Queen of the Night [Hardcover]

Although crimes are committed and investigations are conducted in Queen of the Night by J.A. Jance, the book is primarily about its characters -- what happened and is happening to them, the ways they are connected or become connected, how events in one charcter's life parallel those in another's.

The story takes place in Arizona, where Brian Fellows, happy in his roles as father, husband, and cop, follows the trail of a killer while his idol Brandon Walker pursues a new lead in a cold case at the request of a dying friend. Brandon's wife, Diana, seeing ghosts and worrying over her deteriorating health, anticipates her own approaching death while at the beginning her life, Angelina Estalante survives a cold-blooded slaughter only to be labeled a Ghost Girl by relatives who refuse to care for the four-year-old. Dr. Lani Walker, one of the Desert People and Brandon and Diana's adopted daughter, knows what it is like to be rejected by family, but her reluctance to make personal commitments influences her empathy for Angelina. Half-Apache border patrolman Dan Pardee, who rescues Angelina and was orphaned at a young age, knows what it is like to be an outsider, particularly in the land of the Tohono O'odham, the Desert People and cannot cast off his feeling of responsibility for the child.

The murders in the book take second place to the lives of these and other characters. The cold case subplot, in fact, is anti-climactic and not terribly engaging. What is engaging are the sections of the book that focus on the legends and traditions of the Tohono O'odam (Desert People), including that of the Queen of the Night, a cereus that blooms only one night a year.

Although Jance's technique of switching focus among characters can be disconcerting, even at times confusing, their stories are interesting enough to make it worth the effort to keep up with and untangle all of the threads. In the end, it is possible to understand that one of Jance's themes is probably how interconnected we all are. And, if the reader tires of the human element, there is always Bozo, a scene-stealing dog.

"Queen of the Night" is the latest mystery/suspense thriller by Southwestern/Western sleuth-writer extraordinaire, J. A. Jance. Set in Arizona, with scenes of fear unfolding within the Tohono O'odham Nation's reservation boundaries, "Queen of the Night" stars familiar Dr. Lani Walker, a Tohono O'odham physician and a new character, Dan Pardee, an Apache Iraqi war veteran who has become a Shadow Wolf, an unorthodox Native American Border Patrol group. Along with his canine companion and guard, Bozo, Dan intervenes to rescue a lost child from a terrible multiple murder scene set in the beautiful Arizona desert on the night of the blooming of the Queen of the Night, the night-blooming cereus. The pace never slackens, as more players from different races and official agencies become involved in the investigation of the multiple murders and the wrenching decision regarding the placement of the four-year-old child witness to the murders. Tribal customs, traditions, and history are woven into the story line skillfully, with many inner conflicts surfacing to confuse the hunt for the murderer. The human touch is all, in Jance's narratives. Readers will be unable to stop turning pages whether electronically or physically, as "Queen of the Night" approaches its final resolution, engaging all race, all issues, all senses, all attention. There is a message of interconnectedness, acceptance and human compassion in the mystery novels of J. A. Jance that transcend the genre, taking it to realms beyond pure entertainment.

"Queen" is a departure from Jance's more famous J.P Beaumont and Joanna Brady mysteries (and thankfully not another in the more "modern" Ali Reynolds set) -- it is the fourth entry in the Walker family series. Set in Arizona, shades of Tony Hillerman, to whom this book is dedicated, the light mystery is as much an excuse to illuminate the culture of the Tohono O'odham Nation (native Indians) as it is to serve up a mild police procedural. That the author reveals the perp about halfway through, and the capture of same turns out to be a fairly mundane affair, means this story is more about the characters, of which there are plenty, and their relationships and tribulations, than the mystery per se.

We've read the prior three novels in this series, and at this point will probably pass on any future additions, preferring to stick with the more suspenseful plots of Jance's two main "stars". So while "Queen of the Night" (a once-per-year flowering cactus) is pleasant enough, it may well disappoint those expecting a crisper, more entertaining mystery thriller.