Review of "The Taken Ones: A J.P. Beaumont Novel" by J.A. Jance

 

 In this 27th book in the 'J.P. Beaumont' series, the detective looks into a young woman's disappearance.

*****

J.P. Beaumont (Beau) was a Seattle homicide detective for decades until his elite squad broke up and he became a private detective. Beau's wife Melissa Soames (Mel) has just retired from her job as Police Chief in Bellingham, Washington, and the couple now plan to relax and travel. First though, Beau and Mel get involved in the search for a missing girl named Gina Holt.



Gina Holt is a bright college co-ed in Anchorage, Alaska when she's offered a summer internship with Lyndahl Architectural Solutions in Seattle. It seems like a wonderful opportunity, and Gina accepts with alacrity. Gina subsequently flies into Sea-Tac Airport, texts her grandparents to say she's arrived, and vanishes.



The police initially take little interest, so Gina's grandfather calls his friend, mechanic Twinkle Winkleham, who knows how to get things done. Twinkle contacts her acquaintance, Seattle detective J.P. Beaumont, who agrees to look into Gina's disappearance.



A computer search reveals Lyndahl Architectural Solutions has been wiped off the internet; it doesn't really exist. Beau knows this means Gina is in trouble (or worse). Since Beau and his wife Mel are seasoned investigators, they launch their own search for Gina in cooperation with the authorities.



In the meantime, Gina has been kidnapped by a man called Trevor Alvin Calkins, who has restrained Gina in an RV and is driving her to Florida. Calkins routinely provides bathroom breaks in the RV and food, but he also keeps Gina drugged up and quiet.



The novel toggles back and forth between Beau's search for Gina and the RV's trip south.

In the RV, Calkins has no personal interest in Gina. He's being paid to do a job, and Gina is a package he's delivering. For her part, Gina is determined to be brave and endure, like her great-grandfather Lars, who survived the sinking of the USS Indianapolis in shark-infested waters in 1945.

In the missing persons investigation, Beau and Mel discover Gina's kidnapping is part of a string of abductions. It seems five young women, from all over the country, recently disappeared. All the girls are smart go-getters who have a presence on social media. Gina aspired to be an architect; another girl is a swimming champion with ambitions to be an astronaut; a third girl established an animal rescue foundation; and so on.



As Calkins traverses the country in the RV with Gina aboard, he's very calm and calculated: Calkins sleeps in the RV; enjoys coffee and a cigarette every morning; buys food for himself and Gina; gets stopped for a broken taillight and has to get it repaired AND purchase new tires; makes calls on a high-tech phone that doesn't ping cell towers; etc. Of course, Calkins makes a mistake or two, which bodes ill for him.



Intermittently, we see what Beau, Mel, and the FBI are doing. Beau contacts the families of all the missing girls; keeps in touch with Winkle; gets updates from the FBI; and keeps abreast of everything that's going on. Mel prowls the internet, looking for information. The FBI uses CCTV to search for vehicles used in the various abductions and to trace the RV. Eventually everything comes together towards the end of the book, when all is revealed.



I'm a fan of J.A. Jance's mysteries, but this book was disappointing. The main storyline is engaging, but the novel is full of digressions and asides. The main characters talk about themselves, their relatives, their jobs, their thoughts, and more - most of which feels like filler. Then the novel's climax is followed by an interminably long passage about what happens afterwards, which is unnecessary.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Mike Ortego, who just 'reads the book', using the same voice for all the characters.

Thanks to Netgalley, J.A. Jance, and HarperAudio for an ARC of the book.

Rating: 2.5 stars 

Review of "Death on the Royal Yacht: Her Majesty The Queen Investigates" by S.J. Bennett

 

  

The concept of this series is that Queen Elizabeth uses her excellent observational and deductive skills to help solve crimes. In this sixth book in the 'Queen investigates' collection, the monarch looks into a death on the Royal Yacht Britannia.



The Britannia functions as a floating royal household, a naval vessel, and a traveling center of official business. Thus the ship harbors naval officers and sailors (called yotties); the marine band; secretarial assistants; protection officers and police; household staff to clean, do laundry, cook, etc.







(Note: the novel contains a helpful 'Cast of Characters' in the foreword.)

*****

It's 1966 and Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip are touring the West Indies on the Royal Yacht Britannia. The ship travels from island to island, and the Queen's activities are meticulously scheduled, both on shore and on the ship.



Joan McGraw has been Queen Elizabeth's Assistant Private Secretary (APS) for ten years, and is accustomed to planning all the monarch's activities.



So Joan gets her nose out of joint when a new hire - beautiful blonde Pamela Sinclair - takes over some of the APS duties and makes herself 'Diary Secretary.'



Joan's resentment is obvious when Pamela organizes the perfect open-top car for Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip to tour Tobago, which easily tops Joan's idea to visit a museum of some sort.



In fact Joan thinks of Pamela as the character Eve Harrington in the movie 'All About Eve', in which Eve is an ingenue planning to displace famous actress Margo Channing.



Pamela is not destined to be around for long though, because after an evening of partying on Tobago, Pamela is found dead in her cabin on the Britannia. An autopsy confirms Pamela died from an overdose of Seconal barbiturates, and the hunt for the killer is on.

The case is complicated by the fact that no one knows how Pamela got back to the ship from Tobago. Returnees were carefully checked in to prevent stowaways, and Pamela wasn't ticked off the list.



Looking for the killer, Britannia's police and a Scotland Yard inspector want to lay the blame on Derek Green. Green is a 6'4" Black businessman from Tobago who wears beads in his long braided hair. Pamela and Green were seen talking on the beach in Tobago, and when Pamela's death became public, Green took off in a fast boat.



Queen Elizabeth (figuratively) thinks to herself 'not so fast boys', there's no evidence Green gave Pamela drugs or committed any crime. So Queen Elizabeth and her assistant Joan McGraw do their own 'under the radar' investigation.



The Queen and Joan learn several members of Britannia's crew engaged in hijinks that can end their naval careers. Additionally, trouble looms when Pamela Sinclair's father threatens to tell the press the Britannia is a hotbed of drugs. The Queen is anxious to protect the reputation of the monarchy, and she works hard to calm the waters.

As the weeks pass - and the investigations into Pamela's death continue - the Royals tour one island after another. The situation is delicate because many islanders blame the British Monarchy for historical slavery in the West Indies, and they want reparations and independence from the British Commonwealth.



Over time, after several more people are attacked, the Queen's security team and police form conclusions about the killer. They're wrong though. With Joan's help, Queen Elizabeth deduces the REAL identity of the perpetrator, and she subtly points the authorities in the right direction. The men are then very happy about how they finally solved the case. 😄



The charm of these books is twofold: It's fun to see Queen Elizabeth sneakily solving crimes; and it's interesting to follow the Queen's daily life, as she eats breakfast, makes appearances, meets local dignitaries, attends receptions, does paperwork, reads horseracing magazines, writes to her family, chats with her husband, instructs her secretaries...and occasionally soaks her sore feet.



I enjoyed the book but have some criticisms. For one thing, the abundance of characters is confusing The story contains all manner of naval personnel; several royal secretaries and their assistants; various kinds of police and inspectors; miscellaneous friends and relatives; and more. Even with a cast of characters in the foreword, it's a lot to follow. Additionally, I found the murder plot to be overly convoluted. That said, I'd read another book in the series.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Samantha Bond, who does a fine job.

Thanks to Netgalley, S.J. Bennett, and Dreamscape Media for an ARC of the book. 

Rating: 3 stars 

Review of "Conspiracy Theory: A Thriller" by Phillip Margolin

 

President Gordon Hale is up for re-election when his wife, Gloria Hale, is assassinated.



The killer, Diego Acosta, is shot during his attempted getaway, and the FBI, CIA, and every law enforcement agency in the United States concludes Acosta acted alone. Meanwhile, a grieving President Hale wins the election.

Jump ahead five years, and Michael Harris, a lawyer and thriller writer, is doing a book signing when he's approached by a man named Paul Faraday. Faraday says his father, Ron Faraday, was a Secret Service agent who took it upon himself to re-investigate Gloria Hale's assassination.



Ron Faraday thought Acosta was part of a conspiracy, and he filled a room in his house with news clippings, photos, and other research, as well as his journals. Ron recently died, and Paul offers the material to Michael Harris, with the idea of collaborating on a book.



Michael agrees to think about it, and he borrows Ron Faraday's journals and uses his phone to photograph everything Ron collected. After studying all the material, Michael thinks Ron may have been on the right track. Michael then interviews former President Hale's chief-of-staff Kevin Arnold, and brings up the material Ron Faraday accumulated.



That's when big trouble starts. Ron Faraday's house is burned down, and Michael is accosted by a mugger who demands his phone. It so happens an employee in Michael's building - a woman named Stacey - interrupts the mugging, and this leads to friendship and romance.



Michael reports the attempted robbery to the police, and connects it with the fire in Ron Faraday's house, and Gloria Hale's murder. But the cops insist it's all a coincidence. They say the FBI, CIA, etc. found no evidence of a conspiracy in the death of Gloria Hale, so it's case closed.



After this, Michael gets help from Patrick Gorman, publisher of a supermarket tabloid called Exposed. Gorman agrees to keep copies of Ron Faraday's research, and he hires private detective Dana Cutler to look into the conspiracy allegations.



The investigation of Gloria Hale's shooting becomes conflated with another case. On the same day Gloria was killed, a woman named Marsha Hart vanished from the hotel where the first lady was giving a presentation.

It becomes obvious a cover-up is occurring when homes are bugged and people are murdered, one after another.



By the end of the story, the Gloria Hale and Marsha Hart cases come together in a roundabout way, and both crimes are resolved.

I've read a number of Phillip Margolin's books and enjoyed them. Unfortunately, this isn't among Margolin's best novels. The plot strains credulity, the characters aren't fleshed out, and the clues are too obvious. That said, mystery fans might like the book for a plane ride or beach read.

I had the digital book and the audiobook, narrated by Thérèse Plummer, who does a fine job.

Thanks to Netgalley, Phillip Margolin, and Minotaur Books and Macmillan Audio for ARCs of the book.

Rating: 2.75 stars 

Review of "Is It Too Late to Make a Run for it?" by Judi Dench with Brendan O'Hea

I read the previous collaboration between Dame Judi Dench and Brendan O'Hea, Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent and enjoyed it. So I was glad to read their new book.

Dame Judi Dench (b. 1934) is considered one of Britain's greatest actresses. Dench's talent and versatility led to appearances on stage, in films, and on television, but she's most revered for her roles in Shakespeare's plays. Brendan O'Hea (b. 1970) is an actor, theatre director, and writer, also known for his Shakespeare work.


Judi Dench and Brendan O'Hea

The book is organized as 26 chapters that focus on various aspect of Dench's life and career. In each section, Brendan poses a series of questions and Judi reminisces and tells anecdotes. Dench is honest, serious, funny, raunchy, and playful.

I had the digital book and audiobook, narrated by Barbara Flynn, who does a wonderful job as the voice of Judi Dench. (Note: Dench can no longer read because she has macular degeneration.

I'll give examples of the stories to provide a feel for the book.

*****

Recalling her childhood, Judi mentions her father was a doctor, with his practice in the family home.

Judi: It was from my brother's bedroom window that Jeff and I used to pea-shoot the patients who were queuing up on the pavement outside, waiting for the surgery to open.

Brendan: Pea-shoot out of what?

Judi: A long brass curtain rod. We used dried peas because they made the best projectiles. It got us into such trouble - and quite right too.


Judi Dench and her brother Jeff

*****

Judi mentions her mother occasionally having a bad temper and says "I've probably inherited that temper. A bit."

Brendan: You can certainly play it. It's there in the steeliness of M [from the James Bond movies] and the simmering ferocity of Barbara Covett [from 'Notes on a Scandal'].

Judi: But then that's what we do as actors, isn't it? Draw inspiration from people we know or have heard about.


Judi Dench as M in 'Goldeneye' (1995)


Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett in 'Notes on a Scandal' (2007)

*****

Judi talks about her love for animals and all the pets she's had.

Brendan: How long have you had a parrot?

Judi: Four years. She's an African grey called Sweetie...[She's] started swearing. When my nephew last came to stay, she told him to drop his trousers...and Barbara was cleaning the kitchen, minding her business, and out of the blue Sweetie said 'You're a slag.' I'm amazed the poor woman didn't hand in her notice.

*****

Judi talks about playing Old Deuteronomy in the movie 'Cats' (2019), and notes "I understand the critics were rather hostile to the film."

Brendan: You always advise people to look for the plusses in life...What are the positives to come out of 'Cats'?

Judi: Working with old friends like Ian McKellen, and making new friends like dancer Robbie Fairchild..[and] I was excited to discover I could still lift my leg in the air...Nobody sets out to give a poor performance...You do your best, offer something up and hope people will get on board and join the party.


Judi Dench playing Old Deuteronomy in 'Cats'

*****

Brendan: Your very first musical was in 1968, when you played Sally Bowles in 'Cabaret'. You don't consider yourself a singer - you were way out of your comfort zone.

Judi: Which is exactly why I wanted to do it....I also found the piece itself fascinating. Up until then British musicals had tended to be rather wholesome. Cabaret was serious, dark and challenging, and unbelievably seedy.


Judi Dench in 'Cabaret'

*****

Dench talks about starring with Laurence Guittard in the musical 'A Little Night Music' (1995).

Brendan: You also have the onstage mishaps to keep you on your toes.

Judi: There was the night my foot got caught in my kimono and my shoulders jack-knifed towards my knees. I was like a hunchback. And every time I stepped forward, I walked further up the inside of the kimono. I got shorter and shorter...until I eventually keeled over. How Larry managed to keep a straight face, and continue singing, God only knows.


Judi Dench and Laurence Guittard in 'A Little Night Music'

*****

Dench speaks about her husband Michael Williams (Mikey), whom she initially knew as a friend and fellow actor.

Brendan: Then in 1970 you began a relationship.

Judi: Yes, suddenly it was love. We were in the Dirty Duck Pub in Stratford one evening...we were chatting...and before we knew it we were a couple...We were married in St. Mary's, Hampstead (1971)...We had lots of things in common: we had similar tastes in food - like me, he'd much prefer an egg butty to beef bourguignon; we both loved playing games - cards, quizzes, Scrabble; and we certainly had the same sense of humour - that was the glue, ultimately, which held us together.

(Note: Michael Williams died from cancer in 2001.)


Judi Dench and Michael Williams got married in 1971

****

Judi talks about her daughter Finty Williams, who loved being onstage from childhood. Judi says, "One year she played the innkeeper's wife [in a Nativity play] and when a friend of ours asked her what the story of the Nativity was all about, Finty said, Well, it's all about this...innkeeper's wife. Mikey loved telling that story."

Conversely, Finty's son Sammie "had no intention of becoming an actor."


Judi Dench's daughter Finty Williams and Finty's son Sammie Williams

*****

Brendan: Have you always been in a position to choose which part you're going to play?

Judi: Of course not. And it's something I'll never take for granted...You can't just expect to be employed in this business when there are so many terrific actors ready to step in.

Brendan: You've played a diverse range of parts - from Shakespeare to situation comedy and everything in between - you obviously enjoy the variety.

Judi: I do. I need to shake things up, try new things...Being in a sitcom is one of the hardest jobs I've ever done: read the script on a Monday, have four days of rehearsal, then play it in front of a live audience on Saturday, praying to God that you hit your marks and get your laughs.


Judi Dench and Michael Williams starred in the sitcom 'A Fine Romance' (4 seasons )

*****

Brendan: Were you surprised to be made a dame?

Judi: Totally. It came as a complete shock. When the letter arrived in the post, looking very official, I assumed it was another parking ticket or speeding fine, so I stuffed it in my bag and took it with me to work. In the interval I dared to open the letter and was gob-smacked.


Judi Dench was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1988

*****

Brendan: You've always taken an interest in design - especially costume...Where does that come from?

Judi: My mother. She was a wonderful seamstress...She made a lot of my clothes when I was growing up: skirts, dresses, blouses. I remember a beautiful grey flannel dress...with a big red heart on the right side of the bodice...I loved it, but I wasn't allowed to wear it to school because it was a Quaker school and there was a strict dress code.

*****

Speaking about playing Elizabeth I on the stage, Judi remembers, "The weight [of the dress] was unbelievable - it took three people to lift those dresses over my head. And try eating lunch in one of them...At lunchtime they'd have to throw a big bib over me, the size of a wigwam, and feed me standing up with a long spoon."


Judi Dench playing Elizabeth 1 in the movie 'Shakespeare in Love' (1998) for which she won an Oscar

*****

Talking about dressers, Dench says, "The person who was with me the longest was the blessed Miss Annie. I first met her in 1983...I liked her straight away - Irish, very funny and incredibly hard working. [When] I was in Nova Scotia making 'The Shipping News', I rang home and Annie picked up the phone. [Annie asked] what time is it over there in Canada, Miss Jude? Twenty past four in the afternoon, Annie. There was a pause, then she said: And what time would that make it over here in England. Oh God, there was no one like her."


Judi Dench and Kevin Spacey in 'The Shipping News' (2001)

*****

Brendan: You've had quite a few famous people visit your dressing room - from Bill Clinton to Paul Newman.

Judi: Yes, Bill Clinton, Princess Margaret, Esther Williams, Paul Neuman with his beautiful blue eyes. Oh, lots of people. But there was one person in particular who made me go weak at the knees...Sidney Poitier...He took me by the hand and the moment I looked up into his eyes - because he was very very tall...Honestly, you could've poured me out...He was so elegant and casual - just a beautiful, gracious, softly spoken man with exquisite manners. Ravishing.


Sidney Poitier

*****

Judi talks about the pitfalls of mobile phones and says, "It's not just my phone, even Alexa's starting to play up. I'm always getting into arguments with her. She's a law unto herself."

Brendan: That's because you don't give her clear instructions. You need to say: Alexa - Radio Four. She doesn't understand, Would you mind awfully...? or 'Might I trouble you to...

Judi: Well, she bloody well should. It's good manners.

*****

Brendan: Are you a good cook?

Judi: You know I'm not...Mary Berry once invited me to take part in her TV series 'Mary Makes It Easy', but I had to turn her down because it involved cooking her a meal. I thought, I can't inflict that on her - otherwise she'll have to make a follow-up programme called 'Mary's Feeling Queasy'.

Brendan: You must be able to cook something?

Judi: I make a very nice bread and butter pudding out of panettone. And I can also rustle up a decent oeufs en cocotte, which involves lining a couple of ramekins with butter, adding fried lardons, double cream and chives. Then you break an egg into each ramekin and shove it all in the oven.


Bread and Butter Pudding (left) and Oeufs en Cocotte

Brendan: What's your comfort food?

Judi: Mashed potato and some really good onion gravy. And Spam.

*****

Brendan: I remember seeing you in a preview of the Italian comedy 'Filumena Marturano' (1998) when you stumbled over some words.

Judi: I dried a few times during that play. On the press night I was meant to reel off a whole load of Italian towns but suddenly couldn't remember a single one. Instead, I just listed different types of pasta - vermicelli, fusilli, tagliatelle. No one seemed to notice. Or if they did, they were too polite to say.


Judi Dench and Michael Pennington in 'Filumena Marturano'

*****

Brendan: If you were to return somewhere that brings back lots of memories - maybe a place from your childhood - where would it be?

Judi: It would probably be the beach at Lekerock Cove with my ma and pa and brothers when I was very young...We used to get up in the morning, have breakfast, and make our way to this little beach, where we'd stay all day. And we'd collect winkles, light a fire and cook them in a tin with some sea water, then eat them with a pin...And we swam, swam, swam. Oh, it was lovely.


Lekerock Cove in Cornwall

*****

And I'll wind up with a bit of humor.

Brendan mentions Judi's long list of accolades and awards and says, "On top of that, you've had a theatre in Ealing named after you, as well as a seal pup in Cornwall, a cul-de-sac in Swindon, and there's a pathway in York called Dame Judi Dench Walk."

Judi: I've also had a waste collection truck named after me: Dame Foodie Dench - and very proud of it, I am, too...I've since found out that there's a Dustbin Bieber somewhere, and a Kate Binslet. And there's a gritter in Manchester called Gritter Thunberg, so I feel in very good company.



*****

The book is a must-read for Judi Dench fans and a good primer for aspiring actors, who would get lots of good tips.

Thanks to Netgalley, Judi Dench and Brendan O'Hea, and St. Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for ARCs of the book.

Rating: 4 stars