Joanna Brady Sheriff

Joanna Brady, Sheriff is a wonderful character and series written by J.A. Jance. There are now 20 full-length novels and a couple of novellas to enjoy as well. She has two other thriving series. The first is J.P. Beaumont (All kinds of detectives) in Seattle, Washington), Ali Reynolds (once prime-time newscaster, former media relations for sheriff’s office but mostly a special private investigator in and around Tucson, Arizona) and she has one called the Walker Family Mystery Series featuring Diane and Brandon Walker (She a former teacher who witness a murder and he a sheriff in the Arizona desert community)

All of her books are entertaining, suspenseful and well worth the read. The Joanna Brady series has been my personal favorite with the character moving through her life first as a new widow and mother of a young girl who gets thrust into her husband’s job as sheriff of Cochise County Arizona. She is ill-prepared for that job as she was an office worker in an insurance office so she attends a tough law enforcement academy even though she is already sheriff because she believes she needs to be able to do the job right. The added benefit is that she proves to the officers under her that she will lead in a professional manner despite her inexperience. In the meantime, she is also dealing with her motherly duties, uncooperative family members and the occasional murder mystery.

As the series progresses, as in normal life, her young daughter is growing older, Joanna finds love, marries and has another child. Through it all, she is doing the job well both in law enforcement proficiency and politically as she has to be re-elected to the job she has come to love. I have enjoyed this series tremendously over the years and try to re-read each one from the beginning at least once a year. Sadly, of late I have been unable to re-read the series. In fact, it seems I am a little behind the times and there are a couple of books I haven’t read yet. The Latest is another cross over book called Blessing of the Lost Girls which brings both the Sheriff Brady and the Walker Family together in the 20th Full-Length Story in this beloved series.

1. Desert Heat, Paper, 1993
2. Tombstone Courage, 1995
3. Shoot/Don’t Shoot, 1996
4. Dead to Rights, 1997
5. Skeleton Canyon, 1998
6. Rattlesnake Crossing, 1998
7. Outlaw Mountain, 2000
8. Devil’s Claw, 2001
9. Paradise Lost, Paper, 2002
10. Partner in Crime, 2003 Crossover with Seattle investigator J.P. Beaumont
11. Exit Wounds, 2004
12. Dead Wrong, 2007
13. Damage Control, 2008
14. Fire and Ice, 2009
15. Judgment Call, 2012
The Old Blue Line, A Joanna Brady Novella, 2014
16. Remains of Innocence, 2014
No Honor Among Thieves, An Ali Reynolds and Joanna Brady Novella, 2015
Random Acts, A Joanna Brady and Ali Reynolds Novella, 2016
17. Downfall: A Brady Novel of Suspense, 2016
18. Field of Bones, 2018
19. Missing and Endangered, 2021
20. Blessing of the Lost Girls, 2023 Crossover with the Walker Family