Until Proven Guilty

J. P. Beaumont Series, Book 1

By: J. A. Jance

Narrated by: Gene Engene

Lurking in the dark corners of J. P. Beaumont's bizarre case was not just a demented mind obsessed with murder, but secrets so deadly that even a street-tough cop could die guessing.

Check out more of J. P. Beaumont's mysteries.©1992 J. A. Jance (P)2011 Books in Motion

Fiction yes, ridiculous, yes.

I admit I have not read the JP Beaumont book series in chronological order, having read four other books before the first one: Until Proven Guilty. The other books alluded to the tragic backstory of Beaumont's relationship with Anne Corley, all of which is told in Until Proven Guilty.

This turns out to be my least favorite of the books so far, and it's a good thing this is fiction because it strains anyone's ability to believe something like this story could ever happen. Without putting in spoilers, let me say that the Anne Corley that Beau fell in love with was a well-drawn character, beautiful, intelligent, courageous, charming, wise, gentle and passionate. She made a fine match for Beaumont and the story worked right up until the time she became "the other Anne". I do not think "the other Anne" could have co-existed in the same person with the one fleshed out in the first 9/10 of this book, certainly without revealing herself many times over. The few feeble "hints" J.A. Jance laid down for the reader in no way raised any suspicion of what was supposed to be there. This was not a virtue -- it just made the end of the story seem a trumped up ridiculous soap opera that made me want to throw the book into the trash. It was like listening to a top-notch singer who sings the entire last number of a performance badly off-key.

There was no way Anne Corley could have had the past attributed to her in the book; she would have been revealed long ago and become celebrated for it, kind of like the Unabomber was. I so wished for a different resolution of the mystery. If this had been my first Beaumont novel I might not have continued reading the later ones, which are much less melodramatic and make far better detective novels. To his credit, Gene Engene did his usual excellent job of reading all the characters. His reading style makes all the J.A. Jance books all the more enjoyable.

Great book - Awful reader

I thought I could handle the book (from listening to the sample) even though the performace wasn't highly rated by others. Should have listened to them - not the sample. The reader is really awful. I kept wanting to give him an allergy pill - he is so nasel!

Interesting

Sorry was interesting. Too much sexual description. Narration was good. Story was interesting. Story was interesting

Until Proven Guilty

The book was an OK novel. I love her Arizona novels about the lady sheriff. They were great!

Good, but not great

Would you try another book from J. A. Jance and/or Gene Engene?

I have tried other books by J.A. Jance and they are ususally quite good. Good plot and well written. This one was not the most ecxiting, but being the first in the series, it provides some background info that is usefull (but not imperative), when listening to other books in the series.

Would you be willing to try another book from J. A. Jance? Why or why not?

yes

What about Gene Engene’s performance did you like?

He has a good voice and doesnt' overdo it, when portaying the different characters.