"Desert Heat"

"Desert Heat" is J. A. Jance's first novel in the Joanna Brady series and is not one that I had read before.  In the past I have read some of Jance's Brady and Beaumont series but it has been a long while.  When I heard her speak at a benefit luncheon last year and she spoke about her latest novel that had just been released, I decided it was time to read the Joanna Brady series from the beginnning.

Joanna and Andy Brady are preparing to celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary so Joanna has arranged for her mother to come stay with their 9 year old daughter.  However, when Andy is more than an hour late coming to pick her up for their overnight stay, Joanna begins to worry and starts calling his colleagues at the sheriff's office.  Andy is a lawman who is currently running to be the next sheriff of Cochise County.

As the time lengthens and his co-workers assure her Andy had headed home, Joanna decides it is time to search for him.  She finds him shot and near death not too far from their home.  While he lies critically wounded in the hospital fighting for his life, stories start to circulate that he may have been a dirty cop.  When the tales are confirmed by others he worked with and a DEA officer starts asking questions, Joanna knows it is up to her to prove her husband's innocence and show that he did not attempt suicide but was instead shot by someone unknown.

This is a suspenseful tale from start to finish with some unexpected twists -- great reading!  pazt