JONES OF THE BAY

A veteran Santa Monica policeman who is nearing retirement chronicles some of his more recent and colorful cases in this debut mystery.

Officer Gwyn Jones is 55 years old and not looking forward to retirement. He has been a policeman in Southern California for decades but holds the dubious honor of never receiving a promotion. Undeterred, he decides to write down some stories from his case files and several scenes from daily life involving his wife, Barbie Jones (“the All-Seeing Eye”), and his architect son, John. A Santa Monica native, Gwyn remembers less-gentrified days, when gang wars broke out; drug use was rampant; and Venice was just as dismal as its neighboring city. These days, cases are a bit more genteel, if no less deadly. An older woman’s personal trainer lies dead at her feet after falling down the stairs to Santa Monica Canyon. Or was he pushed? Gwyn’s rival Dan Aintree arrests a conveniently placed fellow personal trainer, but Gwyn’s got a different idea. If he can quickly arrest the right person, he might finally get that promotion he so desires. Whether in this case or several others, Gwyn finds that discovering the truth on his own is much easier than watching others get it wrong. Borresen’s breezy mystery, made up of a series of unique police investigations, starts off strongly, with a well-described protagonist who is from a long line of police officers and a family that’s been in California since the Gold Rush. The upbeat tone is engaging, but there are some glitches with the premise. Multiple cases in one novel lead to thin characterizations and underdeveloped storylines. In addition, Gwyn is a lifelong patrol officer who is operating outside of his purview, sometimes in homicide cases, with detectives in parallel investigations. The attempts at resolving this situation are often awkward and insufficient.

A lively mystery with some structural problems and a demonstrable love of its setting.