I have found, to my regret, that many of my favorite writers tend to lose their focus and their grip on their characters if they continue to turn out sequels year after year. Even the great Agatha Christie slipped a little in her final novels featuring Poirot and Miss Marple. There are a few exceptions I can think of off the top of my head: Louise Penny with Inspector Gamache, P. D. James with Adam Dalgliesh, and J. A. Jance with any of her main characters: J. P. Beaumont, Joanna Brady, Ali Reynolds, and the Walker family. As soon as one opens her latest saga, the characters are immediately recognizable, like old friends. The circumstances of their lives may have changed...New spouses, children grow with families of their own, beloved family members gone on, and new friends and colleagues introduced...but the characters themselves retain their intrinsic identities. Their voices don't change, their personalities don't morph, and their basic outlooks on and philosophies of life remain steady. Oh, there are growth and changes for sure, Beau's commitment to sobriety for instance. However, one can rest easy knowing they will basically be what they were in the last story. Jance also has the knack to bring her various protagonists together in ways that are highly believable and natural. This is the case with Beau and Brandon Walker in "Dance of the Bones." Two very different yet similar retired lawman come together to solve a cold case while miles apart. There's plenty of suspense, excitement, and warm moments to hold one's interest until the satisfying denouement. And how can I extol Jance's sense of place and setting highly enough? I find myself mapping all the addresses and places she puts in her stories so that I can better imagine what's happening and picture the scenes in my mind more sharply. I've never been to Seattle or Arizona, but I know that if I ever do get there, it will be very familiar, thanks to Ms. Jance's descriptions."Dance of the Bones" is a great read, and I'm on pins and needles waiting for her next book! :)