Deadly Stakes

Ali Reynolds #8

by J.A. Jance

In this “heart-stopping” (Publishers Weekly) page-turner from New York Times bestselling author J.A. Jance, Ali Reynolds finds herself working against the police to clear two innocent names.Police academy-trained former reporter Ali Reynolds is contacted to investigate the grisly murder of a gold-digging divorcee. Lynn Martinson is dating the dead woman’s ex-husband, and she and her boyfriend Chip Ralston have been charged—so she turns to Ali to clear her name.

Ali’s investigating leads her to A.J. Sanders, a frightened teen with secrets of his own. He’s the first to find the body in the Camp Verde desert when he goes to retrieve a mysterious buried box hidden by his absent father—a box that turns out to be filled with hundreds of thousands of dollars in poker chips.

When the body of an ex-con is discovered near the first crime scene, Ali struggles to determine if A.J. and Lynn’s cases are related. Though her friends in the police department grow increasingly irritated by her involvement, Ali is determined to stop a deadly killer from claiming another victim…before she herself is lost in this game of deadly stakes.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Suspense, Audiobook, Mystery Thriller, Crime

356 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 1, 2013

About the author

Judith Ann Jance is the top 10 New York Times bestselling author of the Joanna Brady series; the J. P. Beaumont series; three interrelated thrillers featuring the Walker family; and Edge of Evil, the first in a series featuring Ali Reynolds. Born in South Dakota and brought up in Bisbee, Arizona, Jance lives with her husband in Seattle, Washington, and Tucson, Arizona.

Series:
* J.P. Beaumont
* Joanna Brady
* Ali Reynolds
* Walker Family

Reviews

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this 8th book in the 'Ali Reynolds' series, the journalist/amateur sleuth investigates two murders. The novel can be read as a standalone.



*****

Beautiful divorcee Gemma Ralston, stabbed and paralyzed, dies a horrible slow death in the Arizona desert.



Teenager A.J. Sanders - looking for buried treasure as instructed in a secret letter from his ex-convict, absentee father - happens to be on hand at the end of Gemma's life. The teen texts for help then flees the scene of the crime.



Turns out Gemma was the grasping, money-hungry ex-wife of Alzheimer expert Dr. Chip Ralston. Before long, Chip and his new girlfriend Lynn Martinson become prime suspects, and are arrested for murder.



Soon afterward the body of A.J.'s dad, James Sanders, is found in the desert. Are the crimes connected?



Police detectives investigate as does journalist/amateur detective Ali Reynolds. Ali soon discovers that murdered ex-con James Sanders, a low-salary handyman, had been throwing around a lot of money lately. Did this lead to his death?



Familiar series characters make an appearance, including Ali's mom, boyfriend, cop friends, and computer hacker Stuart Ramey.



To me, extensive scenes of Stuart's data mining and illicit hacking are tedious but computer nerds may enjoy them. Ali carries on questioning persons of interest, has her life threatened by dangerous bad guys, and eventually solves the crime.

This is an okay escapist mystery, good for a few hours of light entertainment.

You can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot....

[Jack Heath · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars. Good but I found the conclusion a touch too tidy. Ali Reynolds is an enjoyable lead in this series; its her empathy for others in difficult situations and her perseverance that I admire. As well as the difficult circumstances she always gets into. It includes a nice dollop of humour too. More later. There are two murders here. Are they related is the question. In no order, the body of James Mason Sanders, an ex-con and absentee father of a great young man, A.J., is found at a secluded site in the desert near Sedona, Arizona. Shot to death. Not far from him is another body, that of Gemma Ralston. Stabbed to death. Given the con's past and the proximity of the two bodies, they must be related, right? It can't be a coincidence, right? Because she doesn't have a Private Investigator licence, Ali falls back on her reporter experience, and pretends she's writing an article on the Ralston case. Now the humour, I laughed out loud when I read the reason Sanders estranged wife Sylvia gives for why he couldn't have killed Gemma. He's a romantic, she says, and that's the special place we used to go to have sex when we were teenagers! My kind of thinking. (Au2024)

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first book of J.A. Jance's that I ever read was the first book in the Ali Reynolds series so this series is very special to me. I have enjoyed reading about the evolution of Ali Reynolds in this series. In this latest outing we are following two interrelated stories that end up initially causing friction in Ali's relationship with the local police force much to her dismay.

This is J.A. Jance at her best. This is an excellent story with plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader intrigued. Modern electronic techniques are employed to assist the detecting making this novel very up to date technologically. Ali's relationships with her family, Leland and her beau all progress forward in this tale.

Excellent storytelling, great story, puzzling mystery, and excellent pacing contribute to this novel's success. Highly recommend Deadly Stakes by J.A. Jance.

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jance is one of my favorite authors, and this book continues the Ali Reynolds series. I never thought I would like another character more than Joanna Brady, but I feel like I know Ali like a friend. This story is full of action, twists and turns and keeps you guessing all the way through. Jance's books are so well written that there are never any loose ends or questions at the end......I don't start anything else right away, just letting her story percolate in my brain a while until I have figured out every bit of it. I loved it!

[Dee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two-haiku review:

Teen finds dead woman
While seeking father's treasure
Then father's dead too

Two plots intersect
Good story, complicated
Characters show growth

[(NurseLisa) Square Granny from Ohio · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5 stars

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I still wish Jance would return to her first series about J.P. Beaumont or do another psychological thriller stand-alone or two. Of her mystery series, this one featuring Ali Reynolds is my least favorite. She always does stupid things. This one is no exception, although she's done even dumber things in previous novels. It's entertaining, but not a favorite. Easy, quick read.

[Mike French · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy J.A.Jance's writing. This one more like 31/2stars than 41/2 stars. To me it started off slowly, but it really picked up about 1/3 of the way in.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

A terrific book from Ms. Jance. I like how she is able to use here different title character (Ali, Sheriff Brady and JP Beaumont) to follow different styles of writing. Joanna Brady solves crimes in the old fashioned way, Ali Reynolds and her associates are all about technology and the scary amount of information about all of us available to the Stuart Ramsey's of the world.

In this book we see more of the relationship between B. and Ali develop and the set-up for several books to follow. It is hard to discus specifics without giving away too much, but once the book grabbed me I couldn't put it down.

[Judd Exley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Is it me, or is Ali Reynolds an overly-judgmental bitch? She's also rich and spoiled and fairly snooty. Hell, nearly 95% of her characters are either nice and benign do-gooders or purely even shitwits. Are there no in-betweens? Can the hero have some flaws other than being a snob?

The only thing I like about these books is reading out certain parts to my wife and then both of us having a good laugh. I mean really... did the author need to explain to us that Ali knows what the term "brick" means in regards to today's technology? Particularly in the context of complimenting her father? Speaking of which, what bizarre colloquialism is it that she constantly refers to her parents by their full names? I'm not even going to bag on her for hyphenating "e-mail" and explaining that an email from "SRA@SOP.com" is from the "Website" Sisters of Providence. The author is 70 and I'll look past the generational gaps (though I'll giggle at them).

This story, while full of random characters whose backstories mean NOTHING to the main story yet are included anyway ad naseum, wasn't as bad as the others for a while there. I really liked the kid A.J. and the mystery angle of his dad and the fortune in poker chips.

But then that gets all neatly tied up in one fkn paragraph at the end. LAME. That was yet another of Jance's completely remedial plot flops. Another is that the final chase thing is pretty good, with Ali waking up in the trunk while the nerds close in on her, yet she has to smash a bottle to stab the girl after her? What happened to the Glock?

There's just too much of this shit in these books. When I see things like the typo calling her "Maddy Worth" when she was introduced as "Maddy Wurth" then I'm convinced that Simon & Schuster need to hire me as an editor and fire the dick weasels that have been looking after Jance's books.

I've only read 2 Ali Reynolds books and am going to try a Joanna book, just to see if they're as awful. Hell, I'll try a Beaumont book too, just to see if she uses up all her good writing on his books and saves the 70-year old, divorced and wealthy, judgmental, non-tech savvy bullshit for the other series.

[Vickie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I faithfully read every J.A. Jance novel, but they leave me feeling something is missing. I finally figured it out with this one: I prefer fictional crime-solvers that have personal flaws. Her protagonists, or at least the female ones (Ali Reynolds and Joanna Brady) are just too nice. I've always preferred Jance's J.P. Beaumont series, and now I know why.

[Linda K. Melzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good Ali Reynolds read.

I don't know what I'd do without J A Jance novels. Whenever no other books hold my interest I can always turn to one of her novels. I started reading her J P Beaumont series many years ago and haven't stopped sense. This book had a great story line and my favorite characters kept me going to an exciting end.

[Linda Munro · Rating 5 out of 5]

There appear to be a few Ali Reynolds books I have yet to read; this is one.

Ali is asked to investigate a murder and clear a now imprisoned woman. She is not a licensed investigator, but as a freelance writer she can get away with things police officers cannot, especially when she has High Noon's Stewart Ramey behind her.

Of course, things get muddles when a teenager goes to a spot in the dessert indicated by his absentee father to retrieve a treasure and finds a dying woman. Later, his father is found not far away from where the woman died; how does this tie together?

As Ali's Police buddies become more rancorous towards her; she is about to step out of the frying pan and into the fire; and no one but Stewart Ramey will be able to tack her down.

[Barbara Nutting · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a great series, just a good story with like-able characters. Yes, it’s far fetched and highly improbable but I enjoy every word. This is my second book in a row, now off to start the next one. It’s fun to read them in sequence- like one big novel%,

[Karen ReadsALot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too many characters and a bit slow moving. Picked out the evil doer early on. Good ending scenes.

[Bonnie Dieffenbacher · Rating 3 out of 5]

An Ali Reynolds mystery. A good read.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun series. Ali is a likable rich somewhat amateur PI. It’s somewhat predictable but a pleasant read.

[Laura]

More Arizona crime, although there's a twist at the ending that is joyfully ridiculous.

I may be done with the Southwest for a while. :)

[Kitkat405 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story and suspenseful story

[Linda Branich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three and one-half stars rounded up to four.

This book is in J.A. Jance's Ali Reynolds series.

Gemma is tired of being married to a doctor without the glory and money that comes with being the wife of a wealthy surgeon. Her husband has settled on geriatrics, sspecifically Alzheimer's patients. She divorces her husband and decides that she will pursue the riches and fame she desires elsewhere while she still has her looks.

Surprise, surprise, surprise. Gemma is found near death in a remote area by a teen who is following his estranged father's cryptic instructions to a "treasure" that will ensure his college education will not involve scraping for money. He uses Gemma's phone to call the police after the woman succombs quickly to death, and flees the scene, not knowing that his father's body is nearby. A few days later he returns with a friend to finish his father's instructions. He digs up a box filled with $1000 gambling chips.

Now Jance begins to weave her signature plots and subplots, intertwining characters to bring the story to a conclusion that is somewhat predictable. Overall, a good, satisfying, but not sit on the edge of your chair great read.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

#8 in the Ali Reynolds series. Interesting story line and the series regular supporting cast save this entry from a plot with too many coincidences.

Ali (Alison) Reynolds series -The former newscaster travels from Sedona, Ariz., to Phoenix, where friend Brenda Riley is filming a story on cyber-stalker Richard Lowensdale, whom Reynolds helped bring down (Fatal Error (2011)). When circumstances land Lynn Martinson, one of Lowensdale's victims, in another pickle, Martinson's mother recommends she turn to Reynolds for help. But Martinson and boyfriend Chip Ralston soon find themselves in worse trouble after the discovery of the body of Ralston's avaricious ex-wife, Gemma Ralston. The discovery of a second body near the first raises puzzling questions about possible connections between the victims. Meanwhile, high school senior A.J. Sanders, who anonymously reported Gemma's death, also seeks Reynolds help as he tries to avoid suspicion.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy the writing of J.A. Jance. Unfortunately for me, I've been grabbing her books off the shelf at random and not reading them in order, and that, it turns out, makes things very confusing. A good murder mystery requires a large number of people so that the suspects aren't quite so obvious. This also adds to the "confusion" factor. Having said that, though, the story was pretty good, with lots of twists and turns. I wasn't too crazy about the ending, though. Everything was explained, but I felt that there was a lot of things thrown in just to explain things, like a couple of people thrown in at the end that were never in the story. So I have to take one star off from an otherwise pretty good book.

In the meantime, I'm going to read the series from the first now. Maybe it will help make more sense.

[Skip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like the last Ali Reynolds book, I think there are too many subplots which detract from the main story here, which is the murder of a gold digging divorcee. The ex-husband and his girlfriend are arrested based on some reasonable evidence and Ali is hired by the girlfriend's mother to do an investigative story. Meanwhile, a second murder is discovered nearby of an ex-con, who has suddenly come into money. As always, Ali gets too close to the truth and is captured by the perpetrators and, once again, escapes narrowly with her life, due to the diligence of her boyfriend's technology company and her ex-Royal Marine manservant.

[Jill Manske · Rating 2 out of 5]

It pains me to give a J.A. Jance book only 2 stars. I've been reading and enjoying Jance's books for years. But this one just isn't up to par. It starts out ok, with an interesting plot and familiar characters. Then about 3/4 of the way through the book, it's as if someone else took over writing the ending. Sort of like when a basketball team is winning by so many points, the coach puts in second string players. The last part of the book is predictable and boring, and even the dialog is lame. Jance will never be in the same league as Kellerman, Patterson, and Child. But her books have always been fun to read. I can't recommend this book.

[Nicholas George · Rating 3 out of 5]

Typical Jance, which means a good, solid plot with everyday people getting swept up in puzzling and ominous situations and a protagonist who doggedly figures it all out. A "typical" Jance also means one-dimensional characters and writing that often seems slapdash. She inserts her author's voice at one point, calling the actions of a character "incredibly stupid." Why not let the readers figure that out? And the baddie in this book pops up almost out of nowhere more than three-quarters of the way through, which isn't exactly playing kosher. But I keep coming back for more, and will probably devour her next just as I did this one.

[Debbe · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love J.A. Jance so I keep reading these Ali Reynolds mysteries. They just aren't as good as Joanna Brady and J.P. Beaumont. I wish Jance would forget Ali and go back to one of her other characters

[Dee Toomey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable who-done-it. It was not the best detective type story I have read, but far from the worst. An easy read for those times when you just want to be entertained, but not drawn in so much that you can't put the book down.

[Hayden Bird · Rating 5 out of 5]

After debating which book to rent at the library just a few days ago, i settled on this one. i gave it a try because i’ve heard good things before about author J.A. Jance and the Ali Reynolds series. I decided to read the first couple chapters late at night and see how it was, i found myself up past 2 in the morning on the very first night i had it. I was so hooked and so entertained the entire time.

It only took me four days to completely finish this story. I was surprised and still am very glad i didn’t pass on this book while at the library. The characters are so good. Not only are they all important to the story, but each character has a personality and a backstory, to where i could get to know them quickly and understand their point of view on the story. first off, Ali Reynolds blew me away. She is perfect for this kind of story, and this kind of series. J.A. Jance so quickly got me to connect with not only Ali but the other main characters such as B. Simpson, Stuart Ramey and more. I understood what each of them believed in this murder mystery. It truly was so hard to put this book down. I didn’t even want to sleep some times because i wanted to continue to read.

Overall, the story had me hooked and interested from start to finish. I rarely find a book that instantly turns me into a fan of both the author and the series. J.A. Jance is a mastermind in criminal suspense novels, and I will be absolutely be checking out the next book in the Ali Reynolds series. In fact, I will be going through and reading each book in this long running series. J.A. Jance and Ali Reynolds have a fan in me!

[Alana · Rating 3 out of 5]

An ok thriller but an odd juxtaposition of modern (the relationships, the technology) and old-fashioned (slang phrases, quips, thought & speech patterns). Is the editor older too or is he or she afraid to tell an accomplished author that no younger character would refer to their missing phone (cellphone, mobile) as their “telephone”? A “light peck on the cheek” when accepting a marriage proposal, a la Nancy Drew? Banter about being “smart, for a girl”?

On the other hand, I thought the first-person writing about the minds (scattered thought processes) of the characters who’d been drugged, hurt, bewildered, or affected by Alzheimer’s was well-done. From the teen boy to the dying woman to the drugged MC to the ill elderly character, the recounting of their confusion rang true.

Lots of names, unbelievable efforts behind the scenes, a hasty and unrealistic confession at the end, an unnecessary and glossed-over inclusion of a suicide in the past, a shift in focus from the (more interesting) boy and his mother to the sleuth, the annoyance of a character’s name being just an initial, a completely generic title that I had to look at to know in order to post this review … I’ve just about decided to lower the rating to a 2.5. But this was all I had to read, and parts of it were good.

[Jovdb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe the author wrote this in a rush; maybe her editor was asleep; but there is a problem with flow.

When Doris is in the diner, Tommy, the boyfriend of the waitress, Lucy, knows who Doris is because he is in law enforcement - a guard at the prison. He tells Lucy that Doris’s house has burnt down, yet Lucy is surprised when she doesn’t get an answer when she calls there? And then they drive there and seem surprised to be told there has been a fire.

Ali is asked to help a woman, Lynn, accused of murder. The murdered woman, Gemma, is the ex wife of Lynn’s boyfriend, Chip.

AJ, a teenager, finds Gemma’s body, and calls the police but leaves before the police artive. When the police do arrive, they find another body that turns out to be AJ’s father. AJ hadn’t seen his father for nearly 16 years but had met him again, secretly, on his 16th birthday.

Stu does his usual awesome job of tracking down the required information from the comfort of his computer chair.

Leland saves Ali’s life; B proposes and Ali accepts.

A typical Ali Reynolds novel - fast paced, lots of excitement, dead bodies, and interesting characters.