Deadly Stakes

A murder mystery that grows more complicated by the moment as Ali and her partner B, use one of his top hackers to discover that the majority of suspects is keeping secrets out of love, hate, fear or greed as 3 murders and 2 attempted murders are connected. Each character is holding on to secrets upon secrets and hateful motives aschildren kill off parents, fathers trust the wrong child and wives try to destroy husband\’s for not making enough money for their wants, and would-be lovers or parents are killed, an old lady is drugged and a well brought up teenage boy keeps a few small secrets that gets him accused and thrown in jail for at leadtn1 murder possibly 2 as most everyone is set up by someone else. I love following all the clues that are there for us to put together. I CANT WAIT for the next book in this series. Just so much intrigue and more mysteries to solve.

J.A Jance has become one of my favorite, preferred authors. The Ali Reynolds series is quickly becoming my favorite series of the four she has written: J.P. Beaumont (Seattle, WA Policeman Detective) was her first series, Joanne Brady (Cochise Country, AZ Sheriff; my favorite and my introduction to the southwest when I moved to Cochise County, AZ 3 years ago), and the Walker Family (Pima County (Tucson), AZ Sheriff) is her fourth series are all excellent. Having said that, it would be very difficult for me to decide which of the four series is my favorite. I supposed the favorite would have to be whichever series Jances\’ latest book is from. Can\’t wait to read more! My only other favorite, preferred authors is Kathy Reichs, author of the \”Temperance Brennan\” or \”Bones\” series, which I would assume most TV watchers and medical/forensic mystery readers know of. She writes several series as well: Virals (teenage mysteries)\’ Eposure, Code and Seizure. As both a retired U.S. Army NCO and forensic psychologist, I find these series extremely engrossing and highly enjoyable. I would recommend them to anyone who has an interest in mystery stories. The Reich series for medical/forensic/police mysteries and J.A. Jance for non-standard Sheriff/police mysteries. They are truly worth your time and energy. And, on Kindle especially, the price is inconsequential.

I have most of this lady\’s books and have really enjoyed all of them. While Ali Reynolds is a bit far fetched as to the trouble she manages to get into and somehow wiggle out of, I still enjoy the stories about her. The other characters such as her mother and also her housekeeper help keep the books interesting. However, that said, I do not believe an 80 year old man who she felt was getting too old to do more than cook for her, was able to jump out of a hovering helicopter and then take on a known killer who is armed with a gun. Granted, he snuck up on the man in the dark and clobbered him with a piece of wood but still that isn\’t exactly what most 80 year olds would or could do, former Marine or not. I also don\’t believe a young man like B. Simpson would even consider letting an 80 year old rescue his lady love in that manner, Experienced fighter or not, he has youth and also strength on his side and I don\’t believe any younger man would let an old man 80 years old take a risk like that to rescue his girlfriend. It was still an enjoyable book if a bit far out.

I have all of Ms Jance\’s Hardbacks in my library and this one I could not even finish. First, the details about some of the minor characters was way to much detail and had me putting down the book several times before finally giving up. Also Ali, who had become one of my favorite characters, is rather vapid, ie, kind of shallow and lacking direction. She seems to come thru each of the early plot scenes as an aristocratic empty female. While I admit these criticisms may well be my own lack of interest in the many plot lines which needed development, I hope the next books on pre-order still will restore my love of her great past work.

I will start with a critique of Kindle\’s way of keeping track of time, pages and % of book read. The book club questions and other comments and the sample of the next book should NOT be included. Then a bone to pick with J. A. Her favorite character in this book is Sister Anslem, seriously, did they even talk on the phone? So many characters to keep track of…if it was a movie they wouldn\’t even n make union scale. I did like when Ali fell into \’writer, researcher, free lance\’ mode and takes notes on her ipad, that seemed real. Maps are kept by my chair and the time and miles were realistic until that last night. I can\’t help but think this should have been cheaper, just not her best.

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