It begins far from Bisbee,Arizona in Great Barrington, Massachusetts where the daughter of a reclusive
hoarder is forced to return to the home she hated. Selma Machett's life is
ending and it is up to Liza, as the only living relative around, to deal with
the latest installment of a dysfunctional and tragic family. Amidst the filth in
the debris filled house she finds a small fortune. A small fortune, primarily
in one hundred dollar bills, that belongs to folks determined to get it back
regardless of the body count.
That fortune soon puts Liza
on the run to Bisbee Arizona where Sheriff Joanna Brady has a complicated and
tragic case to solve. Junior Dowdle went missing from his parent's house after
several weeks of increasingly worrisome behavior. Developmentally disabled and
in his early sixties, he had recently been diagnosed with some form of dementia
that resulted in erratic moods and some violence. Found dead in old mining hole
along with a number of dead pets and a clearly tortured but alive kitten,
Sheriff Brady believes somebody shoved him into the shaft to fall to the
limestone floor twenty feet below. She also believes that same person is
responsible for what happened to the pets and will do it all again.
Gradually the two story
lines weave together to form a compelling tale of family dysfunction and murder
in Remains
Of Innocence: A Brady Novel Of Suspense. Scheduled to be released late
next month, this latest one in the series by J. A. Jance is another good one. Strong
and evolving characters that have become old friends as well as multiple plot
lines involving primary and secondary situations that blend action with psychological
analysis result in a complicated read that also moves forward at a rapid pace.
The only issue this reader
has with the book is the often stated premise that people don't stare at scarf wearing
cancer patients. Shaved bald and wearing a scarf to hide the baldness as cancer
patients do, Liza is sent across the country in the custody of various adults so
that she can reach her brother in Bisbee. It is stated again and again that no
one stares at cancer patients dressed this way and therefore Liz will escape
the notice of anyone as she gets rides from various strangers driving 18
wheelers.
As the spouse of a terminal
cancer patient who has fought cancer since her initial diagnosis in November
2011 and experienced a horrendous amount of chemotherapy in the months since,
the idea that nobody stares at scarf wearing cancer patients could not be
further from the truth. The idea is
simply ludicrous. Wearing a scarf draws massive amounts of attention these days
and, in our experience, is the equivalent of hanging a flashing neon sign
around the patient's neck. Not only is the scarf a massive attention getter,
the scarf also creates an invisible force field that often repels all but
medical staff and fellow cancer patients. People will actually step back and
shield the faces of their children as you pass by as if you are highly
contagious all the while staring at you. Some will actually go so far as to get
back off the elevator they just got on in front of you because they don’t want to
ride up a floor or two with you. Fellow cancer patients will walk up and out of
the blue embrace you and talk for a moment before letting you go on your way
while other folks cross the sidewalk to be as far away as possible.
This is a very well-known issue
for cancer patients and is a frequent topic of discussion during chemotherapy
and other multi hour infusion procedures. The reaction of those in public to the
appearance of a cancer patient is one that takes considerable time to get used
to both for the patient and the family. An otherwise good story was marred by
this error which threw this reader out of the story each time it came up.
Other than that issue which
was a large stumbling block for this reader, Remains of Innocence: A Brady Novel
Of Suspense is a good one.
Remains Of Innocence: A Brady Novel Of Suspense
J. A. Jance
William Morrow (Imprint of Harper
Collins Publishers)
July 22, 2014
ISBN# 978-0-06-213470-7
Hardback
400 Pages
$26.99
ARC received from the
publisher in exchange for my objective review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2014
Posts
2 comments:
Kevin, I started reading this series with TOMBSTONE COURAGE (which, coincidentally, I bought while visiting Tombstone, AZ), and read most of the books. However, I drifted away from it a few years back. This review makes me think I should take it up again.
I can understand the trouble you had with the book. Most of us fail to live up to what we should be and do at times, and I know you have experienced that.
Good book except for what I mentioned and a good series. I never could get into her series featuring the retired TV person.
Thanks you for coming by, Larry. Much appreciated.
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