Long Time Gone (J. P. Beaumont Mysteries)

After more than twenty years of distinguished service with the Seattle Police Department, Jonas Piedmont Beaumont is now working for the Washington State Attorney's Special Homicide Investigation Team or, as it's more commonly called, the SHIT squad. But the more things change, the more they stay the same.

An eyewitness to a fifty-year-old murder has just come forward, and Beau has been hand-picked to lead the investigation. While undergoing hypnotherapy, a middle-aged nun unexpectedly recalls the grisly details of a cold-blooded killing she witnessed when she was five years old. Though fear has kept these memories repressed for half a century, they've now risen to the surface to cast a harsh light on a deadly plot that spans two generations. And Beau's caught in the glare, facing a ruthless band of coconspirators willing to go to any lengths to keep their secrets hidden.

But there's more shaking up Beau's world. His former partner, Ron Peters — caught in a bitter child-custody battle — becomes the prime suspect in his ex-wife's vicious murder. A surrogate parent to Ron's three children, Beau must watch helplessly as his friend spirals through an emotional free fall, his life and family torn to pieces. Everywhere he turns, Beau keeps butting heads with an adversary from the Seattle PD with a personal vendetta. And his growing feelings for Melissa Soames—the squad's newest investigator and Beau's unlikely ally — is a distraction that threatens to open painful old wounds and rouse his personal demons.

Filled with all of the Jance trademarks — heart-stopping suspense, deeply drawn characters, local flavor, intelligence, and humanity — Long Time Goneis a crowning achievement in this bestselling author's career.

"Two family tragedies 50 years apart challenge J.P. Beaumont, Seattle investigator for the Washington Special Homicide Investigation Team, in bestseller Jance's taut, colorful 17th entry in a series that started 20 years ago with Until Proven Guilty. The state attorney general assigns Beaumont a cold case after a nun, Sister Mary Katherine, reports horrific dreams that indicate a long-repressed memory of witnessing a murder. But he's distracted when the former wife of his best friend, Ron Peters, is killed and suspicion falls on Ron's family, causing havoc. Jance is smart enough not to combine the two disparate cases in anything but locale, but she forces Beaumont to choose between friendship and duty — his relationship with the distraught Peters family forbids him from working their case, but he aches to help. The clever and complex plot line involving the nun shows Jance at her best, revealing a coverup that still threatens after many decades. The Peters plot is a frightening lesson in miscommunication, and though the reader may suspect the murderer early on, the stunning motive is only slowly revealed. While Jance writes without the humor of an Ed McBain or Robert B. Parker, fans of those authors will appreciate Beaumont. Agent, Alice Volpe at Northwest Literary Agency. 15-city author tour. (July)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

When a nun recalls the grisly details of an unsolved murder she witnessed as a child 50 years ago, Seattle Special Homicide Investigation Team member J.P. Beaumont struggles to solve one of his most baffling and dangerous cases yet in this "New York Times" bestseller.

J. A. Jance is the New York Timesbestselling author of the J. P. Beaumont series, the Joanna Brady series, three interrelated thrillers featuring the Walker family, and Edge of Evil. Born in South Dakota and brought up in Bisbee, Arizona, Jance lives with her husband in Seattle, Washington, and Tucson, Arizona.