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ronninanney's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I was able to get completely involved in this book! I like how it gives you a little bit on the killers thoughts and actions, but not enough to know who it is.
Joanna is an awesome person who I would totally be friends with. She does a great job juggling her career and personal responsibilities and I hope I can be a mom like her. I also love how she has her sarcastic, smart comments when people are being dumb or rude, but is able to keep it to herself.
The mystery itself ties together nicely and kept me guessing the whole time!
Joanna is an awesome person who I would totally be friends with. She does a great job juggling her career and personal responsibilities and I hope I can be a mom like her. I also love how she has her sarcastic, smart comments when people are being dumb or rude, but is able to keep it to herself.
The mystery itself ties together nicely and kept me guessing the whole time!
javamamanc's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
rebelbelle13's review against another edition
3.0
As the story goes, this was a very respectable third installment to the Joanna Brady series. Joanna is going off to police school, she's dealing with being a newly elected sheriff and all the baggage that comes with it, on top of being a widowed mother. There's a serial killer on the loose in Maricopa county, and Joanna sticks her nose right in it, even though she's busy attending school and it's not even her jurisdiction. The narrative flows along rather smoothly, even though it's not that interesting or attention-grabbing. There's the usual meddling by Joanna's mother and clinginess of her daughter (to be expected, and she's not that bad considering) and the unwillingness of the staff in Cochise county to accept her in her new position. There's also the introduction of a possible new love interest for Joanna. I applauded the way Joanna stood up for the women of domestic violence, and her new friend at the academy (who was gay and everyone was making a big deal about it). It was a decent story, though largely forgettable in the long run.
That being said, the audiobook for this was beyond awful. I listened to the old version narrated by Ellen Travolta and she was just the worst. There was pausing, lip smacking, swallowing, page turning, mispronunciation of words, the complete omission of other words and sometimes complete sentences were just missing. She could not figure out how to pronounce the words 'bludgeon', 'kevlar', and 'cuisine' among many, MANY others. Joanna was sometimes Joanne, and certain other last names were pronounced in several different ways. I cannot believe that something like this was actually recorded, produced and released to the public. I've listened to over 100 audiobooks at this point and I have never, never heard a narrator so awful. I'm glad to see that it was re-recorded. This version needs to be buried, and quickly. Yikes.
That being said, the audiobook for this was beyond awful. I listened to the old version narrated by Ellen Travolta and she was just the worst. There was pausing, lip smacking, swallowing, page turning, mispronunciation of words, the complete omission of other words and sometimes complete sentences were just missing. She could not figure out how to pronounce the words 'bludgeon', 'kevlar', and 'cuisine' among many, MANY others. Joanna was sometimes Joanne, and certain other last names were pronounced in several different ways. I cannot believe that something like this was actually recorded, produced and released to the public. I've listened to over 100 audiobooks at this point and I have never, never heard a narrator so awful. I'm glad to see that it was re-recorded. This version needs to be buried, and quickly. Yikes.
katkinney's review against another edition
4.0
Seven years ago, Martin Chadwick set fire to a pub, not realizing there was someone inside. He’s been released. The victim’s father is out for revenge (understandable) and Martin’s son, who has had a hard time while his son was in prison, is struggling when their property is targeted. Detective Jessica Daniels is assigned to keep an eye out on both of them. There is also another case in the book with a woman who turns up dead. This is the fifth book in the series and took me a little longer to get into than some of the other Jessica Daniels books… I can’t precisely put my finger on what it was. Maybe that the plotting didn’t feel quite as tight early on, so I was struggling to get a handle on where the book was going for a while and then we had so many balls up in the air that at times it felt a little scattered. It was still ultimately an enjoyable police procedural. 4/5 stars.
lisahelene's review against another edition
4.0
I am listening to the audio version of this book and I don't know if I can go on. Between the mouth noises and mispronunciations I am about ready to tear my hair out. I am going to put it away for a day to think about it, but I'll probably end up not finishing this version and going to the e-book instead.
Ok, update. Decided this narrator (Ellen Travolta) was much too painful to listen to, I am getting the kindle version from the library to finish the book.
I would have maybe given this two stars for the audio version. I started it again from the beginning and enjoyed it much more than listening to it.
Ok, update. Decided this narrator (Ellen Travolta) was much too painful to listen to, I am getting the kindle version from the library to finish the book.
I would have maybe given this two stars for the audio version. I started it again from the beginning and enjoyed it much more than listening to it.
ncrabb's review against another edition
4.0
With her successful election as sheriff of Cochise County behind her, Joanna Brady gets down to the business of running her department. That’s not easy, since one of her officers vociferously campaigned for her opponent and another one ran against her. Worse still is the good old boy attitude in the department. They don’t even bother to call Joanna out on a late-night call—and it’s one she needed to be involved in.
Joanna realizes she can run her department fine, but she’s also aware she needs formal police academy training, and off she goes to Phoenix to get it. But before she leaves, one of her deputies introduces her to a woman whose son is in a Phoenix jail for a murder his mom is sure he didn’t commit. Sadly, Joanna agrees to look over the voluminous newspaper clippings the distraught mother has brought, but she makes no promises about how to help the man.
Still, the case fascinates her, drawing her both to the prison that holds the killer and to the Roadhouse Bar—the last place anyone saw the victim and suspect. But folks get upset by the fact that Joanna is looking into the case, and things stir up in an ugly way. Before the book ends, someone murders one of Joanna’s instructors, and Joanna and her daughter, Jennifer, are in danger, since they, too, are on a killer’s list.
Joanna realizes she can run her department fine, but she’s also aware she needs formal police academy training, and off she goes to Phoenix to get it. But before she leaves, one of her deputies introduces her to a woman whose son is in a Phoenix jail for a murder his mom is sure he didn’t commit. Sadly, Joanna agrees to look over the voluminous newspaper clippings the distraught mother has brought, but she makes no promises about how to help the man.
Still, the case fascinates her, drawing her both to the prison that holds the killer and to the Roadhouse Bar—the last place anyone saw the victim and suspect. But folks get upset by the fact that Joanna is looking into the case, and things stir up in an ugly way. Before the book ends, someone murders one of Joanna’s instructors, and Joanna and her daughter, Jennifer, are in danger, since they, too, are on a killer’s list.
margardenlady's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Joanna Brady is the kind of strong female character that I really enjoy. In this 2nd in the series she has been elected sheriff, but has no official police training. So she heads off to a nearby class. There she wrangles with a misogynist instructor and gets embroiled in a serial killer case. Good story and it felt very current, except for all the time she spent waiting for a pay phone (it was the 90s). Funny how the plot détails about phone calls annoyed me vaguely.
literaryfeline's review against another edition
3.0
I fully intended to start out with another book while on vacation this past week, one I had been waiting impatiently to come out in paperback. And yet, as my husband and I packed for our trip to Colorado, I decided I was more in the mood to read something that was set in one of the states we would be visiting. Joanna Brady is the newly elected sheriff in Cochise County, Arizona. In this third book in the series, Joanna travels to the Phoenix area to train as a law enforcement officer. At the urging of the mother of a suspected killer, Joanna finds herself investigating the death of the suspected killer’s wife. The more she learns, the more the crime points in the direction of a serial killer and not the man behind bars awaiting trial for his wife’s murder. On a more personal level, Joanna is still struggling with the death of her husband two months before, trying to comfort her daughter and dealing with continuing conflict with her own mother whom Joanna seems to never be able to please. In the beginning of the book, I was a little put off by some of the dialog sequences between Joanna and her daughter Jenny. The exchanges seemed to be too much detail and not very interesting to the story itself. However, once the story got underway and the events began to unfold, it was hard to pull myself away. J.A. Jance is gifted at character development and this particular novel lived up to that expectation.
dontmissythesereads's review against another edition
3.0
Book #60 read in 2013
Book #76 read in 2022
I liked that this book started to move the characters along. I want to feel a connection with Joanna Brady. The mystery in this one seemed secondary, but it was good.
Book #76 read in 2022
I liked that this book started to move the characters along. I want to feel a connection with Joanna Brady. The mystery in this one seemed secondary, but it was good.