Sins of the Fathers

Sins of the Fathers by J.A. Jance is a 2019 William Morrow publication. <br /><br /><b>Beaumont’s past comes calling, exposing a long -buried secret! </b><br /><br />Usually, I wind up alternating between the three series by J.A. Jance that I follow-'Ali Reynolds', 'Joanna Brady', and 'J.P Beaumont'. I enjoy all of them, but Beaumont was my first love and so of the three series, this is still my favorite. <br /><br />Somehow, I’ve managed to read two Beaumont mysteries in a row! What a rare, but very pleasant treat!! Not, only that, I won a gorgeous hardcover copy of this book from Goodreads!! Win-Win!<br /><br />In this 24th installment, Beaumont must absorb some stunning information, when an old acquaintance pops up out of the blue asking for J.P.’s help in locating his missing daughter. <br /><br />Naturally, this is not your ordinary missing person situation. The missing girl abandoned her newborn at the hospital and now her father is caring for the baby, hoping to obtain full legal custody. Not only that, Beaumont may have a personal stake in the matter, as his wild, alcoholic past may have come home to roost. <br /><br />Beaumont has always been an interesting character. His life has taken many paths over the years, but now he has reached retirement age and although he’s mellowed a bit, he has finally carved out a niche for himself as a private detective. That doesn’t mean his life is dull by any means. Turns out life has a few more surprises in store for Beaumont. These new developments will once again change the entire dynamic of his life. As Beaumont digests all that he has learned, the hunt for his client’s daughter leads him straight into a murder investigation. This case, as usual, is compelling, revealing the darker side of human nature. <br /><br />Of course, I enjoyed Beaumont’s private musings, which often give me a chuckle, but this time around, he also made me cringe a few times. While this story wasn’t quite as strong as the previous chapter in the series, I was still very invested in the plot, and as always, the writing is outstanding. <br /><br />Overall, the primary theme in this installment is the complexity of family bonds- the good, the bad and the ugly. There are a few interesting juxtapositions and plenty of food for thought. <br />4 stars<br />

I have read quite a few of the Beaumont series over the years. Every time I read one, I think I should go back and read them all in order, but other books keep getting in the way. I always enjoy J. A. Jance’s writing and her storytelling skills.<br /><br />The book is well written. The plot twists and turns. Jance inserts some humor in the story. J. P. Beaumont is now retired from the police force and is working as a licensed private investigator. His wife, Mel, is the Chief of Police of Bellingham. In this book Beau is hired to find a missing girl. She left her new born baby at the hospital and disappeared. Jance seems to have such interesting plots and characters in her books. I enjoyed Lucy, the Irish Wolf Hound. She was a unique character in the story. There was no action in the story, but I was kept engaged through-out. The book is a pleasant change of pace type of book.<br /><br />I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book is thirteen hours and ten minutes. Alan Sklar does a good job narrating the story. Sklar has narrated the last few books in the series.<br />

Readers of the J.P. Beaumont detective series have watched him evolve from being an alcoholic to becoming a ‘dry’ 72-year-old retiree happily married to Mel, Chief of Police of Bellingham. Fans of the series will get reacquainted with many of the recurring characters. J.P. is his self-deprecating best while providing local color of the Seattle metropolitan area and recounting the antics of his and Mel’s ninety-pound Irish Wolfhound, Lucy.<br /><br />This 24th offering starts with a missing person’s case. An old acquaintance, Alan Dale, is trying to discover the whereabouts of his daughter, Naomi. It seems she disappeared soon after delivering a baby girl at the local hospital. Jance has J.P. following a convoluted path to finding first Athena’s mother, and then her father.<br /><br />The ties of family may be Jance’s main theme here, but the author also includes the blessings/curses of wealth. J.P. generously parts with his money to ease the way for others, while the villain is willing to commit murder in order to enrich themselves. Enjoy.

Another good J.P. Beaumont book. An old friend hires J.P. to find his junkie daughter, who also happens to have a special connection to J.P. This is more of a murder mystery than an action book. The secondary characters are very good and give a lot of life to this tale. Recommended.

This is my first J. P. Beaumont read and it was entertaining. I like the characters and plot. Though not much of a mystery but the procedure was still interesting. <br /><br />The narrator was very good and gave life to this character and the whole story. Wow it's book #24 and I'll be adding this series to my to-read series.

I won this book on Goodreads. JP is retired from the police force and working as a PI. An old friend comes to his house with his premature granddaughter asking for help in finding the mother, his daughter. JP agrees to help and after seeing a picture of his friend's daughter that looks just like his daughter he is sure she is really his child from a one night stand. Interesting story of how he finds the daughter, her boyfriends killer and uncovering a terrible family.

This book was written by one of my favorite authors. Her characters are always interestingly developed and usually set in fairly complex surroundings. That said, the pace at which this one's plot unfolded was pretty far fetched. Why is it that the richer a character is the fewer the obstacles and the less reality a story has? I'm sad that this newest book read so like Stuart Woods novel - entertaining but not very believable, despite a great premise.<br /><br />Beau and his wife have always been believable. In this book he is now 72, yet he stills literally runs around with the stamina of a fit, forty something man. He continually throws money at obstacles to make them disappear (but also for doing good deeds). I miss the earlier versions of this character, where money was not a crutch for good plotting.

This was a fast, enjoyable read. The major characters were well drawn, and the plot moved along quickly. My only doubt concerned Beau. As a recovered alcoholic, he sure had superb analytical skills and a great memory. That's a minor point, but it nibbled away at reasonableness.

I totally enjoyed this book. I admit to being surprised since it was the first I’d read in this well-established series. My assumption was that I’d be somewhat lost, but I underestimated the enormous skill of J.A. JANCE who managed to weave a short and comprehensive summary of Beaumont ‘s past adventures and personal experiences into the narrative. <br /><br />This worked as a very engaging stand-alone with an intricate and fascinating plot. It totally held my interest and. I intend to read a lot more of JANCE in the future. <br /><br />Thank you Netgalley for giving me the gift of another author to read, I think I will have lots of enjoyment in the future as I catch up on JANCE.

“Sins of the Fathers” is book twenty-four in J.A. Jance’s J. P Beaumont series, but all readers will find it entertaining. Any needed background information on the characters is provided as part of the story. Jonas Piedmont Beaumont, “Beau,” is now retired, living in Bellingham where his wife Melissa is Chief of Police. He has mellowed somewhat, but is becoming bored with crossword puzzles and playing with his dog. The easy conversational style gives the reader the feeling of sitting with J.P. chatting, sharing memories of his life.<br />Things change when a person from Beau’s past, Alan Dale, shows up with an infant. He wants help finding his troubled daughter so he can gain custody of the baby. Beau must untangle both the past and present but without his previous law enforcement investigative tools and contacts. Of course he does not have to follow the “official” rules either. <br />This is not a formula book with continuing characters just dropped into a random plot line. The story is complex and unfolds layer after layer. Events in the past threaten to disrupt the present, and off course, the investigation path leads to a murder. <br />“Sins of the Fathers” is the story of complex family relationships, and it exposes the dark side of human nature. It easy to read but still has twists and danger. I received a review copy of “Sins of the Fathers” by J. A. Jance, William Morrow, and HarperCollins. Those who have followed Beau through previous books will love this one. New readers will want to look at Beau’s earlier adventures.<br />