Customer Reviews

Dead to Rights (Joanna Brady Mysteries, Book 4)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

The theme of the plot & story are very good, but after reading Rattlesnake Crossing, this was a disappointment. Maybe Jance is trying to develop her characters & their relationships here. But there is so much superfluous dialogue it becomes boring. A couple pages later you get lucky & she returns you to the story. A previous reviewer stated his least favorite chapter was #20. I agree. Unfortunately Chapter 20 is where the book's climax takes place. More superfluous nonsense in the middle of the story with the introduction, ever so briefly, of another character & a dog. Unneeded fluff. The book falls flat on it's face in it's ability to tie the story together well at the end. Possibly Jance was so distracted by other dialogue. Save your time & money unless you need a sleeping pill. Dead to Rights will put you out in short time

The character of Joanna Brady keeps growing on the reading audience and J.A. Jance has created another winner with this series.

This book picks up the life of Joanna Brady a few months after her husband was killed and shortly after she's elected as the new Sheriff of Cochise County in Arizona (actually this is the fourth book in the series following DESERT HEAT, TOMBSTONE COURAGE, and SHOOT, DON'T SHOOT). This tale is another fast paced journey into not only Joanna's life as sheriff, but also through her personal life as well.

The main storyline revolves around the killing of a veterinarian, Bucky Buckwalter, and the new sheriff is once again tossed in the middle of turmoil. You'd think the murder investigation would be enough, but add in the facts that the prime suspect is a former cop and Bucky had killed the guy's wife a few years before while driving intoxicated and only received a slap on the wrist for his crime. Bad enough? Jance didn't think so, so then she inserts the fact that the two of them have had heated public arguments that Joanna didn't think needed intervention by the sheriff's office. Some in her department, looking for any excuse available to disrespect the new boss, are implying that she was ineffective and basically allowed the murder to happen. Ok, now it's getting more interesting but Jance still doesn't stop. Since all of the evidence conveniently points directly to Hal Morgan (the husband bent on revenge), Joanna feels it's a little too easy and investigates the case herself. Ok, now we have the makings of a great J.A. Jance mystery!

If you haven't read this series yet, that could be a good thing. You can begin reading now and when you finish one book you can easily obtain the next line. For those of us who've read each one as they've come out, it can be a difficult wait while J.A. Jance and the publishers perfect the next book. A difficult wait yes, but it will most certainly be worth the time you've anxiously awaited its arrival.

I've read several of the Joanna Brady books, and they are very pleasant to read, but this one was a little dry. The killer's motivation didn't excite me much, and the side stories were not extremely compelling either in this sub-par entry to the excellent series.

This book is entertaining enough if you have to find something to read on a bus ride or in a waiting room. The story is ok, the characters are likable enough. It's easy to empathize with Joanna. "Dead to Rights" is not a page turner, but it's not boring. It's all pretty shallow; there's no meat to the story and nothing particularly impressive about the writing. Not memorable.

For comparison's sake, I'd say that the Joanna Brady mysteries are about as sophisticated & engaging as Lilian Jackson Braun's "The Cat Who..." series (although there is a bit more violence in the J.A. Jance books). It's fine for someone looking for a quick & easy little story. A more serious-minded reader will think this is a waste of time & paper.

By the way, another reviewer calls the "The First Book in this Series," but that means that it's the first book that that reviewer read, not that it's the first in the series. If you're going to read the series, you may as well start in the beginning: "Desert Heat" is the first book I believe, and this is the fourth or fifth.

I really enjoyed Mrs. Jance's great story and have ordered several more. Most of the action in this book takes place in the Bisbee area of the county and seems to be very correct. The High Lonesome Road is a graded dirt road but I'm having a challenge finding the Rob Roy Golf Club as it sounds like it might rival Baxter's as the best place to dine in the county. I particularily like the key players and there inter-relations. Joanna is obviously a good manager who has either hired or retained good subordinates to ensure that she has the time to learn the trade her husband and father knew so well. However, if we had 2 murders, an assult, arson fires and a jail house suicide in any 24-hour period the incumbant Sheriff would be run out of town on a rail and the FBI would send in a task force of agents to investigate. Good job otherwise.

JA Jance keeps you on your toes with this novel, a great murder mystery set in AZ featuring heroine joanna Brady, the newly elected sheriff in Cochise county. When she enlists in police officer's school for newly hired officers, she is once again involved in a homicide, with an unlikely suspect. in following leads that lead her deeper into this murder, she is herself in danger. She meets a gentleman she first distrusts, and then finds to be a strong, supportive friend, her future husband Butch Dixon.
This audio book is well narrated, if you can grab a used version, do so, its worth it. They are hard to find.
If you listen to audiobooks, this is an easy book to follow, it won't let you fall asleep, and you'll be tempted to listen to it from the first to last tape.

Great book by a great author. I love her writing and anyone buying her books needs to look at her website and read the books in order.