I have loved the Joanna Brady books but this is the first time I was able to read the first book. How Joanna became sheriff. She is smart, capable and refuses to just accept that her husband's murder was a suicide. This is the Joanna that I love in the books, and how it all began. J.A. Jance has a fluid writing style and a great ability to really create well rounded characters.

Typically I like strong female characters, however, I felt the females in this book portrayed extremes of "types", either too overwrought or too controlled. Most disturbing was the nine-year-old daughter who didn't seem to understand or feel any depth of sad reality at her father's death. Johanna herself acted as if she were just having a bad hair day. The storyline was interesting enough. The characters weren't.

This series takes place in and around Bisbee and Cochise county in southern Arizona. I picked the book up at a small bookshop in Bisbee. My time spent in the area helped make the characters come alive for me This first short book seems to be mostly character development for the next, and I'm interested enough that I'll be moving on to number two soon.

Not just the first of the JoAnna Brady books, but my first JoAnna Brady book.

I liked the humor that was worked into the tragedy (Jenny and Gs, for instance).

My little sister Sam was given a book report assignment of a modern mystery and I recommended this book -- and actually got yelled at because there's a bit of language and a tiny bit of sex. Jeez -- she was 17 friggin' years old!

Oh, well. Waiting for the next book to come out.

Someone recommended this to me and I read about half of it because I really wanted to give it a chance. It was just really terrible. The writing, the story, everything. I wanted to read a story not set in a major US city to change things up and this is set in AZ so I was hopeful and supposedly it's a good detective story. But nah. I have tried reading a series before and had the same bad taste in my mouth afterwards--like drinking coffee and not being able to brush your teeth afterwards. It was just a terrible story, badly researched and written. I finally said "OK I am done" when the author described a cardiac arrest in a hospital being called overhead with "CODE RED" I mean, really? I am pretty certain everyone knows what a Code Red is and it ain't no cardiac arrest, Dear. Anyway, books like this make me mad.

Woo hoo, I am out of my mystery slump!

I really liked Desert Heat and the leading lady, Joanna Brady. It was a quick read, but kept me guessing until the end. I also enjoyed that there was a dual perspective by Joanna and Angie.

I will be continuing with this series.

Desert Heat by J. A. Jance

BIBLIOGRAPHIC DETAILS:
-Print: COPYRIGHT: (February 1993) September 1, 2004; PUBLISHER: Severn House; First Cloth Edition; ISBN 978-0727861153; PAGES 256; Unabridged (Amazon Hardcover)
-Digital: COPYRIGHT: July, 2002; PUBLISHER: First Avon Books printing, Harper-Collins e-books; ISBN 978-0061743207; FILE SIZE: 2975 KB; Unabridged (info from: Libby, LAPL, Kindle edition & Amazon)
*Audio: COPYRIGHT: 19 Oct 2009; PUBLISHER: HarperAudio; DURATION: 8 hrs (approx.); Unabridged (Libby OC Public Libraries)
Feature Film or tv: Not that I’m aware of.

SERIES: Joanna Brady Series, Book 1

CHARACTERS: (Not comprehensive)
Joanna Brady-Wife of a Deputy running for Sheriff; Employee at an insurance agency
Andrew (Andy) Roy Brady – A Deputy in Bisbee, Arizona
Jennifer Brady – Daughter of Joanna and Andrew
Wayne (Lefty) O’Tool – Andrew’s former football coach
MaryAnn Maculyea – A Reverend and Joanna’s friend
Jeff Daniels – MaryAnn’s significant other who helps run a parsonage
Eleanor Lathrop – Joanna’s mother
Walter McFadden – Cochise County Sherriff
Dick Voland – Bisbee Deputy
Ruth Voland – Dick’s wife
Ken Galloway – Bisbee Deputy; Andrew’s partner
Milo Davis – Joanna's boss at the insurance agency
Eva Lou Brady – Andrew’s mother
Jim Bob Brady – Andrew’s father
Antonio (Tony) Vargas – Criminal
Angie Kellogg – Antonio’s companion; Hooker

SUMMARY/ EVALUATION:
How I picked it: Don and I have enjoyed listening to Jance’s J.P. Beaumont series, where we are currently ready to begin book 12. Book 11 was written in 1993, and so was this first of the Brady series. I like to read an author’s writings in the order they were written. So, we selected this book next. We were pleased to get introduced to another of the author’s series in anticipation of getting to see J. A. Jance in person at a Newport Beach Friends of the Library luncheon. After a few chapters of this book, my husband stated that he thinks he is liking this even better than the Beaumont series.
-What’s it about? Well, if I told you, wouldn’t that spoil the surprise?
-Liked: Great characters and plot; That the primary character is a strong, family oriented, sensible female. Since we have a house in the Mojave Desert, it is easy/fun to think we are correctly imagining settings in Bisbee Arizona.
-Disliked: I am merciless in my detection of the “unlikelies” in a book, and suspect this is why I would make a poor writer. I would try to stay so close to what I think is truly possible that I think my writing might be dull and unimaginative. I can’t really think of any in this story right now, so I’m thinking nothing was glaring.
I am also quick to pounce on errors—however minor, doubtless, much to my husband’s consternation since, generally I can’t resist hitting pause to announce what I think is an error. An example here is when one of our characters relays the information . . . . paraphrasing now--that while she was in a waiting-room she heard an announcement on the hospital public address system of “Code Red,” which was reacted to by many medical people rushing about, bringing our character to the conclusion that a patient was failing. “Code Red” would have sent them rushing out of the building, not to a patient’s bedside, as it means “Fire”. “Code Blue” is what will send medical people swarming to a bedside. This, at least, was the case in the hospitals *I* worked in. ‘Pretty sure it’s universal. But, to be fair, the character could have been remembering it wrong.
-Overall: Great book. We’ll keep up with this series along with the Beaumont series now.

AUTHOR: J. A. (Judith Ann) Jance -- (born October 27, 1944) "Jance was born in Watertown, South Dakota,[2] and raised in Bisbee, Arizona (the setting for her Joanna Brady series of novels). Before becoming an author, she worked as a school librarian on a Native American reservation (Tohono O'Odham), and as a teacher and insurance agent." -- Wikipedia

NARRATOR: Hillary Huber – “Hillary has recorded close to 700 audiobooks spanning many genres. She is a multiple Audie Award finalist, multiple Earphone Award winner, Voice Arts Awards winner and one of Audiofile Magazine's best voices. Hillary has a BA in English Literature and is a voracious reader and listener. Likes: yoga, hip hop dancing, baking sourdough, bourbon. Dislikes: liver. Raised in conservative Connecticut and hippy Hawaii, Hillary now splits her time between Santa Monica and New York. Most of that time is in a 4x4 padded room. Er...booth. Her super power is reciting the alphabet backwards.
-HillaryHuber-dot-com
I liked Hillary’s narration. She doesn’t get too loud in the tense sections, she does different voices with great subtlety.

GENRE:
Fiction; Mystery

SUBJECTS: (Not comprehensive)
Small desert communities; Bisbee police force; Hospital

LOCATIONS:
Bisbee, Arizona; Tucson, Arizona; Cochise County, Arizona

TIME FRAME:
Contemporary (1993)

DEDICATION:
“To the real Jeff and Maryann, who, in a time of need, were friends indeed.”

EXCERPT: (From Chapter Two)
“AN AMBULANCE and two Cochise County Sheriff’s vehicles arrived almost simultaneously followed by an officer from the Arizona Highway Patrol. When the arriving officers scrambled toward them down the embankment, Sadie barked frantically. Joanna didn’t want to stop what she was doing, but the only way for the professionals to get close enough to do their work was for Joanna to leave Andy long enough to drag the dog out of the way.

Clutching Sadie by the collar, Joanna led the protesting dog back to the Eagle and shut her inside for safekeeping. Weak with fear and spent with effort, she leaned against the fender of the car and looked down at the group of Emergency Medical Technicians clustered around Andy’s motionless body Their hurried shouts and frenzied actions gave her some small hope that perhaps they weren’t too late and Andy was still alive.

She was still standing there looking down at them when Ken Galloway found her. “How bad is it?” he asked.

Shaking her head was all the answer Joanna could manage.

Ken took her arm. “Come with me,” he said. “You’re better off not watching.”

Holding her solicitously, Galloway guided her through the growing collection of haphazardly parked vehicles that already littered the area around the bridge. He opened the rider’s side of his still-warm patrol car and eased her into the seat. She was shaking violently. Inside her head chattering teeth rattled uncontrollably.

“My God, Joanna, you must be freezing,” Ken said. “Wait right here.”

He disappeared, returning moments later with two blankets and a cup of coffee. He handed her the coffee then wrapped the blanket around her legs and tossed the other one over her quaking shoulders. Joanna held the coffee in her hands without taking a drink while she stared at the place where people clambered up and down the embankment. From this perspective, the people on the floor of the wash were totally out of sight.

“He stopped breathing,” Joanna explained woodenly to Ken Galloway. “I tried doing CPR, but I don’t know if it worked or not. Go check for me, Ken. Please.”

RATING:
4 stars

STARTED READING – FINISHED READING
6-8-2023 to 6-12-2023

This is book #1 in Joanna Brady series. I've read quite a few of them, so it was nice to read #1 because it gave me a great look at the backstory that kicked this series off. This filled in some gaps for me.

I like this author. She creates great stories. Her mysteries always seem to pull me in. The MC is a solid character and she is easy to like. Actually most of the characters are easy to like.

The reason this was just 3 stars and not 4 was the writing. It wasn't awful, but it felt a little clunky, especially with all of the adverbs. Almost everything had an adverb attached. So 3 stars.

Good but not good enough to read the complete series.

I only picked this book up because I love the JP Beaumont series so much. I was not disappointed. This is a great mystery and as per the norm with Jance it was really well written. There are plenty of red herrings in this novel and it will keep you guessing until the end. Well worth reading if you are JP Beaumont fan.

My only expectation for this little mystery was just that, a little mystery. Desert Heat turned out to be more. While this first in the Joanna Brady series is quite short, it's full of interesting characters and an action-packed plot. The reader starts off knowing a whole lot more than Joanna, and we must sit back and watch her struggle to discover the truth. As the plot unfolds, we realize we only know half the truth, with the rest revealing itself in a harrowing climax.

With a publication date of 1993, this book has a few expected dated elements. One is the need to use a pay phone, and the other is the name of a specific type of footwear that has a completely different meaning today. I remember when flip-flops were called thongs, but I'm sure when Angie blurts out, "My thong came off," some readers will laugh and say, "What?"

I have no doubt I will enjoy reading more in this series and the other series by J.A. Jance as well. Good show!

***
"The only way an enemy can betray you is by becoming your friend, but when friends. . ." ~ chapter 21

When her policeman husband is murdered in the desert and accused of corruption, Joanna Brady sets out to clear his name even though it endangers the rest of her family. This is a good prequel to the Sheriff Brady series and is a relaxing mystery read.