Book Review - Betrayal of Trust by J.A. Jance

I've been a fan of J.A. Jance mysteries, with J.P. Beaumont as the detective, for a while now. I first came onto the Beaumont series because they take place in Seattle, and so it was cool to hear about things that I already kind of knew. Jance's writing is what kept me reading, of course. I haven't read all of the Beaumont books, but I have read all the recent ones, and they are excellent reads for the mystery fans.

Jance's latest book is Betrayal of Trust, a book that starts out seeming like it was about political corruption (or at least something to do with politics) and political families with skeletons. It quickly turns into a page-turner about the trials and tribulations of growing up.

Regular readers of this blog may remember that I wrote briefly about this book back in October. It was my post about story beginnings, and how typically authors are encouraged to grab the reader on the first page and keep a grip on them. Betrayal of Trust doesn't do that, though. Its first six pages drag on and on and on and...well, you get the idea.

Anyway, all that aside, it's an excellent book, and my review of it has now been posted to Curled Up With a Good Book.

From the review:

Beaumont and his "new" wife Melanie (this book apparently takes place about three years after Long Time Gone, the novel in which they met) are officers of Washington State's "Special Homicide Investigation Team" (yes, they get the joke about the acronym a lot), a unit created and run by the state Attorney General. Beaumont and Mel are called in to investigate a video message sent to the grandson of the governor's husband who has been living in the governor's mansion. In the video, a young girl takes part in a “choking game" that turns all too real. In trying to track down the victim and determine whether the young boy is involved, Beaumont and Mel find themselves unwinding a sticky web of adolescence gone wrong.

The mystery is pretty cool, with lots of twists and turns that will keep you guessing.

I know I enjoyed almost every minute of it.

After it really started, of course.