Desert Heat (Joanna Brady Mysteries, 1)

I had read all the other Joanna Brady books except this one, and I had to see how Joanna, Andy, Jenny, Eleanor, JimBob and Eva Lou, Marianne, Angie and others came into being. What an adventure! This lively book is a page turner. Joanna is searching for answers when nobody in law enforcement seems to care much about the murder of her husband. Shocking rumors come out, but Joanna fights back rather than retreat into a depressed state. The flight of Angie Kellogg was particularly thrilling. Just imagine the terror of knowing a cold blooded killer was hot on her trail. Joanna shows true grit in this excellent book. My only negative comment was the profanity was quite a bit more than I am used to in a J. A. Jance book.

This is my first time in reading J.A. Jance, and I really enjoyed the first book here of the Joanna Brady series. Joanna Brady is happy in Bisbee Arizona, with her husband Andy a cop, and daughter Jennifer. She is waiting anxiously for Andy's return home one night when he is late showing up, and later. Feeling like something is definitely wrong, Joanna goes out to see what she can find. And lo and behold, she sees the accident where Andy is trapped inside of a car, barely alive. Frantic, she seeks help quickly. Andy is seriously injured, and though they were able to revive him at the hospital, he remains in very critical condition. Everyone at the sheriff's department are saying that Andy was making a suicide attempt-but Joanna knows better than this. When he does die a few days later, Joanna in her grief-stricken state has to find out what really happened. And this is where Tony Vargas comes into the picture. Angela Kellog was a former prostitute who mistakenly sought refuge with Tony Vargas-a very dangerous man and a killer. She has been his prisoner for a long time and wants to escape his cold-calculating wrath. Angela just knows that Tony had everything to do with Andy's murder and wants to escape and turn him in to the police. And most of all, she wants to find Joanna Brady to let her know what she thinks really happened. She does escape finally when Tony leaves the house for an hour, but once Tony discovers she is gone, he is on her tail and the chase is on. Angela's dangerous venture to seek out Joanna, puts Joanna and her family in danger of being killed unless someone can capture Tony first.

I met Judy Jance in a bookstore in Palm Desert, California back in the mid 1980's. It was right before Christmas, and my husband had just told me that he didn't have time to go buy a few small stocking stuffer type gifts for me and asked if I'd buy them myself. Needless to say, I was a little ticked by this situation and since he complained about my reading habit, I decided that I'd fix him and buy a few paperback books. I went to Walden Books in the Palm Desert Town Center Mall and was looking in the mystery section for something new that would hold my interest. Up came a lady who asked me if I had ever read any of J.A. Jance's books. I replied that I hadn't and she said that she had been compared to Mary Higgins Clark and I may want to try one of her books. I was amazed, I mean didn't authors have publicists and marketing agents to promote their books - this one was actually promoting her own work (and not even at a book signing event). She signed my books for me (part of the deal I made in exchange for purchasing them!) and I was on my way. My grumbling had ceased to exist and I was a very happy person and glad my husband didn't have time to do his own Christmas shopping. After reading the two books I had purchased, I couldn't wait for the new series she had told me she was writing. Desert Heat was the beginning of that new series and I had to wait almost a year before I could get a copy. This is the story of a woman placed in a very difficult situation and how she is determined to do the right thing, not only for herself but also for her young daughter. The story (and series for that matter) revolves around Joanna Brady who is married and living in a small town in Arizona. Her husband is the county sheriff and killed in the beginning of the book (no I'm not giving anything away, the cover up is the basis of the story, not the murder itself!). Joanna is bound and determined to clear Andy's name and find his killer or killers. J.A. Jance takes the reader on a ride through police crime and corruption and has us realize that no one is safe from abhorrent behavior, even good people. Joanna Brady is a character that most of us can relate to - she deals with everyday situations like her daughter growing up and going through the normal trials and tribulations of childhood or the adjustment from marriage to being a widow. The scenery is very well described and has made me want to visit the little town of Bisbee, Arizona where this series takes place. The supporting characters are interesting and vivid - they will make you laugh, make you cry and make you wonder what in the world makes them tick. This book is a great beginning to a fantastic series. If you haven't been introduced to the Joanna Brady sequence of books, grab this introduction and start on a journey that you won't forget!

I'M FROM PHOENIX - AND LOVE BISBEE, AZ - I CAN RELATE TO THE LOCATIONS IN ALL OF THE JOANNA BRADY BOOKS. THANKS!