Review: Den of Iniquity: A J.P. Beaumont Novel by J.A. Jance

 

It is Valentine’s Day, 2020, as Den of Iniquity: A J.P. Beaumont Novel by J.A. Jance begins. Bellingham, Washington, is clear and cold this morning. The news of Covid dominates, though the impacts have yet to be felt here. J. P. Beaumont plans on taking his wife, Mel, to a nearby restaurant for the evening. That is until J.P. and Sarah (their dog) return from a walk and find grandson, Kyle, parked in the drive.

 

It takes some time to drag out of Kyle why he made the nine-hour drive and arrived with no warning. There is a mess at home. Kyle left and brought with him his stuff and his troubles. He had a very good reason to show up as his family (J. P.’s daughter, her husband, and Kye’s sister) has, basically, imploded. While Mel and J.P. try to come to grips with what has happened and the sudden addition of a teenager to their house, Ben Weston reaches out to Beaumont.

 

Back when Beaumont was a Seattle Homicide Detective, he first met Ben as a five-year-old kid. There had been a violent home invasion leaving Ben the only survivor. Ben is now a Seattle Homicide Detective as is Scotty, J.P. Beaumont’s son, and they have desks close to each other. Ben needs a favor.

 

After Ben’s parents died, a woman at church, Matilda Jackson, always looked out for Ben. She had been good friends with Ben’s mom. Mrs. Jackson’s grandson is dead. He died of a drug overdose back in November of 2018. The police followed the medical examiners ruling of accidental death due to fentanyl overdose and closed the case. Mrs. Jackson is sure that he was sober and things were going right. She is absolutely sure it was murder.

 

 

As he talks to Mrs. Jackson, J. P. is not hearing anything that is very convincing, but Ben wanted him to look into it, because he can’t. For the cops, it is a closed case and that means Ben can do nothing. J. P. agrees, talks to her some more, and starts investigating. It isn’t long before he is sure Matilda Jackson is right. Her son was murdered.

 

He wasn’t the only one.

 

What follows is a fast moving read that switches back and forth between Kyle’s family issues, and there are many, and the Jackson case J.P. is working. Investigative skills come in handy for family and others. J.P. has a lot going on in Den of Iniquity: A J.P. Beaumont Novel by J.A. Jance.

 

While those that have read the series to this point will get more out of the book, one could start here as there is enough background material to get new readers comfortable in the read. This reviewer, a long-time reader of the series, enjoyed it a lot.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3z5nG0F

 

My ARC digital reading copy came from the publisher, William Morrow, by way of NetGalley.

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2024