Damage Control [Mass Market Paperback]

J. A. Jance (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 30, 2009

At first glance, it appears to be an accident . . .

A car carrying an elderly couple goes off the side of a mountain and tumbles into oblivion on a beautiful sunny day in the Coronado National Monument. A note pulled from the twisted wreckage suggests the tragedy may have been a double suicide—but an autopsy later suggests something different. A deadly fire and a fatal home invasion may or may not have some connection to the terrible crash. And miles away in the desert, a savage rain has revealed something grisly and terrifying: two trash bags filled with human remains.

It's just another day in the life of Cochise County sheriff Joanna Brady, who must somehow balance the rigors of police work with a newborn, a teenager, a writer-husband, and a difficult mother. But Joanna will not allow murder to go unpunished in her jurisdiction—even if her path to the truth is twisting and dangerous . . . and leads to shocking revelations about those entrusted with caring for the helpless.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Sheriff Joanna Brady and her staff face a host of challenges while her husband, Butch, tends their infant son in bestseller Jance's solid 13th novel to feature the Cochise County, Ariz., cop (after Dead Wrong). A woman shoots a home intruder, an elderly couple drive their car off a cliff and a mysterious fire kills an older man and leaves three homeless. Were these accidents or something more sinister? When Det. Jaime Carbajal's nephew discovers a body in the desert, the investigation leads to a shady organization that operates halfway houses for troubled and disabled persons. Meanwhile, Joanna must deal with her interfering mother, who exhibits a sudden personality change, and the discovery of family secrets about her late father and late first husband. As usual, Jance beautifully evokes the desert and towns of her belovedsouthwest as well as the strong individuals who live there. 10-city author tour. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Cochise County, Arizona, Sheriff Joanna Brady is a sleep-deprived new mother working long hours on several investigations. An elderly couple’s car soars over the guardrail at Montezuma Pass Overlook. Were their deaths suicide, or is something more sinister going on? The couple’s feuding daughters add complications. Meanwhile, a teenager, a nephew of one of Joanna’s deputies, finds skeletal remains in a garbage bag and later turns up missing. On the home front, Joanna and her husband, author Butch Dixon, must share child-care duties, while Joanna also deals with her rocky relationship with her mother, who is at odds with Joanna’s stepfather, the county medical examiner. Police procedure, county budget woes, and the problems inherent in law-enforcement agencies cooperating with one another frame the fast-paced mystery. This thirteenth in a series ends with substantive changes coming to Joanna’s department. --Sue O'Brien --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Harper; Reprint edition (June 30, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060746785
• ISBN-13: 978-0060746780
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 4.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #594,090 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

J.A. Jance is the top 10 New York Times bestselling author of the Joanna Brady series; the J. P. Beaumont series; three interrelated thrillers featuring the Walker family; and Edge of Evil, the first in a series featuring Ali Reynolds. Born in South Dakota and brought up in Bisbee, Arizona, Jance lives with her husband in Seattle, Washington, and Tucson, Arizona.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars SUSPENSEFUL, ENGROSSING, ENTERTAINING, July 24, 2008

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Damage Control (Joanna Brady Mysteries, Book 13) (Hardcover)

Popular Arizona author J. A. Jance is an expert at opening her stories with grabbers. She pulls this off again in Damage Control by introducing Lauren Dayson, a young woman, "a good girl daughter" in jeopardy.

After Lauren's junior year in college she had moved in with Rick Mosier . He was kind of a wild guy, prone to carrying knives in his backpack. She was sure pairing with him would drive her parents crazy. Rebellion time for this once obedient daughter!

Nonetheless, Rick had once fascinated her - until he blackened her eye for supposedly flirting then later broke her arm. Fascination turned to fear so she moved into her own apartment, had window bars installed, even bought and learned how to shoot a Glock 26 semiautomatic. He had sworn that he would get to her even though she "papered Pima County with restraining orders," and she believed him.

Awakened one night by the barking of her little dog, Lauren just knew Rick had broken in. Mustering all of her courage, she sat up in bed , waiting until a tall form entered her room and then she fired - again and again and again. She had killed him and she had every right to save for the fact that the dead man was not Rick.

Case 1 for Cochise County Sheriff Joanna Brady. It doesn't seem difficult, and what Joanna doesn't need is anything tough as she's a hard working mom to a baby and a teenager, married to a writer, and her mother doesn't make life easy. True to form, of course, it is a very tough case - not at all what it seems.

Then Case 2 faces her when an old car drives through a retaining wall to do a half gainer off a mountain side. It's necessary to use a helicopter to reach the victims, but victims aren't all Joanna discovers. It seems that everywhere she turns new clues turn up revealing a much darker side to events as well as information of a personal nature.

With this, the 13th in the Joanna Brady series, Jance slows down not a bit but continues at full throttle to entertain and intrigue countless readers.

- Gail Cooke

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Storyline but Some Annoying Characters, November 12, 2008

By 

A. Roberts "Avid Reader" (Wyoming) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Damage Control (Joanna Brady Mysteries, Book 13) (Hardcover)

I have not read all of the Joanna Brady books so not sure how her character has morphed but I found Joanna's character to be a bit annoying in this one. (I have read a couple others and didn't find her quite so annoying in the other 2) I don't know if the author is intentionally making her an insecure character or it's just the way I'm preceiving it. She is never home and when she is she finds fault with all of Butch's decisions. Someone has to take care of things. She has a baby boy she hardly spends any time with and when she does I don't sense any cuddling or caring about what she's doing. The same with Butch-now this isn't a romance book but this is her husband and other than a quick peck on the cheek that's it and that usually comes from Butch. She has to be in control at all times at work also. Her staff is quite capable of making decisions and Frank even advises her from time to time that she's making a mistake but she won't back down because she ALWAYS has to make the decision. No wonder he leaves by the end of the book. And how lame was it when one of her deputies gets killed and she goes on and on about how it was his own fault because he didn't call for back up. IT didn't seem like when you heard a noise that you would immediately call for back up but want to check it out first. It might have just been an animal prowling and by the time back up came it would probably have been too late anyway.

The mystery itself might have been okay as a storyline but I just felt Joanna personnaly was very annoying. Even the suspicion that her husband had an affair. Years after his death she looks at a picture on the wall of the break room and sees a blonde woman and suddenly thinks her husband was having an affair with her. That was pretty far out!

Then I got the idea from another book that they both had come into money but in this one they talk like they can hardly make ends meet!???

I gave it 3 stars because the mystery part was somewhat interesting. However on the front of the book it says "A Novel of Suspense" H-m-m-m! I kept waiting for the suspense! Wasn't there!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I always like J A Jance novels, August 3, 2008

By 

Jeannie "jean" (Salt Lake City, Utah United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Damage Control (Joanna Brady Mysteries, Book 13) (Hardcover)

J A Jance has been writing the Joanna Brady series for a long time and the writing and storytelling remain consistently good. I really enjoy that there is more than one plot-line going on throughout the story. The characters are very well-developed and I'm involved in the story from the first page. This book, how it brings a weekend of crime, and then integrates it with Joanna's personal life was well-written, and moved along at a fast clip. My only complaints about this book would involve some character changes that apparently will appear in the next book, I'm a bit disappointed in those changes. But this was another great story for Joanna Brady.