After 20 years in the Seattle Police Department, J.P. Beaumont has been put out to pasture. The hero of 14 J.A. Jance crime novels has called it quits after the murder of his partner. But if Beau is out to pasture, what is he doing out at sea? Beau is on the Starfire Breeze, an Alaskan cruise ship, "for one reason and one reason only: to serve as my newlywed grandmother's chaperon."

He's also getting mistaken for a gold-digging gigolo by a band of middle-aged divorcées, led by one Margaret Featherman, who carries an anything-but- featherlight grudge against her ex-husband, successful neurosurgeon Harrison Featherman. Is it just a coincidence (as both claim) that Margaret and Harrison are on the same cruise ship? Or that Margaret is doing her best to seduce one of her husband's patients, who in turn has a crush on the good doctor's daughter?

But the biggest potential coincidence of all is a horrific one, when Margaret is pushed overboard into the icy Alaskan waters. The only witness to the murder is an Alzheimer's victim. But when Beau starts poking around (after mistaken identity issue number two, in which the captain conveniently assumes he's an FBI agent), he discovers that Harrison was himself the target of a conservative medical ethics group with a deadly agenda. As the ship moves slowly amidst the icebergs, Beau finds out that there's a lot hidden under these particular waters.

When Jance concentrates on the mechanics of her story, this Beaumont novel is perfectly entertaining. But when she strives for sentiment (or humor), her style tends toward an aw-shucks ham-handedness. Here's Beau talking about his partner, killed by an abusive ex-husband: "Her sons are orphans, and no amount of psychobabble from Dr. Majors is going to change that. No amount of talking it over and 'getting it out of my system' will alter the fact that Sue won't be there to see her boys graduate from high school or college. She'll never be the mother of the groom at a wedding or have the chance to cradle a newborn grandchild in her arms." If Beau is thinking about coming out of retirement, one hopes he'll stick to the basics. --Kelly Flynn


From Publishers Weekly
Those who found Jance's previous suspense thriller, 2000's Kiss of the Bees, too strong to stomach can rest easy, as this latest is a crowd-pleaser featuring her series character J.P. Beaumont. The retired Seattle homicide detective has joined a luxury cruise to the Alaskan glaciers at the request of his honeymooning octogenarian grandmother, who fears there may be mischief aboard. The unattached middle-aged women at his table assume Beau is along to land a rich widow or divorc‚e. Beau soon finds he has to be particularly wary of the group's formidable ringleader, Margaret Featherman, whose surgeon ex-husband has invented a procedure that vastly improves the lives of brain-damaged patients. When the ship's video monitor later catches Margaret falling to her death off the stern, the only witness is Alzheimer's patient Mike Conyers, who noticed that Margaret's mouth was taped shut. Beau starts a murder investigation centered on Leave It to God, a religious organization whose members believe that "God put sickness and disease on this earth as a lesson in suffering for everybody" and so disapprove of Dr. Featherman's work. When during a port call someone pushes Mike off the back of a mountain railway car, it seems more than coincidence. Jance, author also of the Joanna Brady series, uses the leisurely pace of the cruise for her hero to reexamine past wounds as well as to display his customary dry wit. Travel buffs and Jance fans are in for a great mini-vacation. 5-city author tour; simultaneous HarperAudio and Harper Large Print edition. Agent, Alice Volpe of the Northwest Literary Agency. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Retired Seattle cop J.P. Beaumont accompanies his newlywed, eightysomething grandmother and her crusty hubby, Lars Jenssen, on an Alaskan cruise to act as a chaperone of sorts, but no one expects murder served up with the tony cuisine. The jaded protagonist is inadvertently forced to masquerade as an FBI agent when Dr. Harrison Featherman's shrill blonde wife Margaret is tossed overboard, and the crime is captured on ship security cameras. A group of religious extremists calling themselves "Leave It to God" appear to be targeting Featherman, along with his colleagues and patients, aboard the Starfire Breeze for a conference. As J.P. learns of the weirdly convoluted family dynamics among the Feathermans and their close friends, he realizes that numerous passengers had motives for killing Margaret. Throughout this 15th installment (after Breach of Duty), new readers and series fans alike will appreciate this sardonic and mature narrator's appeal. Recommended.-DSusan A. Zappia, Paradise Valley Community Coll., Phoenix Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
Jonas Piedmont Beaumont had a tumultuous childhood, suffered through two bad marriages, and protected the good people of Seattle for twenty years with the support of a bottle. Leaving this all behind, Beaumont performs a good deed and accompanies his grandmother and her new husband on an Alaskan cruise. Alas, ill deeds on board the ship reignite his investigative instincts and good-bye semi-retirement! Cotter Smith has that forties style of narration that glorifies an era of flat-footed, chain-smoking detectives possessing one good suit and a heavy dose of curiosity. B.J.P. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Booklist
Jance took several years off from her J. P. Beaumont series to concentrate on her more popular Joanna Brady novels, and since returning to action, J. P. has been a changed man--for the worse. First, in Breach of Duty (1999), the formerly hard-boiled Seattle cop started sounding like a veteran of one-too-many sensitivity classes, and now his transformation from Philip Marlowe to Phil Donohue seems complete. Forget the mean streets; Beaumont has been reduced to starring in a classic cozy set on a cruise ship! It gets worse. Beaumont is onboard the Starfire Breeze , cruising Alaska, as a companion to his honeymooning grandmother. Yes, it's a senior-citizen cruise, and there's all variety of cute byplay between the frisky seniors, until the bodies start piling up. It seems there's a crackpot onboard intent on killing doctors whose medical breakthroughs save lives. Beaumont sorts it all out before the ice sculpture on the buffet table has a chance to melt, but not soon enough for those who enjoyed this series back when it offered no-frills, hard-boiled fare. The new Beaumont will appeal to those who know Jance from the relatively cozy Brady novels, but J. P.'s old fans best look for a new drinking partner--unless they like the idea of bending elbows with Phil Donohue. Bill Ott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Tampa Tribune
"BIRDS OF PREY is as much a tale of human frailty as it is a page-turning mystery."

FROM OUR EDITORS

Our Review
Beaumont's Onboard for Another Chilling Ride
After J. A. Jance's major departure with her previous book, the chilling thriller Kiss of the Bees, the bestselling author returns to her immensely popular J. P. Beaumont series with the fresh and often funny Birds of Prey. Fans will delight in this latest entry in the life of retired homicide detective Beaumont, as he takes a cruise into mayhem and comes face to face with cold-blooded murder once again.

At his 87-year-old grandmother's urging, Beaumont decides to chaperone her and her new husband on their honeymoon cruise to Alaska. Beaumont is initially reticent to do so, and he only becomes more uncomfortable when he meets with a group of four middle-aged divorcées led by the eminent and abrasive Margaret Featherman. Margaret is out to ruin a shipboard conference where her ex-husband, Dr. Harrison Featherman, is unveiling a new treatment to save the lives of brain seizure victims.

When Margaret Featherman disappears the FBI begins an investigation and ask for Beaumont's help. A secular humanist group called Leave It to God believes that nobody has the right to prolong someone's life because it is contrary to God's will. To that end, several doctors have been murdered, as well as their patients who became healthy again. Beaumont joins the FBI in trying to save Dr. Featherman's life and those of his patients even while he explores what really happened to Margaret.

Birds of Prey is a fast-paced, extremely readable novel. Although there's a brief prologue featuring a murder, the catalyst bit of foul play doesn't occur until 80 pages into the story, giving Jance the time and space to fully flesh out the members of her cast. The author makes the worthwhile effort to three-dimensionalize even secondary characters so that they become a great deal more than stock figures used only to advance the mystery.

The cruise ship setting is claustrophobic enough to add a certain raw edge of suspense to the plot as a killer lurks onboard. The concept of the LITG group is terrifying in its implications and used with great effectiveness as a sort of indistinct danger always threatening to encompass innocents. In Birds of Prey Jance manages to use this variety of elements to give us a novel of both humor and significance. Here readers will find a dash of mayhem, authentic dialogue, and plenty of sardonic wit to keep them enthralled.

--Tom Piccirilli

Tom Piccirilli is the author of eight novels, including Hexes, Shards, and his Felicity Grove mystery series, consisting of The Dead Past and Sorrow's Crown. He has sold more than 100 stories to the anthologies Future Crimes, Bad News, The Conspiracy Files, and Best of the American West II. An omnibus collection of 40 stories titled Deep into That Darkness Peering is also available. Tom divides his time between New York City and Estes Park, Colorado.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Former homicide detective J.P. Beaumont may have cut himself loose from the Seattle police force, but that doesn't' mean he's out of the game. As he accompanies has grandmother and her new husband on their honeymoon cruise to Alaska, Beau finds himself the target of a gang of middle-aged divorcées onboard, including the tempestuous Margaret Featherman, When her fatal fall from the ship is caught on a security tape, Beau is inadvertently drawn into the investigation, bringing his skill and sardonic humor to bear on a case where clues are few, but suspects abound.

About the Author:J.A. Janice is a recipient of the American Mystery Award. The author of the Sheriff Joanna Brady series, she lives in Seattle, WA.

SYNOPSIS

The inimitable J.A. Jance puts her own spin on the popular theme of murder on board in Birds of Prey. The suspense is brilliantly done, and readers will be hooked from page one.
— Romantic Times

FROM THE CRITICS

Romantic Times

The inimitable J.A. Jance puts her own spin on the popular theme of murder on board in Birds of Prey. The suspense is brilliantly done, and readers will be hooked from page one.

Cleveland Plain Dealer

As always, Jance paints a vibrant picture, creating characters so real you want to reach out and hug -- or strangle -- them. The dialogue always rings true, and the cases unravel in an interesting, yet never contrived way.

Chattanooga Times

Any story by Jance is a joy.

Seattle Times

San Fransisco has Dashiell Hammett, Boston has Robert B. Parker...Seattle hsa J.A. Jance.

Chattanooga Times