No Honor Among Thieves: An Ali Reynolds Novella
By J. A. Jance
4/5
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About this ebook
“A semi’s gone over the embankment.” The call wakes Sheriff Joanna Brady in the middle of the night, but what brings her fully alert is the rest of the story. The driver didn’t drift off to sleep and cross the center line—he was shot, multiple times, by someone with serious firepower. And when the truck crashed through the guardrail, its payload wound up scattered all over the road—boxes upon boxes of Legos.
Legos that are being tracked by B. Simpson’s security firm to reduce black market sales—and Ali Reynolds is just the woman to get to the bottom of the crime. She has the tech and the intel to follow the money (or, in this case, the Legos), which makes her a valuable asset to Joanna’s team. Soon these two strong women realize that they’re not just sharing a case, they’re kindred spirits—which is paramount, because the killer they’re up against is anything but child’s play.
J. A. Jance
J. A. Jance is the New York Times bestselling author of the J. P. Beaumont series, the Joanna Brady series, the Ali Reynolds series, six thrillers about the Walker Family, and one volume of poetry. Born in South Dakota and brought up in Bisbee, Arizona, she lives with her husband in Seattle, Washington.
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Titles in the series (18)
Left for Dead: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Man Overboard: An Ali Reynolds Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Deadly Stakes: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Moving Target: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Trial by Fire: A Novel of Suspense Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cruel Intent Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Last Goodbye Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Clawback: An Ali Reynolds Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hand of Evil Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fatal Error: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Credible Threat Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5No Honor Among Thieves: An Ali Reynolds Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Web of Evil: A Novel of Suspense Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cold Betrayal: An Ali Reynolds Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The A List Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Duel to the Death Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unfinished Business Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Collateral Damage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
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Reviews for No Honor Among Thieves
72 ratings7 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This novella brings two favorite Jance characters together to solve a murder involving smuggling of Legos, in order to increase their market value. Who knew Legos could be so valuable?! Fun to watch the meeting of minds of Ali Reynolds and Joanna Brady.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A slight but readable crossover e-novella featuring Jance's two women investigators, Ali Reynolds and Joanna Brady. Unfortunately, it spends so much time introducing the various characters, often in slightly strained ways, that there isn't a lot of room left for the story. And the mystery itself is easily resolved and not all that mysterious.Fans of both series will want to read this, but it is unlikely to earn Jance any new readers.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sparkling short story; as Sheriff Brady investigates an "on the road " homicide that spews Legos all over the countryside. Ali Reynolds provides the hi tech that showcases her new role and provides the concluding action to a very exciting day.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This novella started out with such a jolt of action that didn't let up until the end. Ms. Jance introduces Ali Reynolds to Cochise County Sheriff's Joanna Brady in this action-packed novella. It was a clever way to introduce the reader to her other successful series.Sheriff Brady gets an early morning wake-up call about a truck that has gone over an embankment, it's not your typical accident. The truck is riddled with heavy gunfire, she assumes it's a drug war due to the amount of heavy artillery that they find in the truck and the driver, who was already dead before he went over the embankment. She's puzzled because of the cargo, it's Legos! Why would anyone go through that much trouble to kill someone who is hauling cartons of Legos unless there is something hidden in those cases of toys?In comes Ali Reynolds, whose husband's security company is working for the Lego company. She is dispatched to go to Cochise county to find out what is going on with these legos. The two women are suspicious of each other at first but end up solving this little caper together.I've not read many of Ms. Jance's mysteries and it's my loss. I love strong female leads and she has just that in these two women. I can't wait to read what's in store for Sheriff Brady!I would like to thank Pocket Star Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book for my honest review.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is the first pairing of two of J.A. Jance's characters, Joanna Brady and Ali Reynolds-- two very strong women who know how to get the job done. No Honor Among Thieves has the wonderful setting that I've come to expect from any of Jance's work set in Arizona, and it has a lightning fast pace that never lets up.This is a successful pairing that I wouldn't mind seeing more of. I've been a diehard Brady fan since the first book in the series, Desert Heat. I've never quite warmed up to Ali, but she is an interesting character, and I wanted to see how the two of them worked together.While we're racing through the narrative, we're learning about the fight against black market goods, and Joanna knows that she's got some news for her family and co-workers when this case is wrapped up. Ali proves indispensable from a tech standpoint because she and her husband's business can supply all sorts of things that would blow Brady's budget to smithereens.I was in awe of Joanna Brady's quick decision-making and her ability to take command of a dangerous multi-front situation. She's come a long way from that first book when she had absolutely no firsthand experience of law enforcement. I was proud of her. On the other hand, I felt Ali Reynolds was a little silly there toward the end. She let her nose get out of joint because Brady was too distracted trying to get everything wrapped up to give Ali the profuse thanks that she felt she deserved. What happens when you let your nose get out of joint? You usually do something stupid.As I said before, this is a pairing I'd like to see more of. It's fun to watch two strong, intelligent women work shoulder to shoulder to solve a crime. If you're a fan like me, you'll find that this novella advances Joanna's story a bit, but not Ali's. If you've not had the pleasure of reading either of Jance's series, I think No Honor Among Thieves would be an excellent place to start. Chances are, when you're finished, you're going to want more books featuring Joanna and Ali.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5J.a. Jance is great. I have greatly enjoyed every book of hers that I have read.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When a truck crashes in Cochise County, Sheriff Joanna Brady is called out to the scene. Not only did the driver die from a bullet wound but the truck is riddled with bullet holes. It is assumed that the assailants were after the cargo. Strangely though, it isn’t drugs or illegal weapons although the driver had an arsenal of weapons with him - it’s Lego sets. A security company has been following a shipment of limited edition Lego sets and Ali Reynolds is sent to investigate the scene. Although Joanna and Ali have never met before, they must work together to find out who is behind this crime.No Honor Among Thieves is a novella by author J.A. Jance and brings together two of her best known female protagonists. They are two strong, intelligent women and they work very well together for the most part; the novella is well-written and interesting; and there’s plenty of action throughout, all of which makes this a fun fast read. My biggest question, though: am I the only one who had no idea how valuable some Lego sets are?
Book preview
No Honor Among Thieves - J. A. Jance
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No Honor Among Thieves, by J.A. Jance, PocketWhen Sheriff Joanna Brady’s distinctive rooster ring tone jarred her awake at oh-dark-thirty in the morning, she grabbed the phone off the bedside table and shot a guilty glance at her sleeping husband before she answered. After years of being married to a county sheriff, Butch Dixon had become accustomed to Joanna’s being summoned to some incident or another in the middle of the night. At first he had made it a point to get up with her and make sure that, wherever she was going, she’d at least have a cup of freshly made coffee along for the ride.
Right now, though, the poor guy was fighting a deadline on his next book and had come to bed barely two hours earlier. Just a minute,
Joanna whispered into the phone.
In the old days, Joanna would have had to scramble across a pitch-dark bedroom while dodging the prone body of her rescued Australian shepherd, Lady, who had formerly slept as close to Joanna’s side of the bed as possible. Now, though, Lady had put herself in charge of Butch and Joanna’s four-year-old son, Dennis. All her instinctive herding proclivities had been turned full bore on keeping track of the boy. Lady spent all her waking and sleeping hours guarding him devotedly—enough so that both Joanna and Butch worried about what the dog would do with herself in the fall when Dennis went off to pre-kindergarten.
Once inside the bathroom with the door closed, Joanna switched on the light and sat down on the closed toilet lid. Okay,
she said to Tica Romero, the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office’s overnight dispatcher. What’s up?
A Border Patrol officer called in a fatality MVA that may turn out to be a homicide,
Tica replied. A guy driving a delivery truck tore through the guardrail where Highway 92 crosses the San Pedro and ended up upside down in the riverbed. But the officer who called it in, Agent Bill Cannon, said the truck looked like something straight out of a war zone. He says the cab was riddled with bullet holes that appear to be from automatic weapons fire.
Automatic weapons?
Joanna echoed. Are you kidding me? Sounds like a serious smuggling operation of some kind, probably a couple of the drug cartels duking it out inside my jurisdiction. About the victim: Do we know what killed him? Did he die of a gunshot wound or from the wreck itself?
No way to tell at this time,
Tica replied. I’ve dispatched Detectives Carbajal and Howell as well as Dave Hollicker to the scene.
Jaime Carbajal and Deb Howell were two of Joanna’s three homicide detectives. Dave Hollicker was part of her two-man—well, one man and one woman—CSI unit.
Detective Carbajal is already on the scene and he wanted to know if you’re coming, too.
Years earlier, Joanna’s first husband, Cochise County sheriff’s deputy Andrew Roy Brady, had been running for the office of sheriff when he’d been gunned down by a drug cartel’s hit man. In the aftermath of Andy’s death, Joanna was encouraged to run for sheriff in his place. Most people—including the voters who had elected her—expected Joanna to be sheriff in name only. After all, being the daughter of a sheriff—D. H. Lathrop—and being married to a deputy sheriff didn’t exactly qualify Joanna to be a police officer or sheriff in her own right. But once she was elected, she did her best to get qualified, including sending herself to Phoenix for a course of police academy training. One of the main things that won her the respect of those under her command was that whenever there was a homicide in Cochise County, Sheriff Joanna Brady was on the scene.
Affirmative on that,
she said. I’ll get dressed and head out. Let everyone know I’ll be there as soon as I can.
One other thing before you go,
Tica said hurriedly before Joanna could end the call.
What?
I don’t know if any rental agencies are open about now. Maybe there’s one in Sierra Vista, but you’re going to need a truck.
A truck? Why?
"Because the truck landed so hard that it broke apart on impact, spilling a whole load of LEGO boxes and scattering them everywhere. If the San Pedro had water running in it today, there’d be a flotilla of Star Wars LEGO sets floating downstream."
LEGO boxes?
Joanna repeated. As in toys? As in those little plastic thingamajigs that kids stick together to build things?
Yes, ma’am,
Tica replied. Those are the ones. Evidently that truck was chock-full of them.
Okay,
Joanna said. While I’m getting dressed, why don’t you try locating a rental truck. That’s not going to be easy in the middle of the night.
She ended the call and jumped in the shower. She wore her red hair short on purpose. There was enough natural body to it that, if she combed it out wet, it would dry in some reasonable order without needing a blow-dry. Her mother, Eleanor Lathrop Winfield, thought the whole idea of wash-and-wear hair was too scandalous for words, but Joanna had too many demands on her time and energy to keep up with a complicated hairdo. Ditto for her makeup applications, which her mother regarded as hit-or-miss.
Joanna had her face on and was dressed in her uniform, out of the house, and in the car less than twelve minutes after the phone call. She had taken the time to leave a note for Butch, but she hadn’t waited long enough to make coffee.
The clock on the dashboard of her county-owned Yukon said it was 3:03 as she turned off High Lonesome Road and onto the highway. The night before, she’d been caught up in the first meeting of her reelection committee, and it had kept her up far past her usual bedtime. As she accelerated, Joanna realized how rummy she felt. She needed coffee in the worst way. Luckily for her, the Cochise County Justice Center was on her way to the crime scene.
She dialed up the radio. Hey, Tica,
she said. Any luck on that truck?
I contacted Frank out in Sierra Vista,
Tica said. Turns out one of his officers has a brother-in-law who operates the local U-Haul franchise. Frank is seeing if they can roust the guy out of bed and have him come handle the rental. If so, he’ll give us a call.
Frank was Frank Montoya. Frank had been one of Joanna’s two opponents in her run for the office of sheriff. When he lost out, she was smart enough to appoint him to be one of her two chief deputies. In recent years, however, Frank had been lured away from that job when Sierra Vista offered him the position of chief of police.
Bless his heart,
Joanna said. "If anyone can make it happen, Frank is the guy. One other thing: What are the chances of getting someone to go down to the break room and make a fresh pot of coffee? If I