Rating: 
Summary: Partner in Crime
Review: J P Beaumont goes to the Southwest to help Sheriff Joanna Brady solve the murder of an artist. In the process he learns more painful truths about his late wife Anne. Jance's two detectives work well together although both have different styles. This book was somewhat contrived, and hopefully th author will get back to writing about J P Beaumont and his new job soon. Personally, I prefer the Beaumont series.
Rating:
Summary: Beaumont meets Brady
Review: Joanna Brady begins investigating the death of a local artist named Rochelle Baxter. Soon it is established that Rochelle was poisoned and the likely suspect is her boyfriend, LaMar Jenkins. Jenkins admits that Rochelle was trying to break up with him, so he has motive and plenty of opportunity. Another disturbing finding is that Rochelle is not who she claimed to be. There are connections with the state of Washington, and soon author Jance's first well-known character, J.P. Beaumont, shows up to help with the investigation. Joanna resents the intrusion of an outside agency and is, to say the least, uncooperative with J.P. In this reader's opinion, no book is big enough for these two larger-than-life characters. One of them has to take a back seat and, in this case, it's J.P. Joanna continues to treat him rudely until, inexplicably she has a change of heart and welcomes him into the investigation. There is also a hint of romance towards the end of the book and this seems awkward and out of place. Jance is an accomplished writer and this book is no exception, but the books seem to come across better when they are featuring either Joanna Brady OR J.P. Beaumont.
Rating: 
Summary: Superb, A Can't Put Down Book
Review: Joanna is tough and she's good. In this book she's paired with JP Beaumont, a character from another set of Jance series. One of the things I particularly like about this book is that Jance is able tell more of the stories of many of the characters in previous books. Angie and the Parrot man, Bobo, JP's first wife and more are all interwoven into this book. AND, she does all of this without losing the main story. As Joanna works to solve a murder about a woman, she learns the woman was in a witness protection program, based out of Seattle, until it was time for her to testify in court. JP is sent from Seattle to help her and to find out the leak of the witness protection program. Together these two make a great combination. Something I didn't expect. Although each of these books by Jance in the Joanna series can be read alone, I would suggest you read them in order. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: A new dynamic duo!
Review: Ms. Jance has The Touch! For those of us who've read every word of the J.P. Beaumont and Joanna Brady series', this is a terrific addition to the collection. The "fish out of water" observations of Beaumont, on assignment from Seattle to southeastern Arizona, are trenchant, and VERY consistent with his confirmed "big-city-boy" background. In writing this review, I tried to consider the views of those who have not read all of the prior books in the two series, and who are, therefore, not aware of the chracter development that has gone before. For thse folks, this book might not be as entertaining, since the pace is very brisk, and some of the characters we've grown to know (like Butch, Joanna's husband) come off as one-dimensional. Still, this is a terrific read, and has a very strong plot and mechanics. There were a couple of loose ends that caught my attention, and I thought the sudden bloom of feelings between Jo and Beau was a left-handed twist that didn't hold up. Similarly, the passages that dealt with the initial hostility between the two leads seemed a bit over the top, although it was a necessary gambit to showcase their individual strengths. I really liked this book, as it contained somewhat less than the usual introspection by Joanna, and the factual discussion of sodium azide was an eye-opener. Not sure I'm in a hurry to see these two together again, though, as the combination of two strong leads really submerged all of the other characters, including the delightful shallow and spiteful Marliss, and the looming villainy of "Junior" Galloway. Can't wait for the next chapter(s)!
Rating: 
Summary: Where's the mystery?
Review: Sorry, but this one is a real stinker. The two detectives do little detecting but a lot of complaining about each other, until magically they are attracted to each other. Don't buy it. Sheriff Brady is in a bad mood from the first page, and doesn't solve any of her problems throughout the book. Beaumont does little more than complain about his rental car. Even the main criminal realizes the two detectives are stumbling around behind him so he obliges the story and conveniently kills himself by falling off a horse.
Rating:
Summary: This really is overhyped here!!
Review: The story does not flow or capture the reader adequately, the relationship between the two main charecters (Beaumont, Bradley)lack real chemistry, i.e. quite stolid. No action, suspense, quite simply a dry appraisal of a crime. I was dissappointed as I got my review from amazon
Rating:
Summary: Her stars Beaumont & Brady united in Jance fan club Dream!
Review: Think how much fun it would be if Grafton's Kinsey Millhone went to visit Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski and they solved a crime together. Jance has done it with her two leading characters! After 15 Seattle-based (Jance's home) Detective-extraordinaire J.P Beaumont stories, and 9 Arizona-based (Jance's former home) feisty Sheriff Joanna Brady stories, our author has brought the two crime solvers together in a suspenseful and complex plot spanning both locales, with most of the action in Bisbee AZ. Early on, "Rochelle Baxter", an aspiring Bisbee artist getting ready for her first exhibit, suddenly turns up dead. As Sheriff Brady's team deploys, before long foul play is suspected. Soon it turns out Baxter is really Latisha Wall, in the witness protection program of the Washington State Attorney General. Enter Beaumont, who is now a member of the AG's special homicide team - he's sent to "observe" the proceedings in Bisbee and protect the interests of the Washington case. Of course, this goes over like a cement cloud with the whole Brady team and at first the hostilities between Jance's co-stars are pretty hilarious. Then as the investigations proceed, and another murder crops up, together with some sinister implications of a mole having led to the witness to begin with, Brady and Beaumont unite out of mutual respect and form an effective team. Some rather surprising developments at the end of the book, including a moment of pretty high romantic tension between our two leads, is plenty to keep even the skeptics entertained and turning pages rapidly throughout. As icing on the cake, Beaumont's brief marriage to a woman hailing originally from (coincidentally) Bisbee is discussed and illuminated in considerable detail as a very intriguing human-interest sub-plot. Reprised from Jance's (and Beaumont's) "Until Proven Guilty" is Anne Rowland Corley. In "Partners", we get to learn all the background of this fascinating and unusual woman and what lead to the deaths she caused, including her own. As yet another gem, the murder "weapon" turns out to be sodium azide, a horrible and deadly poison found in unexploded car air bags. Jance uses her story to lobby for controlling this substance, which at the moment is totally uncontrolled and hence readily available for acts of terror. She doesn't beat us over the head with this issue, but does create a compelling case for action, with a short plea in an "Author's Note" as an afterward that gets our attention. We think this is one of Jance's greatest efforts. The only worry is that it looks a little like a swan song, bringing together her great stars, her great locales, and weaving a story hard to put down. Little wonder we hail this as a dream gift to the Jance fan club, which must number in legions anyway! Those that haven't spent 24 or so books rev'ing up for this one may not be quite as enthused, but we suspect we speak for those same legions in telling Jance thank you again and again for this 5-star outing!
Rating:
Summary: Awesome Read!!
Review: This book got me back into reading. I haven't sat down and read a book in years. This book was so great that I couldn't put it down. I had to read it everynight and missed by favorite shows on TV just to finish it. I stayed up late nights because I couldn't put it down. I encourage everyone to read this.
Thanks J.A. Jance for writing such a great book.
Rating:
Summary: A witness not so protected
Review: This was a fast paced interesting crime drama that caught the listener a few minutes in to the story and you had to finish it. The story starts with Rochelle putting up the pictures for her first ever "one woman showing" and at the same time deciding that it is no longer safe to keep involvement with the people she has come to care for in Cochise county. But before the night is over she will have died a horrible death for unknown reasons. But, as they delve into her identity they find that she is not who she says she is and is in fact a protected witness. This throws Joanna Brady (sheriff) into a fast paced murder mystery. The Washington State attorney also sends along some help for her.... JP Beaumont is back and wants to help. I really enjoy the two readers of this story as it helped to envision the different characters. Also the voice of JP is perfect :)
Rating:
Summary: One of her best
Review: What a neat book!
Like the other reviewers, I cringed and was sure that J.A. Jance had jumped the shark when J.P. Beaumont got on the plane to Arizona to meet up with Joanna Brady. To the end of the book, the blending of the two characters is pulled off with nary a hitch. The characters stay true to their developed personalities, and act as foils to each other. I do hope this book is their last meeting -- future plot twists to bring them together would probably seem very contrived.
In large part, J.A. Jance breaks away from the trend of so many writers and _improves_ her books as the series goes on. The characters don't suddenly turn into narrow-minded profane caricatures of themselves (as Tom Clancy's do). Aside from getting weepy at a law enforcement funeral at the beginning -- memories of Andy coming back -- and one thought that she and J.P have the death of a spouse in common -- Andy stays well buried and Joanna doesn't go around reminding every person in Bisbee about Andy's death and her widowhood. Jance stays away from grisly death details.
Even when sorely tempted, Joanna and her force are "good cops." Unlike Leonard Goldberg's characters, Joanna Blalock and Jake Sinclair, Joanna and her deputies get warrants before searching private property. Witnesses and suspects are treated with respect and professionally interviewed, instead of being beaten and threatened with reprisals for non-cooperation, which Leonard Goldberg thinks is good police procedure. In Cochise County, citizens and suspects alike get a fair shake and value for their money from law enforcement.
There are a few bloopers and inconsistencies in the book. It's not credible that Joanna would even consider, much less obey, a high school principal's paranoid demand that Joanna not bring her gun on campus, when Joanna is there to speak to an assembly. Joanna would know that Arizona Statute 13-3102 states the "no deadly weapons on campus" law does not apply to peace officers.
It's very unlikely anyone, not even Serenity Granger, could finish law school in a year and half, with or without honors. Jance repeatedly has characters refer to the Arizona "DMV." California has a DMV. Arizona has a Motor Vehicle Division (MVD), which is part of the Az. Dept. of Transportation. Nor do I know of any state where the DMV/ Dept of Transportation keeps track of vehicle colors, as Jance provides.
Jance has town residents drive into Old Mexico to buy leaded fuel for their old cars -- yet there are commercially available bottled leaded fuel substitute additives. Nor would a fleeing suspect need to use leaded fuel in every tankful, as Jance's plot requires.
With regard to his pistol, Beaumont refers to "my wimpy backup handgun," also described as "my small backup Glock." There are no "wimpy" Glocks, of any size.
Jance has Rochelle Baxter ingesting a fatal dose of the poison sodium azide, and then continuing to peacefully paint 90 minutes later, and sleeping for another hour. Yet a large dose of sodium azide poisoning produces severe symptoms within 15 minutes.
These are minor blips in an otherwise wonderful book with well-developed multi-dimensional characters and a sensible plot.
The only major plot inconsistency is at the end of the book, where Joanna hugs J.P. to comfort him, and finds a mutual electricity. Joanna then feels rejected when J.P. turns down her offer to drive him to Tucson, lest they be tempted to go further. Now, Jance's Joanna may be forgetful and a bit inconsiderate, and not a little brusque at times, but the thoughts of being unfaithful to her husband Butch are totally out of character.
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