On a rainy day at Sidetrack last fall I reached the end of reading. The Amery library isn't far, but it was closed for the weekend and I had no more unread books in my bag. I reached for a book left by Mary Ashmore in August. Paradise Lost is one of twenty-six mysteries by J. A. Jance. I hadn't really looked at it earlier because I suspected it was one of the romance novels Mary reads by the shopping bag full. And, it had gotten "buried" in a pile of books. By the time I got through the first chapter, I was happy I'd picked it up. The people who populate the little world Jance created are interesting and attractive. It reminded me of Mike Fredrickson's Cinderella Affidavit in the way characters were quickly introduced. Like that book there's also a prologue in Paradise Lost that sets part of the plot in motion. Like Tony Hillerman's novels set in Arizona, there's a lot of driving on rural highways. The trips take longer to read about in Jance's books. Nonetheless, reading this (between glances at the lake) was a very pleasant way to pass a rainy afternoon. If you've been paying attention to my preferences in these recreational books, this one contains no big credibility-stretching plot devices, the story is not delayed by extravagant red herrings, the characters are a bit more than cardboard cut outs, and there's enough descriptive verbiage to stimulate the imagination. If I run across another J. A. Jance book at the library, I might very well take it home. It all depends upon the competition.
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By Ken Wedding. 08.15.02 Updated 08.15.02.
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