11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good addition to this series, August 2, 2000
This review is from: Shoot/Don't Shoot (Joanna Brady Mysteries, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)
Joanna Brady has been sworn in as the new sheriff of Cochise County. She realizes that she has no experience in the law-enforcement business so she goes to a police academy with a class full of rookie cops. While there she befriends LeAnn, the only other woman in the class. They serve as support for one another in the face of instructor Dave Thompson who tends to teach by intimidation. She also takes time to investigate a murder at the request of the accused murderer's mother. The case is outside her jurisdiction, but that doesn't stop Joanna. A series of brutal murders occur which eventually intrude into Joanna's life. The murderers seem obvious, but Joanna isn't so sure. Through her investigation, the identity of the real murderer is revealed. This is more concise than some of the books in this series and is well-paced. I recommend it.
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
I want to see more of this series, July 8, 1998
By A Customer
This review is from: Shoot/Don't Shoot (Joanna Brady Mysteries, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)
I bought *Shoot/Don't Shoot* because my sister had lent me *Tombstone Courage* and I liked it. I live in Cochise County, so it tickles me to see familiar place names. This book combines such real-life problems as domestic violence, serial killers, and a few of the things that are wrong with our justice system (weaknesses the serial killer exploits with frightening ease). I cared about the characters and worried about what would happen to them. In fact, I wish I could have spoken to some of them. I'd have said: (to the lesbian's homophobic relative): You'd better start lobbying for acceptance of homosexuals as full-fledged members of the human race. If current research is correct about some cases of homosexuality being inherited, you could wind up with a gay or lesbian child or grandchild. (to Mrs. Duffy): You'd better let your grandchildren spend time with their father and other grandmother. You raised a daughter who neglected those children for booze and sex. Senora Grijalva raised a son who was willing to rot in jail rather than let his children find out their mother was a whore. Given your respective records, I'd feel better if those children were being raised by the Grijalvas. (to Sheriff Brady): Give your mother what for! It won't solve all of your problems with her, but I can assure you that you'll feel better. (I know how you feel about pixie cuts. My father made me wear one and I hated it, too.) I look forward to getting the first and next book. Tip for readers: "Huachuca" is pronounced "Wah-choo-kah". Ann E. Nichols
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
It Went Ahead and Made My Day, August 30, 2004
This review is from: Shoot/Don't Shoot (Joanna Brady Mysteries, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)
As Joanna Brady makes the shift from Candidate to Sheriff, Jance takes us on a quick-and-dirty primer of police procedure. Attending the Arizona Police Officers Academy (APOA) so she can hold her own with her more-experienced law enforcement staff, Brady finds herself struggling to keep up with classwork, coping with changes in her familial network (the recent loss of her husband, among other things), dodging Cupid's arrows, and trying to keep an innocent man from throwing his life away. And then a homicidal maniac starts stalking her.
Shoot/Don't Shoot has a very convoluted structure, with Jance keeping half a dozen plot lines running at any given time. At times the book was a bit angsty for my taste, and the final few chapters seemed plot-driven, rather than developing as a result/consequence of choices the characters made. It diminishes the quality of the book slightly, but with so much taking place in the novel she can't dwell on any one thing for long.
The "mysteries" in the book aren't that complex. Granted you don't know the name of the serial killer until the end, but you can make some pretty accurate ballpark guesses about his identity. There are also some odd details about the APOA facility that seemed fairly obvious; Jance does a fairly good job using them to enhance the suspense, though. Other details, however, are hidden so obviously in plain sight that I found myself getting irritated that Brady wasn't paying any attention to them.
If you haven't read any of Jance's Sheriff Joanna Brady mysteries, this would be an okay place to start. It brings you up to speed fairly well with the events of the first two books in the series, without straying far from its own storyline in the process. On the other hand, if you don't deal well with blatant melodrama, you might want to get to know Joanna under less stressed circumstances so you're already invested in her character before reading this at-times-frustrating book.
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