Desert Heat (Joanna Brady) [Mass Market Paperback]

J. A. Jance (Author)

Book Description

Series: Joanna Brady | Publication Date: June 30, 2009

A cop lies dying beneath the blistering Arizona sun—a local lawman who may well have become the next sheriff of Cochise County.?The police brass claim that Andy Brady was dirty, and that his shooting was a suicide attempt. Joanna Brady, his devoted wife and mother of their nine-year-old daughter, knows a cover-up when she hears one . . . and murder when she sees it. But her determined efforts to hunt down an assassin and clear her husband's name are placing Joanna and her surviving family in harm's way—because in the desert, the one thing more lethal than a rattler's bite . . . is the truth.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Jance ( Hour of the Hunter ) has created a taut and poignant mystery. Joanna Brady finds her husband, Andy, shot in the Arizona desert on the night of their tenth wedding anniversary. But this, and Andy's subsequent suspicious death in the hospital, is only the beginning of the destruction of the comfortable world of Joanna and her nine-year-old daughter, Jenny. The police decide that Andy, a sheriff's deputy, tried to commit suicide. He is further implicated as the hit man in a mob rub-out and fingered as a crooked cop with drug-cartel connections. Even his personal life is dragged through the mud, as allegations of an extramarital affair surface. Neither mother nor daughter is spared from the brutality of the accusations: the DEA comes after Joanna, while schoolmates taunt Jenny. All the while, Jance cross-cuts to the contract killer who shot Andy. The conclusion features a classic confrontation, but the post-showdown ending seems trite. Until that moment, however, Jance's tale crackles with tension. Joanna's struggle and pain are affecting; Jance writes with an understanding that character is destiny.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

J. A. Jance is the New York Times bestselling author of the J. P. Beaumont series, the Joanna Brady series, the Ali Reynolds series, and four Walker family thrillers. Born in South Dakota and brought up in Bisbee, Arizona, she lives with her husband in Seattle, Washington, and Tucson, Arizona.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Harper; Reprint edition (June 30, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061774596
• ISBN-13: 978-0061774591
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #124,797 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

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars May I Introduce Joanna Brady..., April 8, 2005

By 

Susie Morris "Book Junkie" (Southern California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Desert Heat (Joanna Brady Mysteries, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

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!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Plucky heroine in a desert setting, July 24, 2000

By 

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

This review is from: Desert Heat (Joanna Brady Mysteries, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

In the first book of this series, we meet the heroine, Joanna Brady, who is waiting for her lawman husband, Andy, to come home for their 10th. anniversary celebration. Her world is shattered when he is found critically injured beside his wrecked vehicle. As she is keeping vigil at the hospital, we are introduced to Angie Kellogg who is kept a virtual prisoner by her gangster boyfriend. After Andy is accused of being involved in a drug ring, Angie becomes a key figure in Joanna's struggle to exonerate him. The two women meet, and the action picks up considerably as they are pursued by Angie's boyfriend plus some other surprising bad guys. For fans of the J.P. Beaumont series, set in Seattle, Joanna's southern Arizona home will be quite a contrast. Author Jance grew up in Arizona and she is as adept at using the desert setting as a background as she is at using Seattle.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent series opener with Joanna Brady an engaging sleuth, May 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Desert Heat (Joanna Brady Mysteries, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

Not as gritty as the J.P. Beaumont mysteries, yet recently widowed Joanna Brady is one tough and determined sleuth who juggles crime solving, the new demands of single parenthood, and her own personal bereavement with finesse. A terrific series I intend to follow!