Dead Wrong

It seems like the most recent JA Jance books should all be prefaced with a sponsorship page. "This book brought to you by Ziploc, Purina, and Lipton Tea." Adding name branding details does nothing to advance the story or illumunate the characters, but it makes it feel like the book is filled with plugs for specific products. Jance is a bestselling author, the publisher shouldn't need to sell advertising space to recover the cost of publishing her books.

This book also had a couple of sloppy and irritating continuity errors. She refers to a character as both Horatio and Hector and to a local ranch as both the Triple H and the Triple T.

I enjoyed the book very much, but was dismayed by the fact that a murder victim, at the very first of the book, was said to have died from a single blunt trauma to the head. All of his fingers were removed. During the rest of the book, the victim was repeatedly described as having been "stabbed multiple times" and described as the "stabbing victim". How could this possibly have been missed by the author or even a moderately intelligent proof reader?

Protagonist: Joanna Brady, Sheriff of Cochise County, Arizona.
Setting: In and around present-day Bisbee, Arizona
Series: #12

Dead Wrong is the twelfth book to feature Joanna Brady. This book finds
Joanna newly reelected and about to give birth to her second child. When the
police learn that a murdered man has links to one of Arizona's most
prominent judges, Joanna's investigation turns up a connection to an early
case of her father's. Then, the brutal beating of an Animal Control officer
leads the sheriff's department to a confrontation with a notorious ranching
family and suspected illegal immigrants. And in case Joanna wasn't busy
enough, her obnoxious in-laws park their RV at her place to await the birth
of their grandchild.

I'd say that show more reading this series is like putting on a favorite pair of
shoes, but since my favorite footwear is barefoot.... Having grown up in
Bisbee, every bit that Jance writes about the area is just so...true. I've
already mentioned that you can find your way around Bisbee by reading
the books. In each book, Joanna becomes stronger and stronger as sheriff,
and her relationships with those around her make you feel as if you're
reading about a good friend and sharing her life. Yup, I think Jance's Brady
series is my ultimate comfort read. There are lots of plot threads that all
get woven together at the end, and for anyone who thinks Joanna is
Super-Prego, they haven't been around some of the pregnant women I've been
around! show less

The election is over and Cochise County Sheriff Joanna Brady was re-elected by a small margin. Now 9-1/2 months pregnant, she hasn’t slowed down much, although she is finally learning to delegate. Action and drama are provided and Joanna’s response to those who believe she shouldn’t or isn’t capable of doing her job considering she’s pregnant and ready to pop is enjoyable.

Evidence suggests that a man so drunk that he’d blacked, had killed his wife and unborn child. He readily accepts responsibility even though his wife’s body was never found. Twenty-five years later, newly released from prison, he’s a popular guy working in the ministry for the prison, helping those with alcohol and addiction problems when he is show more murdered. And what they find when searching his truck shocks them, as it doesn’t fit with the person he’s become. The investigation has them looking at what took place long ago with some interesting twists and theories.

Pit bull fighting is another area that the sheriff’s office must tackle, along with the resulting public relations issues. We’re provided both action and drama with this thread, as well as Joanna proving just what a very pregnant woman can do. Got to like the challenge she issues.

The big news on the home front is that a publisher has picked up Butch’es book and he’s strongly urged to go to a writer’s convention and be part of a number of panels, even though his book isn’t in print yet. So he’s reluctantly gone while his wife is so close to giving birth and is not home when his parents unexpectedly show up, providing some levity as his mom is someone easy to actively dislike.

There’s plenty going on to keep you interested, even though the major whodunit is easily figured out by the reader long before the story’s climax. The why becomes quite a bit more involved and we’re provided some surprises as that unveils.

As usual in this series, it’s the characters that really make the story, often with the mystery angles providing challenges that allow us to learn more about them. The books also provide readers that don’t live in areas like Southern Arizona with a different point of view on various subjects, such as the issue and fallout from illegal border crossings.

Even though there is a regular cast of characters throughout the series, this book could easily be read as a stand-alone. Enough background is provided without overwhelming regular readers of the series.

Read from a library book. show less

Sheriff Joanna Brady is expecting the birth of her second child a any time, but murder takes priority. When a man’s body is found with his fingers cut off, the police are momentarily stymied. But Joanna and her staff keep digging, and the pieces fall in place. But whether she solves the case or gives birth first is anyone’s guess. And when this case appears to have connections to a case her father investigated years ago, Joanna becomes even more invested in solving it. This was an abridged version that I happened to borrow from my library, but I would recommend the unabridged version. This series has wonderful and likable characters and the stories are all entertaining.

Joanna Brady is Sheriff of an Arizona county adjacent to the Mexican border. In this installment, #12 in the series, Sheriff Brady is very pregnant and eager for the birth of her second child. Several intriguing cases and personal issues occupy her attention in this story including dog fighting, the brutal attack of one of her staff, a carjacking, an opinionated mother-in-law, and murder with long-ago ties to a previous case that her father had investigated. Interesting mysteries, likeable characters, a very satisfying story. The reader does an excellent job and adds to the feel of the story.

On the verge of having her baby, Sheriff Brady tries to solve a murder at the same time as an assault on the animal control officer, and to compound her problems her insufferable in-laws arrive. A satisfying page-turner.