Rating: 
Summary: Not The Best, Not The Worst
Review: Sheriff Joanna Brady is back, along with her husband Butch, and all her familiar deputies and side characters. The problem with this book is that it leaves way too much up in the air to be answered/solved in the next book. Although the crimes are reprehensible, they are wrapped up rather neatly, with one bad guy getting killed, and another one giving a key confession, with very little work from the sheriff. It was interesting enough to keep me guessing until the end of the book. However, the ending was also wrapped up rather neatly. It's an okay book, but I think I like some of the other mysteries that came out this Summer a lot better.
Rating: 
Summary: Another fabulous Joanna Brady novel
Review: Sheriff Joanna Brady's first husband, Andy was running for Sheriff in Cochise County, Arizona when he was shot by drug dealers. Joanna ran and was elected Sheriff. She and Butch, her new husband, and her daughter Jenny are adjusting to their new lives. They have just built and moved into a new home.Carol Mossman is found murdered in her trailer. Her 16 dogs are also found dead in her hot trailer. Joanna makes sure she is involved in every homicide investigation and is called out to this one. While there, it is discovered that somehow one puppy was still outside in the pen and survived. She takes it home with her. Recently one of their dogs, Sadie had died. Jenny loves having a new puppy to look after. Joanna goes out to the Animal Shelter to speak with Animal Control Officer Jeannine Phillips who has lodged a complaint that Joanna didn't follow procedure with the puppy. Recently Animal Control has come under Joanna's control. She finds out that if animals aren't adopted in 72 hours, they are euthanized. She finds a blue-eyed Australian shepherd that is about to be "gone" and adopts her. Later she finds out the dog is afraid of men. This proves to be interesting when she takes her home to meet Butch. A speeding Suburban full of illegals overturns killing many of them. Joanna is involved in searching for the driver and bringing him to justice. She is appalled by the number of people that had been riding in the suburban. The air conditioning in the local jail isn't working. Joanna gets people in place to be able to bring all the prinsoners out to the yard while they get the a/c working again. Something goes wrong and one man is found dead. There is an investigation to find out exactly what happened. This is an election year and many factors play into Joanna's decision about running. Throw in her meddling mother and Joanna has more than she can handle at times. This series is terrific. I enjoy reading about her many escapades. Joanna always gets down to work and with the help of her staff finds the guilty parties. This new installment in this series is a book you will not want to put down. I read it in 24 hours! J. A. Jance has done her research. The plot, characters and setting are all well-written and very alive. I am glad to find this book only having Joanna Brady. I enjoyed the last book that paired her up with J. P. Beaumont (from the other series she writes), but I prefer them in separate books. I highly recommend this book and the whole series.
Rating: 
Summary: J.A. Jance writes book of a consistently good quality
Review: This is another of them -- they keep you reading (I read this one in a couple of days) and you enjoy them while you're reading them. And yet...
They are not all that memorable and sometimes I find her "detective" characters (Brady and Beaumont) indefinably irritating -- they're just too good to be true, just too competent, and not vulnerable enough. Quite frankly, them and their near-perfect lives are intimidating. I'll bet Joanna Brady's house is never a mess -- she's got the perfect husband staying home taking care of everything for her. I guess that's every working woman's dream...
Aside from that...this is a well-constructed and well-written mystery. Although one reviewer said he/she knew all along who did it, I didn't, although in retrospect it all made sense, which makes for a good mystery in my opinion. The plot involves a woman murdered in her trailer -- for some reason she has 17 dogs in the trailer with her and they die of the heat before her body is discovered. With all those dogs, there's a subplot about animal welfare issues (although personally I think the word "hoarder" gets thrown around too much and the issue ought to be not the number of animals but whether they're adequately cared for). Another subplot involves polygamous communities in the Arizona area (where the Joanna Brady series is set). Then there are two other bodies that may connect to the woman in the trailer, and a coyote driving an SUV full of undocumented aliens trying to slip across the border -- all in all, there are a lot of subplots being juggled in this story, and the plot moves back and forth among all of these subplots.
All in all, Jance is an excellent craftsman, and I like the Joanna Brady series, but there are days when I wish that Sheriff Brady was less intimidating. I can recommend this book as being at least equal to others in the series (and maybe better) for those already familiar with the Joanna Brady series.
Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly Enjoyable Story
Review: This is the second Joanna Brady mystery I've read buy MS Jance and I really enjoyed it. I will not go into details about the story since others have done that but I will say that until I read Exit Wounds, I was unaware of the polygamy cults that inhabit the "strip" on the Arizona/Utah border. It was weird that I read the book and then heard a story on the news about that same subject! The story held my interest all the way through and I liked the way she drew the characters. The pacing was also top notch. I am now adding her to my must read list.
Rating:
Summary: Well worth it in any format
Review: This is yet another unusual J.A. Jance mystery. I can agree with other reviewers that the preaching about taking care of animals does run a bit thin. However, this is a great book. It is more adult than any earlier work, and some Mormons may object to the cult in this book. However, this book is so different than so many others and is a great mystery. I'd recommend this one to anyone over 16.
Rating: 
Summary: exit wounds
Review: This was my first Joanna Brady novel and I am just disapointed. After about 150 pages I gave up and decided not to finish it. I was OK with a female sheriff in conservative Arizona who had a stay at home husband who could do everything. Joanna was pregnant and I was thinking that the guy might find a way to nurse the baby when it arrived. It was fine when the Chief medical examiner in the next county was female. But when the local priest, or minister turned out to be female the book starated becoming unbelievable. When I discovered that the book read like a romance novel with a political agenda and that it seemed to be written for a teenage audiance, then I decided that there was a far more rewarding use of my time.
Rating:
Summary: Great addition to this series
Review: Though she is pregnant and struggling with morning sickness, Arizona sheriff Joanna Brady feels she still can campaign for reelection. Though stuffing her face makes her vn more nauseous, she runs from one hot dog event to another as she seeks votes while constituents celebrate the Fourth of July holiday. However, her reelection bid goes on the backburner when Joanna learns that a homicide occurred. Someone shot and killed Carol Mossman in a mobile home amidst seventeen dead dogs that were victims of the cruel summer heat. Later ballistics proves the weapon used in the Mossman murder was also used in the killing of two females in New Mexico. Joanna begins to look into the life of the victim in her jurisdiction and she finds a link that ties Carol's father to the Brethren cult that is under investigation because of allegations made by the Lobo State victims. This is a strong entry in one of the better police procedural series on the market today. In many ways, the tale will remind the audience of Fargo, but with the added issue of running for office. The who-done-it is cleverly designed and Joanna is learning the hard way how difficult it is to work while throwing up. J.A. Jance further humanizes one of the better-fictionalized law enforcement officials in this top rate tale. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Sheriff Joanna Brady juggles crime & family in fine yarn
Review: We'll admit we're big fans of JA Jance, having read every novel she's written, some two dozen to date. This tenth book (or so, depending if you count "Partner in Crime" featuring both her fictional stars) in the Sheriff Brady series sees Joanna incredibly busy with an unfortunate murder of a lonely poor woman surrounded by 17 dogs; a horrific car crash filled with 20-some illegal aliens; and family issues in abundance including morning sickness! Deaths of two reporters, a bigamist cult, and a dysfunctional family filled with incest only add to the headaches and heartaches. Joanna tends to be a workaholic anyway, personally doing much of her detective's leg work or attending trouble calls at all hours of the day and night. If you're wanting to read about a highly competent, driven law enforcement officer, you need to look no further. Plus author Jance not only develops her plot carefully, with plenty of character work to get you hooked on the people involved (as is out leading lady), but also spins the story with enough complexity to keep you guessing 'til the end. An ulterior motive with this book is to describe a mental illness called "hoarding", in which usually an unbalanced loner starts accumulating far more animals than they can begin to feed or care for properly. Using the ploy that the county Animal Control operation has recently been turned over to the sheriff to manage, she and we learn about the difficulty in placing animals for adoption and the surprising number being put to sleep every week. Pictured on the back cover with two dogs, it's clear Jance makes a compelling case for more awareness of the issues and the funding such shelters really need. With a realistic cast of characters hard not to like, with family tensions and murders galore, it's hard to put down the latest Joanna Brady. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Sheriff Joanna Brady juggles crime & family in fine yarn
Review: We'll admit we're big fans of JA Jance, having read every novel she's written, some two dozen to date. This tenth book (or so, depending if you count "Partner in Crime" featuring both her fictional stars) in the Sheriff Brady series sees Joanna incredibly busy with an unfortunate murder of a lonely poor woman surrounded by 17 dogs; a horrific car crash filled with 20-some illegal aliens; and family issues in abundance including morning sickness! Deaths of two reporters, a bigamist cult, and a dysfunctional family filled with incest only add to the headaches and heartaches. Joanna tends to be a workaholic anyway, personally doing much of her detective's leg work or attending trouble calls at all hours of the day and night. If you're wanting to read about a highly competent, driven law enforcement officer, you need to look no further. Plus author Jance not only develops her plot carefully, with plenty of character work to get you hooked on the people involved (as is out leading lady), but also spins the story with enough complexity to keep you guessing 'til the end. An ulterior motive with this book is to describe a mental illness called "hoarding", in which usually an unbalanced loner starts accumulating far more animals than they can begin to feed or care for properly. Using the ploy that the county Animal Control operation has recently been turned over to the sheriff to manage, she and we learn about the difficulty in placing animals for adoption and the surprising number being put to sleep every week. Pictured on the back cover with two dogs, it's clear Jance makes a compelling case for more awareness of the issues and the funding such shelters really need. With a realistic cast of characters hard not to like, with family tensions and murders galore, it's hard to put down the latest Joanna Brady. Enjoy!
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