little bit of byplay was enough to draw Margaret Featherman’s sharp-eyed attention. “Wait a minute, you two,” she said. “What’s going on over there? No secrets allowed.”
According to my scorecard, Margaret was well on her way to being snockered. I was grateful the only kind of driving she’d be doing at the end of the evening would be in the elevator going back to whichever deck her cabin was on.
“Don’t work yourself into a lather, Margaret,” Naomi said. “I was just asking Mr. Beaumont here if this was his first cruise.”
This was, in fact, a bald-faced lie, but I figured my best tactic was to follow Naomi’s lead. “First one ever,” I responded brightly. “If this is how they feed us at every meal, no one is likely to starve.”
Margaret was looking straight at me when I started to answer, but then her eyes wavered and her glance slid away. The back-and-forth movement of her irises told me she was watching someone make his or her way across the room. From the tightening of her bare shoulders and the down-turned stiffening of her lips, I could tell that this new arrival was someone Margaret wasn’t thrilled to see.
“Mother!”
“Why, Chloe,” Margaret Featherman responded enthusiastically. As she spoke, she rearranged the separate features of her face into what passed for a welcoming smile. “How wonderful to see you.”
I looked up and saw at once that Chloe could be none other than Margaret Featherman’s daughter. She was a blonde, unreconstituted, and younger, early-thirties version of her mother, but the resemblance between the two women was striking. In terms of prickly personality, she was evidently a carbon copy.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Chloe Featherman demanded.
“I’m taking a cruise,” Margaret returned. “And don’t be so rude. Say hello to my friends. You know this is the time of year when we always get together. We usually spend the week in Reno. This time we decided to come cruising on the Starfire Breeze instead.”
Chloe Featherman glanced perfunctorily around the table and nodded briefly to each of the women seated there. When her eyes reached Marc Alley, who was fumbling to his feet, napkin in hand, her jaw dropped.
“Marc!” she exclaimed. “What are you doing here? You were supposed to sit at the same table with Dad and me and some of the others. We’re upstairs—in the other dining room.”
“I’m so sorry,” he stammered uncomfortably. “There must have been some kind of misunderstanding. When I got to my cabin, there was a message waiting for me about a change in the dining arrangements. The note said I would be at table sixty-three in the Crystal Dining Room rather than upstairs in the Regal.”
With her face a study in barely controlled fury, Chloe Featherman swung back to face her mother. “I doubt there’s been any misunderstanding,” she said pointedly. “And I’m sure I know who it is who left you that message. Stay out of Dad’s business, Mother,” Chloe warned. “You have no idea what’s at stake here.”
“Oh, I know what’s at stake, all right,” Margaret Featherman replied. Her voice dripped ice and so did her eyes. Clearly there was no love lost between this mother-and-daughter duo—in either direction. Moments earlier, Margaret had been flirting with Marc and giggling like a drunken schoolgirl. Now she seemed much older and stone-cold sober.
“It’s the same thing Harrison’s been chasing all his life,” she continued. “Some multimillion-dollar grant, I’ll bet, with a skirt or two thrown in on the side. Marc here was telling us all just a little while ago that he’s along on the cruise as Dr. Featherman’s exhibit A. Which reminds me, how is the lovely Leila? Has she finished up her degree yet? And doesn’t it bother you having a stepmother who’s three whole years younger than you are?”
Muscles tightened in Chloe Featherman’s slender jaw. “It happens that Leila and Dad are very happy together,” she said stiffly. “As you well know, whatever makes Daddy happy makes me happy.”
“How touching,” Margaret returned. “But then you always were Daddy’s little girl. There’s certainly nothing new and different about that. However did you know to come looking for me here?”
Chloe Featherman held out her hand. In it was an envelope with the cruise line’s distinctive logo on it. “I guess no one in the purser’s office thought there might be more than one M. C. Featherman on board the Starfire Breeze. Since it’s marked ‘urgent,’ someone brought it to me at our table upstairs. I opened it by mistake.”
Margaret took the envelope. Without even glancing at it, she stuck it into her purse. “That’s quite all right,” she said. “I’m sure you have no interest in my personal dealings.”
“You’ve got that right,” Chloe Featherman said. Then, with one final glare in poor Marc Alley’s direction, she turned and stalked off. He stood looking longingly after her as she made her way out of the dining room.
“Oh, Marc, do sit down,” Margaret Featherman said impatiently. “Obviously we’re not going to have the benefit of your company for another meal. Chloe will see to that. So we’d best make the most of the time we have.”
Snubbed by the daughter and too polite to tell the mother where to go, Marc sank back into his chair, but he made no effort to return to his crème brûlée. Margaret resumed her role of head honcho. “So what are we doing after dinner?” she said.
“There’s a musical in the theater,” Naomi offered. “That looked like it might be fun. Or else there’s a pianist/comedian in the Twilight Lounge, followed by big band music and dancing.”
“I do so love dancing to all that wonderful old music from the thirties, forties, and fifties,” Margaret said. “The Twilight Lounge sounds good to me.” Margaret Featherman made her pronouncement with all the authority of a papal decree and with the obvious expectation that everyone else in the group would agree with her. Naturally, they did so at once, with the single exception of Marc Alley, who had nerve enough to raise an objection. “I think I’ll turn in early,” he protested. “I have an interview with a reporter early tomorrow morning. I should probably get some sleep.””

RATING:.
5

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KAY SCARPETTA