Dead to Rights (Joanna Brady Mysteries, Book 4) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Judith A. Jance (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1997

A woman is cruelly cut down in a remote corner of Arizona, killed on her nineteenth wedding anniversary by a drunk motorist.? A year later, the driver himself dies badly, and all suspicions point to the slain woman's still-grieving husband as his murderer. But the truth is rarely black and white in the long Southwestern shadows, and one law officer is not rushing to condemn the tragic widower so quickly: Joanna Brady, Sheriff of Cochise County. Brady's convictions, however, are leading her on a twisted trail through inhospitable country—and setting her on a path that will bring her face-to-face with cold, calculating death in the high, lonely desert.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The best thing about Jance's books is Joanna Brady who became an Arizona county sheriff after her father and husband died on the job. Jance can move Brady from an exciting, dangerous scene on one page to a sensitive, touching personal moment on the next. In her latest outing, Brady is looking into two major crimes. But that doesn't stop her from giving a terrific speech about why selling Girl Scout cookies gave her confidence, or worrying about a friend trying to adopt a child in China, or even finally beginning to understand what makes her annoying mother tick. Earlier books in the Brady series: Desert Heat, Tombstone Courage, Shoot, Don't Shoot. Jance also authors the popular J.P. Beaumont series, which includes Dismissed With Prejudice, Failure to Appear, Lying in Wait, Name Withheld, Without Due Process. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Cochise County, Ariz., sheriff Joanna Brady (Shoot/Don't Shoot) has her newly elected hands full in this fourth adventure. When veterinarian Amos Buckwalter is murdered by arson, deputies immediately suspect Hal Morgan, whose wife, Bonnie, was recently killed by a drunken Buckwalter in a car accident. Morgan, himself an ex-cop, had been picketing Buckwalter's animal hospital, handing out Mothers Against Drunk Driving literature just before the vet's body was found in a burning barn. Joanna doubts his guilt because she understands his grief, her own husband having been murdered not so long ago. Besides, the widow Buckwalter is strangely stoic, even getting a makeover and playing golf on the day after her husband's death. While Joanna locks horns with experienced detectives on the case, she must cope with her rebellious nine-year-old daughter, Jenny, a bossy mother, budget-cutting county supervisors and her aching loneliness. The unlikely sheriff (her husband had run for the office, and she entered the campaign only after his death) is an engaging heroine, vulnerable but determined to meet the challenges in her personal and public life. Jance skillfully ties the mystery to the southeastern Arizona landscape, its historic mining towns and their modern problems. 75,000 first printing; author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 562 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Pr (February 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786209550
• ISBN-13: 978-0786209552
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,391,063 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

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Joanna Brady hits her stride, August 3, 2000

By 

Karen Potts (Lake Jackson, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dead to Rights (Joanna Brady Mysteries, Book 4) (Audio Cassette)

In this fourth Joanna Brady book, the heroine seems to become better defined than in the previous books. She continues to juggle her role as sheriff and mother, but seems to find a better balance. She is also relating better to her doubting staff and proving that she is worthy of her job. In this book, Hal Morgan's beloved wife is run over by a drunk driver on their 19th. wedding anniversary. The driver is Bucky Buckwalter, a veterinarian who serves his short term and some community service, then is released. Hal is upset by what he perceives as a mere slap on the wrist, and becomes very active in Mother's Against Drunk Drivers. When Bucky is found dead in a burning building, everyone assumes that Hal is the murderer. Everyone except Joanna, that is. She does some investigating and the action becomes fast and furious at the end. This book also contains a budding romance for Joanna, as well as her widowed mother.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars First book in this series and definitely not the last!, April 24, 2000

By 

Pam from Ohio - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dead to Rights (Joanna Brady Mysteries, Book 4) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the first book I have read by J. A. Jance and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Now I have to go see if I can find the first three before I go on to Skeleton Canyon. I was stumped until almost the very end on who the killer was -- that makes for a good read! Try J. A. Jance. You'll like her.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great - Except for Chapter 20, May 9, 2004

By 

C. T. Mikesell (near Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dead to Rights (Joanna Brady Mysteries, Book 4) (Mass Market Paperback)

Dead to Rights tells the story of a very bad week in the life of Sheriff Joanna Brady. Still trying to cope with the murder of her late husband, Sheriff Brady also has to cope with murder, suicide, undocumented aliens, a weaselly governor, workplace squabbling , and hostile newspaperfolk. Add to that enough mother-daughter conflict and examples of marital frustration to rival The Joy Luck Club, and you've got a novel that keeps things hopping.

The only area in which the book falls short is when it reveals the murderer of Bucky Buckwalter. I've read Chapter 20 several times and motivations still don't make a lot of sense.

This book has a great deal of character development in it, as well as the advancement of several of the ongoing subplots. If you've read later books, but not this one you'll find it helpful in its detailing, among other things, Marianne Maculyea's adoption experience, how Jenny gets Kiddo the horse, Butch Dixon coming on the scene, and Eleanor and Doc Winfield hooking up.

While the mystery falls a little flat at the end, Jance does an excellent job keeping the pace up and developing her characters and storylines. While I wouldn't suggest this as the first Joanna Brady novel you read - pick up Desert Heat or Partners in Crime for that - this is definitely a don't-miss book.