J.P. BEAUMONT

J.P. Beaumont is a figment of my imagination although, after writing about him for almost twenty years, he feels more like an old friend. When it’s time to start writing a new book about him, it’s like renewing an acquaintance with someone who’s been out of town for a while, and we need to catch up on what’s been happening.

Physically, Beau owes his appearance to a Pima County homicide detective I met during the course of a 1970 case involving a serial killer in Arizona.  His affinity to the bottle and his eventual sobriety are, of course, linked to my experiences with my first husband–the drinking that is. JP. Beaumont was smart enough to sober up, once the problem was brought to his attention. My husband, on the other hand, died of chronic alcoholism at age 42.

I come to the task of writing with the understanding that my characters are people first and police officers second. When they get hurt either physically or emotionally, they don’t get over it within the next twenty pages. Things that happen to them in one book impinge on what they’re doing in the next one.  That’s why you’ll find the books listed in order. Not that they have to be read that way, but because it may be more fun.