Until Proven Guilty

In JA Jance's Until Proven Guilty, the first installment in the JP Beaumont mystery series, this debut would captivate you and make you want to keep reading for sure. When Seattle Detective JP Beaumont and his partner Ron Peters first arrrived at the scene of the crime of young Angela Barstogi's death. While they looked into the circumstances of it, they learned that his mother had ties to the cult inside the Faith Tabernacle search. That might them question everyone and everything around them, while Peters had a close connection to the case.. it had happened to his own kids by his own wife. Then Anne Corley entered the picture and JP's life, turning it around. But there remains a hint of a mystery of her and her background, when he met her at Angela's funeral. Then a double homicide had happened at the church, when both Suzanne and the cult leader had wound up dead. While all eyes pointed toward Andrew Carstogi, Suzanne's ex who's been ex-communicated and declared "Dead" in that church, he seemed to be the most likely suspect. Though JP had thought otherwise, he became more intrigued into Anne, while he had dealt with his own run-ins with Maxwell Cole, a thorn in his side. When someone else wound up dead and the heat is turned up, it was up to JP to put the screws on the killer... who was right under his nose in a mind-blowing climax on whodunit and why.

This was a great debut mystery from JA Jance. I really cared for JP and how he made it his own as a single man who misses his kids, and how he became enchanted by Anne Corley. I had grown fond on Peters and found them a remarkable partnership.  I did feel sorry for pool Angela and not so much for Suzanne a tiny bit. The Seattle locations were picturesque and the scenic settings were real-to-life on every page. This would make you shake your head and groan, hold your breath and propel you to read more to the end with non-stop drama, action, intrigue and a hint of mystery.

Will you take a chance to read Until Proven Guilty tonight?