Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Until Proven Guilty: J.P Beaumont Mystery, Book 1
    Until Proven Guilty: J.P Beaumont Mystery, Book 1
    Until Proven Guilty: J.P Beaumont Mystery, Book 1
    Audiobook8 hours

    Until Proven Guilty: J.P Beaumont Mystery, Book 1

    Written by J.A. Jance

    Narrated by Gene Engene

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    The little girl was found murdered, her pink nightgown twisted around her throat. She was only five. The woman who came to the funeral to throw a single rose on the coffin was very much alive, and beautiful. The kind of beautiful that homicide detective J. P. Beaumont couldn’t resist. But lurking in the dark corners of this bizarre case was not just a demented mind obsessed with murder, but secrets so deadly, so close to Beaumont’s own life, that even a street tough cop could die guessing at the answers...
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBooks in Motion
    Release dateJan 15, 2004
    ISBN9781581163421
    Until Proven Guilty: J.P Beaumont Mystery, Book 1
    Author

    J.A. Jance

    J.A. Jance is the New York Times bestselling author of the Ali Reynolds series, the J.P. Beaumont series, the Joanna Brady series, and the Walker Family series. Born in South Dakota and raised in Bisbee, Arizona, Jance lives with her husband in Seattle, Washington. Visit her online at JAJance.com. 

    More audiobooks from J.A. Jance

    Related to Until Proven Guilty

    Titles in the series (16)

    View More
    View More

    Related audiobooks

    Mystery For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Thrilling Reads

      Jun 26, 2020

      Robert Mitchum lives in the small town of Marlboro, New York, on the banks of the Hudson River. He once had ambitions to become a Navy Seal but was rejected because he couldn’t pass the swimming test. Now he delivers newspapers and acts as the town’s

      3 min read

    • Article

      Prime Video

      Mar 12, 2020

      SEASON 5 MONDAY, MARCH 23 “Your conscience has killed more people than I have,” psychopathic murderer Alice Morgan (Ruth Wilson, The Affair) teases ethical but unorthodox London Detective Sergeant John Luther (Idris Elba, right) in Season 5 of Britis

      1 min read

    • Article

      An Enthralling Read

      Sep 22, 2021

      True crime fiction rarely has such a fascinating and somehow relatable main character, but I was enthralled by journalist Erin Sloane from the first few pages. I Shot the Devil follows Erin’s story after she’s called back to her hometown of Southpo

      1 min read

    • Article

      Killers I Have Known - And Liked

      Jul 26, 2023

      ‘Never commit murder,’ said Oscar Wilde. ‘A gentleman should never do anything he cannot talk about at dinner.’ To date, there has been no blood on my hands, but that may change. I am busy devising the perfect murder. I haven’t had so much fun in yea

      3 min read

    • Article

      Death and the Poet: Inside the Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast

      Oct 9, 2017

      Abby was murdered in the morning while Andrew was out of the house, a fact established by forensic examination of the couple’s stomach contents. He came home a few hours later, sat down on the sofa in the sitting room and was killed, never knowing hi

      9 min read

    • Article

      Murder, He Wrote

      Dec 12, 2021

      I love a good cosy mystery, so jumped on the first of the Thursday Murder Club books earlier in the year. It was a lot of fun and the characters were brilliant, however as the dead bodies and red herrings piled up, I lost track. Whodunit? By the end,

      1 min read

    • Article

      Crime Book Of The MONTH

      Nov 24, 2021

      Crime Book Of The MONTH
      1 min read

    • Article

      Spy Stories

      Jul 18, 2021

      While reading some novels, you feel as if you are right there, living through it all with the characters. This one was more like watching from a slight distance. That’s not a criticism exactly, but The Vixen wasn’t always completely involving. Set in

      1 min read

    • Article

      THRILLING & CHILLING

      Oct 27, 2023

      By MJ ARLIDGE ORION There are only a handful of convicted criminals in the United Kingdom who upon their release from prison have been given permanent, lifelong anonymity by the courts and authorities. These are individuals who’ve committed heinous

      2 min read

    • Article

      At death’s DOOR!

      May 9, 2021

      Sometimes novels about elderly people can veer towards the cutesy. Given that this is a cosy mystery, there seemed a definite risk of that. But The Thursday Murder Club is a gem – charming and funny, emotional and gritty, and barely ever cutesy at al

      1 min read

    • Article

      Book Club

      Feb 1, 2023

      Book Club
      5 min read

    • Article

      Brilliant Reads

      Aug 4, 2023

      By JO NESBO Harvill Secker Harry Hole, the brilliant maverick Norwegian detective, has fled to California. He’s grieving the loss of his wife, Rakel, and blames himself for her death. Down and out, living in a cheap hotel and drinking himself into a

      3 min read

    • Article

      Hot Right Now!

      Sep 7, 2023

      Hot Right Now!
      2 min read

    • Article

      THE Reading room

      Nov 4, 2020

      THE Reading room
      3 min read

    • Article

      What To Read?

      Apr 23, 2021

      William Boyd is in sparkling form in this novel set in 1968 in the seaside town of Brighton in the UK where a Swinging Sixties movie is in full production. The trio in question are Talbot Kydd, an ageing movie producer, Elfrida Wing, a successful wri

      2 min read

    • Article

      Best Books

      Mar 15, 2022

      Best Books
      1 min read

    • Article

      PAUL BAILEY On This Year's Booker-shortlisted American Author Percival Everett

      Nov 16, 2022

      ‘To accept the absurdity of a situation is to accept the humanness of it,’ Percival Everett once observed in a rare interview. His extraordinary novels and stories are brimming over with the everyday absurdities of life, alongside unfunny matters lik

      3 min read

    • Article

      Double Homicide

      Jun 17, 2017

      Double Homicide
      2 min read

    • Article

      Books

      Apr 15, 2024

      Books
      1 min read

    • Article

      3 Compelling New Mystery Books

      Mar 14, 2018

      Reliable names in mystery writing shine in two new mysteries and a biography of the queen of the genre.

      2 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Until Proven Guilty

    3.5/5

    354 ratings27 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      These books I just ploy thru - once I start I can't stop!
    • 4/5
      it was fairly easy to guess the ending shortly after the lady arrived. other than that, it was good.
    • 1/5
      Hated it. Ridiculous plot, characters were totally unlikeable and unbelievable. Narrator sounds bored, although he was probably just embarrassed to be reading such drivel.
    • 1/5
      There was nothing about the characters that was endearing. The main character seemed like a sucker so infatuated by a younger woman that he doesn't make good decisions. It doesn't make him likable. There was nothing about the female lead that seemed realistic or made you be able to empathize with the character. Could have done without the multiple descriptions of how sexy the girl was and all the time spent on sex scenes. We get it. He's infatuated. Guessed the ending. There was no surprise there. There is nothing about this book that makes me want to read more of the series or the authors other books.
    • 3/5
      Too much sex. Her later series don't have all that. It's more about character development and interactions with those. This was a bit hokey.
    • 5/5
      Great book, easy read and kept you wanting to read more of any J A Jance book.
    • 3/5
      I have mixed feelings about this book. I wanted to see what happened next so it had that. I liked JP Beaumont and Peters. 2 things hung me up. It was too straightforward for me with the twist feeling like an afterthought. Also the female lead was such a parody of every man's fantasy. She was so stereotypical I couldn't connect with her character at the all. I'll leave it at that so as not to spoil the book for those who choose to read. It's very light fare, good for a beach read.
    • 5/5
      this was one excellent story read in magnificent style by Gene Engene. The plot was unusual as well as gripping. Characterisation was immensely emphasized by the skill of the reader.
      This is a story to be re-read and makes one keen to follow the series.
    • 3/5
      J. P. Beaumont is a police detective, divorced with kids. He gets assigned to investigate the murder of a young child, which leads him to a cult where the child’s mother lives. At the child’s funeral, he meets an usual and intriguing woman. They both want justice for the dead child, and over dinner, discover they have even more in common. The mystery is a good one, but the romance is really far fetched. It’s hard to believe that a seasoned detective would be so gullible to fall so fast for a stranger, especially one who keeps secrets. Still, it’s not bad for the first book in a series. Beau - and his new partner - are interesting, and since this is the first of 25 books and counting, the series must be a winner.
    • 3/5
      An interesting little book, but not so much in a good way. I have read enough J.A. Jance novels to now see that all her main characters are the same, they are essentially cut from the same cloth. This book illustrates that best. J.P. Beaumont is a creation of a whole series of improbably events; one improbable event followed by another improbable event and another and another and so on. Also, all of the main characters lives have been formed by other characters that randomly appear through said improbable events.Since I rarely read books in order I knew a lot of background on Beaumont, but I was shocked to find the first book in the series laid it all out in one fell swoop. I think the improbabilities of the character development stacked up on the negative end of the spectrum. Other writers might introduce and then develop a character over several books. Nope, in this one we get a fully developed Beaumont in one whole shebang.That's all I can say about this book. The story itself was entirely forgettable, I literally cannot tell you what the crime and / or mystery is / was a day after finishing it. Only the Beaumont bits I remember.
    • 5/5
      Wow. Another one. Told from a male perspective, and I did guess the end. But it was gripping and I read every page! :)
    • 2/5
      This book was supposed to help me decide my direction with this writer. Sadly, it did establish my opinion.The gruff, blunt, frugal detective. The new partner (not a rookie, but might as well be). The murder investigation that rattles at least one of the two. The whole set up feels so cliché it's not even funny.I can see partners growing as the book progresses. I'm okay with that. Also, for an older novel, things are flying through the time line, since the entire book took a little over a week. There were whole chapters that could have been reduced, just because it gave too much details to things that didn't advance the plot much. Oh, way to open a series, blame it on a cult. And one who all changed their names to join. Even better, have a character reveal a conflict of interest...The publisher's chosen narrator may have added to my dislike of the character. He makes the main character sound so disgruntled. That may be coloring my opinion of the book. You know, when we first met the Lady in Red (also a cliché), I suspected. Now the writer confirms, at least partially. I'm just waiting for the suicide. And sadly, I called it. Death by cop. So much of this book felt cliché, overdone, and just difficult to suspend disbelief for, I'm not sure I want to read the rest of the series.
    • 3/5
      I read this book as part of the All You Can Read challenge I started with a fellow BookNerd. This is a story about Detective Beaumont of the Seattle PD, investigating the murder of a small child. The investigation leads him to a cult-like religious group. This a good story with plenty of mysterious elements and a good leading character. I give it three stars because, while I liked it, I'm not sure I enjoyed it enough to warrant 4 or 5 stars. I do, however, recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good mystery.
    • 4/5
      This was an interesting story. A murder mystery, complete with a religious cult, pulls in a side romance which is itself a mystery. What kept this from being a five star book were 1) the "voice" in the first quarter of the book was a choppy "Dragnet" style voice and it irritated me, 2) the language didn't successfully paint good pictures for me, and 3) the ending seemed manuafactured, like it was quickly and arbitrarily tying up loose ends. Oh, and of course, as Dad would say, "this is completely unbelievable!" That said, however, I will try book two in the series before deciding what I think about the series as a whole.
    • 2/5
      Read 9/16. Found when looking for Dance of the Bones (2015 Shamus Award Finalist). J.P. Beaumont series, #1. The basis of the series, Homicide Detective Beau meets Anne Coorley. when working a child murder case. Largely a romance, not the series for me.
    • 4/5
      If you have ever read and enjoyed any of the books from the J.P. Beaumont series you really need to read this one. A 5-year-old is murdered and Beau investigates the strange cult in which she and her mother live, immediately becoming suspicious of the self-absorbed cult leader. Another part of the plot deals with his relationship with Anne Corley, a beautiful woman who enters his life and changes it forever. Anne Corley is mentioned in almost every succeeding book, so to understand how Beau got his Porsche and lives a lifestyle which differs from most everyday detectives, it is necessary to read this one.
    • 4/5
      PLOT OR PREMISE:Beaumont finds himself investigating the apparent murder of a little girl, five years old. When the investigation leads to the girl's home, and the cult that her mother is part of, things start to get a little weird. Add in the fact that he is still getting to know his partner, and the introduction of a rich and beautiful stranger to J.P.'s social and professional life, and the story starts to get a little odd..WHAT I LIKED:I liked the woman in the story, and her obsession with those who murder little children. She shows up at the funeral, and you can vividly picture her arrival from the excellent prose..WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:The bits with the journalist are a bit stale in this book in the series, and some of the "getting to know your partner" tension is simply boring. Unfortunately, too, the "cult" comes off rather comical without any real depth as to why people might have gravitated towards this life..BOTTOM-LINE:Not the best in the series, but a killer ending.DISCLOSURE:I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor do I follow him on social media.
    • 4/5
      J. P. Beaumont, known as Beau to his friends, has been a homicide detective for fifteen years and has seen it all, but the murder of a child still upsets him. When five year old Angela Barstogi, daughter of one of the members of the Faith Tabernacle, is found murdered with evidence of previous child abuse, the group's leader, Pastor Michael Brodie, will not allow his followers to speak to the detectives. It isn't until Beau and his partner, Ron Peters, threaten to arrest Brodie does Angela's mother, Suzanne and the other members agree to answer some questions.

      When Beau attends little Angela's funeral he's intrigued by a mysterious woman in red who places a red rose on the child's coffin. Beau has never seen this beautiful woman before but he knows she isn't a member of Faith Tabernacle and no one at the funeral seems to know who she is. He feels compelled to speak to her, and so into his life walks Anne Corley.

      Although this first book is not the best in the series, it's still an interesting book for a couple of reasons. First, the murder story is skillfully woven. The reader is given lots of possible suspects and we see how Beau and his new partner learn to depend on each other. Second, the reader learns where Beau got all his money and it's one of the building blocks of Beau's character in future stories. Don't give up on J. P. Beaumont, the rest of the books are far better and well worth reading.
    • 3/5
      Awesome book.
    • 3/5
      A five-year-old girl is dead and Seattle police detective J.P. Beaumont will not let that stand. When his investigation leads him into a cult of religious fanaticism, he finds that nobody wants to help him and his new partner bring the killer to justice. But while Beau is battling the silence of a cult and his partner’s checkered past, in walks a mysterious woman in red that J.P. is suddenly obsessed with. But is she really interested in love, or does she have her own agenda?Until Proven Guilty was written in 1985 by J.A. Jance and is the first of a series featuring J.P. “Beau” Beaumont that spans 20 volumes to date. The story really takes shape early on with a dead young girl at the center of a religious cult that is much more interested in silence and obedience than in finding the killer. Jance’s writing is solid, and her scene setting is a real gift. I particularly enjoyed reading of a cop’s life before the days of Google and cell phones. However, while the characters start out interesting, Jance spends so much time delving into their little personality quirks and what they like to eat that the middle of the book really bogs down and becomes uninteresting. Then we have the entrance of “the woman in red,” Anne Corley. This is where the story started to fall apart for me. Her whole backstory made no sense at all and Anne and Beau’s actions made even less sense. I know that love is blind, but this is pretty blind, deaf and dump for someone who is an investigator. Even so, I could look past that since love can make people do some pretty strange things. But then the implausible descended into the downright ridiculous. Several subplots were dropped as quickly as they were brought up and then ending wrapped up so quickly and neatly – with the key character to the murder being dropped in straight from outer space – that it seemed like several chapters had been cut right out of the book. There are 19 books in the series after this one, and they seem to be very popular. While the others may be much better, it is difficult for me to get past the bad taste left by this first installment. Forced to stand on its own, Until Proven Guilty simply doesn’t measure up to other books in the genre whether written today or three decades ago.
    • 4/5
      A little girl's body is found discarded along a road, and JP Beaumont , "Beau", is assigned to find her murderer. He and his partner discover that the child's mother is a member of a religious cult that believes in strict discipline that includes beatings and humiliation. Members of the cult are uncooperative, and getting good information is a chore. While attending the child's funeral, Beau meets a beautiful woman in red. He falls head over heels in love with her. As a result of this whirlwind romance, he loses some of this focus on the investigation. I have been reading JA Jance's books for years now. This book, written back in 1985, is the first in the JP Beaumont series. I fell in love with Beau in later books, so really looked forward to reading this story and getting filled in on details from his past. I must say that if this was the first book I read, I may have been tempted to not read any others in the series. It was entertaining, but weak. Ms Jance's writing has improved considerably over the years. While I do feel it is worth reading, if just to get Beau's backstory, it is certainly not one of the best in the series.
    • 3/5
      Started off with a bang, slowed me down somewhere in the middle, picked up again at the finish, had me guessing for sure.
    • 3/5
      I got this book for .99 from B&N, and I thought, why not? Although somewhat dated (first printed in 1985!), it still held my interest with predictable characters and cliched sex scenes. It made for a good Lazy Labor Day read.
    • 3/5
      Awhile ago, I read the most recent book, the 20th, in the J.P.Beaumont and enjoyed it a good deal. So when I saw a really good deal on this book, the first in the series, 99 cents on Barnes an Noble for a Nookbook, I could not pass it up. Well, the results were mixed.I liked the character of Beau in both books and we get, in this first book, to learn a good bit about his backstory. The problem is that this particular part of his backstory is quite bizarre. The first part, where the body of a young girl is found and police start their investigation, starting with the fundamentalist cult her mom is a part of, is good. We meet his new partner, Ron Peters, a guy that has his own trouble past, some other officers and the oh so sleazy newspaper man Maxwell Cole. Since Beau does not own a car, we also get an interesting walking tour of Seattle. I will admit that maybe one other reason I like this series is the northwest setting. Rainy day are always a plus in my book.But then, at the girl's funeral, we meet the Woman in Red, Anne Corley in her red dress, with her red Porsche, it is love at first sight and things take a huge turn for the improbable. You know what your mom said...if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Well, I guess Beau's mom never mentioned that to him. Where there is smoke, there is fire..love is blind...so may cliches come to mind.It is not a bad book, but honestly, if this was the first in the series that I read it may have been my last. Good characters...no doubt, one of the strengths of the series...a great setting, love that rain!...and a totally unbelievable plot. I will say that the ending wrapped everything up nicely and set up the future of the series nicely, but you have to hang on to get there.
    • 4/5
      It started well and ended well, but the middle was a bit long. The woman in red had several plot points start to develop but disolve in a few pages, so pointed to some critical involvement. The mystery wasn't solved by the main character, but solved itself around him. I almost stopped reading in mid-book. But the ending enticed me, I might read the next one and give it another shot.
    • 3/5
      good read, the plot may have been a little implausible but i liked the main character, j p beaumont, so much, it didn't matter. since this was the first in a series that began in 1985, i can only imagine ms. jance has improved with age! will want to read more in the series.
    • 3/5
      Why can't the hero of a detective series ever get the girl? It was only when Ross Macdonald knew he had to end the series that Lew Archer got his girl. I knew this book was going to end bad as soon as Beaumont falls in love. A good read, but I hate this kind of story.