J. A. Jance's Nothing to Lose is 25h entry in her series starring 74 year old ex-cop J. P. Beaumont, retired and married to police chief Mel Soames.

Two decades before in Seattle, Beau's partner, Sue Danielson, was murdered by her ex-husband. When her teen son Jared called Beau, he told him to grab his younger brother Chris and flee. Chris has fallen off the face of the earth and Jared is asking for Beau's help.

Careful police work allows Beau to close the cold case and to prevent a modern murder. I enjoyed this episode, which was enlivened by the colorful characters Beau met in Alaska.

JP Beaumont returns to help right another crime. He’s the house husband while his wife, Mel, continues to tackle the issues of being police chief in Bellingham Washington. During a snowstorm, Beau meets with the son of his murdered police partner, Sue Danielson. Jared is trying to find out if his younger brother, Chris, is still alive. Last known address was Homer Alaska. Beau heads to Anchorage and another snowstorm forces him to find a driver familiar with driving in Alaska’s winters. Twink Winkleman and her old International Harvester, Mabel, come to his rescue. Twink is one of those true Alaska characters. Crusty on the outside but compassionate on the inside. With the help of another original character, Professor Harriet Raines, a cigar smoking head of Alaska’s Department of Forensic Anthropology. She can connect the skull of a young man to that of Chris. With Twink as his driver, Beau heads to Homer to find out what happens, and its far more devious that he anticipates. The twenty-fifth Beaumont book has strong, quirky, crusy characters among its strongest attributes.

Jance brings PI JP Beaumont all the way to Alaska to solve a bittersweet disappearance connected to his former partner. With interesting and sometimes eccentric characters, full of action and heart.

“Nothing to Lose,” by J.A. Jance, William Morrow, 368 pages, Feb. 22, 2022.

Years ago, when he was a homicide detective with the Seattle police, J. P. Beaumont’s partner, Sue Danielson, was murdered.

Danielson’s ex-husband, Richard, came after her in her home as Jared, Sue’s teenage son, frantically called Beau for help. As Beau rushed to the scene, he urged Jared to grab his younger brother and flee the house. They survived.

Almost 20 years later, Beaumont is retired from the police department and is a private investigator. His wife, Mel, is police chief of Bellingham, Washington. Jared reappears in Beau’s life seeking his help once again—his younger brother, Chris, is missing. Jared is now a priest. Chris blames Jared for their mother’s death for not calling the police sooner.

Beau doesn’t hesitate to take on the case. Following a lead all the way to the wilds of wintertime Alaska, he encounters a tangled web of family secrets in which a killer with nothing to lose is waiting to take another life. He hires a driver named Twinkle Winkleman, who plays a pivotal role in the investigation.

This is a good, fast-moving story with a twisting plot. The characters are excellent. Jance is great at combining mystery and family in her dramas. While it is the 25th in the series, it can be read as a stand-alone. J.A. Jance is also the author of two other series: one featuring Joanna Brady and the other with Ali Reynolds. I recommend all three series.

In accordance with FTC guidelines, the advance reader's edition of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

J. A. Jance continues her consistently good series featuring retired homicide cop-turned-PI J. P. (Beau) Beaumont. This time the action moves to Alaska and here is where Jance's talents for describing settings really shines. Her descriptions are lush and gorgeous. The story itself is not a new one and were it not for the author's ability to brink her characters to life, the book would not have been as successful as it is. Beau's over-emphasis on footing all bills and his musings on the tiresome parts of policing become a bit tedious. But, Jance's fans will be happy to read Nothing to Lose.

When he was a homicide detective with the Seattle PD, J. P. Beaumont’s partner, Sue Danielson, was murdered. Danielson’s ex-husband came after her in her home and, with nowhere else to turn, Jared, Sue’s teenage son, frantically called Beau for help. As Beau rushed to the scene, he urged Jared to grab his younger brother and flee the house. In the end, Beaumont’s plea and Jared’s quick action saved the two boys from their father’s murderous rage. Now, almost twenty years later, Jared reappears in Beau’s life seeking his help once again—his younger brother Chris is missing. Still haunted with nightmares by the events of that tragic night, Beau doesn’t hesitate to take on the case. Following a lead all the way to the wilds of wintertime Alaska, he encounters a tangled web of family secrets in which a killer with nothing to lose is waiting to take another life.

I am a big fan of J.A. Jance. I started with the J.P. Beaumont stories many years ago, this is #23, and have since read many in her Joanna Brady and Ali Reynolds series. She is an excellent writer for detail and character development. Her descriptions of Alaska are so vivid you can almost feel the cold. She describes Beau in this book as 74 years years old which makes me wonder how much longer this series will last. He is a private investigator now, so the cases are more leg work than anything so I hope much longer. I highly recommend this book. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read the latest book in a favorite series.

I am a big fan of J. A. Jance's J. P. Beaumont. In Nothing to Lose he once again competently goes about the business of solving the crime. This time it's more personal and we get a glimpse of his deep feelings.

J, P. Beaumont is a wonderfully flawed character and this series is my favorite of the J. A. Jance books. This installment is a welcome continuation of the well-written series. Beau is visited by the son of his former partner who was killed by her abusive husband. Beau feels guilty about what happened and sets out to help the son find his brother who went missing many years before. There is plenty of suspense and warm hearted humor to keep a reader interested to the end. Jance is a master at describing settings. I enjoyed this book and I recommend it to fans of Beau or anyone looking for a good mystery/suspense read.

I really enjoy this particular JA JANCE series as do our patrons, and this is a wonderful addition to the Beaumont books.

As a longtime J.P. Beaumont fan who hasn't connected quite as well to Jance's other series, I loved this book. I do think her books about Beau are a little hokier than the others, but I don't mind too much. I was happy to find that this book connects back to Beau's Seattle PD partner's death and what happened to the two little boys left behind when Sue was murdered. Totally engrossing--I had to stay up late and finish it all in a sitting!

Loved it! This author's books rarely, if ever, disappoint her fans. Besides the great, multilayered characters and believable plots, I get a real kick out of the very unusual openings she employs (this time, clogged plumbing 😀 of a particular nature). I'll let others better versed in writing book reviews tell you above the story; just know this one earned one of my rare 5-star ratings.

I’ve generally enjoyed J.A. Jance’s mysteries, although I have always preferred the series featuring J.P. Beaumont (Seattle-based detective) to those with Joanna Brady or Ali Reynolds (which kind of surprises me, given my usual preference for well-written female protagonists). Possibly it’s the fully developed, well-rounded though flawed character of recovered alcoholic Beau and my relating to his struggle — Jance has done an amazing job creating a PERSON. We know this man!

Anyway, Nothing To Lose is the latest of almost two dozen adventures featuring Beaumont. Beau gets a surprise visit from Jared, one of his late partner Sue Danielson’s grown sons, who asks Beau for help. Jared wants to find his younger brother Chris, in order to facilitate a reunion with their maternal grandmother in Ohio. Years before, the two boys went to Alaska where they had relatives after their father failed to murder them. When Chris disappeared as a semi-rebellious teen, the consensus was that he went back to Ohio…but the two sets of relatives don’t speak, and the Ohio side assumed Chris was still in Alaska.

Beau feels both guilt over his role in the tragedy that took his partner’s life and responsibility to help her sons. So he’s off to Alaska (in the winter!) where he follows the threads in an attempt to untangle the family mystery and prevent further tragedy. As usual, Beau relies on his solid relationship with his wife Mel Soames as well as his lengthy list of connections in the law enforcement communities in Washington and Alaska. This is like comfy flannel pajamas – familiar and nice to get into after long hours dealing with the world. Four stars, and thanks to William Morrow/Custom House and NetGalley for providing a copy in exchange for this honest review.

Jance has a way with descriptions. From Seattle to Alaska, the location is like a character in the book. The tiny details are pitch perfect. I totally enjoy Beaumont and his ever expanding family and friends. This is a great addition to the series.