Failure to Appear

This intricate plot seems to go in one direction and then veers off into another. Beau’s runaway daughter has been found by her step-father’s detective, and Beau goes after her, right into the midst of a Shakespearean town with plays. He is confronted with one surprise after another, and it will take him some time to wrap his mind around it all. And then, an accident (or murder), is followed by another murder, and yet another accident, this one involving his daughter. It was nice to see the interaction between all the family members - Beau, his ex-wife and her current husband, and Kelly and her fiancé. The mysteries are great, but so is reading about the relationships and friendships in this series. The characters seem almost real, show more and seem like people you wish you knew. show less

I almost gave up, the writing is so breathless. Why did I persist? The local color. The clever plotting. The happy endings. The fantasy of never having to worry about money.

I wasn't as excited with this read as I was in other J.A. novels. This one didn't get too exciting until half way through the book.

Found another great series to sink my lit teeth into. Enjoyed the style and had a hard time putting the book down.

Best one so far. We get to meet Beau's x-wife, daughter, son-in-law and grand-daughter. Incest and child exploitation are part of the plot which were also in Desert Heat, written the same year.

Failure to Appear by J A Jance

BIBLIOGRAPHIC DETAILS:
-Print: COPYRIGHT: (1994 per Wikipedia) Amazon: 1/29/1996; PUBLISHER: Random House Value Publishing; ISBN 978-0517147641; PAGES 539; Unabridged (Hardcover)
-Digital: Amazon: COPYRIGHT: 3/17/2009; PUBLISHER: William Morrow; Reprint edition; PAGES 384; Unabridged (Kindle edition)
*Audio: COPYRIGHT: 1/20/2005; PUBLISHER: Books in Motion; DURATION: 10 hours (approx.) [and yet the Libby app now says I ‘read’ it for 14 hours and 47 minutes]; Unabridged (Libby app-LAPL)
Feature Film or tv: Not that I’m aware of.

SERIES: J. P. Beaumont Series, Book 11

CHARACTERS: (Not comprehensive)
Jonas Piedmont Beaumont-J.P. Beaumont (Beau)—Seattle Washington Detective
Kelly Beaumont – Beau’s show more daughter
Scott Peterson – Beau’s son
Karen Livingston – Beau’s x-wife
David Livingston – Karen’s second husband
Alexis Downey – Beau’s romantic interest
Ralph Ames – Beau’s friend and lawyer
Ron Peterson – Beau’s former partner

SUMMARY/ EVALUATION:
SELECTED: I have decided to listen to all of Jance’s books and this was the next one in this series. She began another series around this time, but we’ll stick to this series and circle back to the other(s).
ABOUT: When Beau’s x-wife, Karen’s 2nd husband, David Livingston learns the location of Beau’s daughter, who’d disappeared a week shy of her 18th birthday and just before her high school graduation, he contacts Beau to request that Beau drive down to Ashland, Oregon and see if he can return Kelly to California. Best laid plans. A murder is discovered an Kelly’s new acquaintances seem suspect.
LIKED: I really enjoy the characters and their relations with each other. The plot is good as well.
DISLIKED: Sometimes the narrator uses voices for characters that are unpleasant to listen to, but that wasn't the case here, so I can't think of anything I didn't like.
OVERALL: Another great episode.

AUTHOR: J. A. (Judith Ann) Jance -- (born October 27, 1944) "Jance was born in Watertown, South Dakota,[2] and raised in Bisbee, Arizona (the setting for her Joanna Brady series of novels). Before becoming an author, she worked as a school librarian on a Native American reservation (Tohono O'Odham), and as a teacher and insurance agent." -- Wikipedia

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." -- Books in Motion

GENRE:
Fiction; Mystery

SUBJECTS:
Family relations; Sobriety; AA / NA ; Child Pornography; Stage theater; Shakespeare

LOCATIONS:
Seattle, Washington; Ashland, Oregon; Cucamonga, California

TIME FRAME:
Contemporary (1994--possibly updated in places--for example I don't recall messages left on answer machines being referred to a voice mail in the early 90's, but maybe they were.)

DEDICATION:
“To Leah and Florence, two of Ashland's goodwill ambassadors, and to Lynn K., the best "Loredo Kid" ever. Also to Steve and Juli, who signed the napkin.”

EXCERPT: From Prologue:
“I hate hospitals. I hate the smell of them and the shiny glow on long, empty-looking corridors. I hate the ominous swish of white clothing that precedes nurses as they bustle down hallways or march unannounced into rooms. But most of all I hait waiting. Even for supposedly tough-guy homicide cops, there's nothing in the world that makes you feel more powerless than cooling your heels in some obnoxious waiting room while a person you love goes under the surgeon's knife.
When I couldn't take it any longer, I escaped outdoors, retreating to the relative safety of a concrete bench next to an overflowing ashtray. There I sat exiled to the smoker's outdoor dungeon, even though I don't smoke and never have. There was no tree to keep off the worst of southern Oregon's blazing late June sun, but then I wasn't looking for shade. I felt chilled. From the bones out. The 90-odd-degree weather could neither penetrate nor melt the ice floe building up around my heart.”

RATING:
5 stars

STARTED READING – FINISHED READING
5-4-2023 to 5-22-2023 show less

Detective Beaumont uncovers mysteries and murders.
A good read