Because Ideas Matter...
The faculty and staff of Butler University's College of Liberal
Arts and Sciences presents
Recommended Readings
Betrayal of Trust
by J. A. Jance, William Morrow, 2011
Reviewed by Larry Riggs
I am never sure that J. A. Jance is really
a good writer, but she must be a very good storyteller. I say that
because I have read all of her long list of novels, and I have
finished every one of them. This distinguishes her from a number of
very good writers, whose books I am often unable to finish. Jance's
grammatical lapses and her occasional descents into cliché do not,
ultimately, keep me from enjoying her stories.
This latest entry in the J. P. Beaumont series-one of Jance's 4
active series-is a good read. Beaumont, a recovering alcoholic and
member of Washington States special homicide investigation team,
joins his new wife and homicide team member, Mel Soames, in a
delicate investigative adventure. A "snuff film" video has appeared
on the cell phone of the Washington governor's 15-year-old
step-grandson, making the boy the principal suspect in a murder.
The investigation leads Beaumont and Soames from the governor's
mansion through the hardscrabble, dying logging towns east of the
Cascades to a shelter house for troubled teens. A volatile mix of
arrogant, affluent kids and their contemporaries from poor and
sometimes abusive working class families lies near the heart of the
mystery. Jance's analysis of her characters' motives is, as usual,
fairly simple but quite plausible. I recommend the
book.
- Larry Riggs is Professor of French at Butler University.