Detail does not work and Sharpen is not satisfactory for JPEGs which is what I am working with. Is there an alternative to getting photos the right clarity?

I’d say it’s clear as mud. First of all, we don’t know what version of Lightroom you are using. ‘Detail’ is a subtle slider in sharpening. If you are using Lightroom Mobile for example, with images synced up from Lightroom Classic (meaning synced up as smart previews), then there is indeed a good chance you don’t see much, if any, effect of this slider.
 

Secondly, “the right clarity” is highly subjective. What you think is right, I may think is overcooked or underachieved, and vice versa. It also depends a lot on your starting point. There is a Clarity slider. There is a Texture slider. Both give a kind of sharpening effect, but different from the Sharpen sliders. You can use masks if you only want the effect locally. Did you try those to achieve what you want?