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    Judgment Call
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    Judgment Call
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    Judgment Call
    Ebook417 pages6 hours

    Judgment Call

    By J. A. Jance

    4/5

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    Unavailable in your country

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    About this ebook

    From New York Times bestselling author J. A. Jance, a suspenseful mystery from the creator of Arizona sheriff Joanna Brady and Seattle homicide detective J. P. Beaumont.

    When Joanna Brady's daughter stumbles across the body of her high school principal, the Cochise County sheriff's personal and professional worlds collide, forcing her to tread the difficult middle ground between being an officer of the law and a mother.

    But Joanna isn't prepared for the knowledge she's about to uncover. Though she's tried to protect her children from the dangers of the world, the search for justice leads straight to her own door and forces her to face the possibility that her beloved daughter may be less perfect than she seems—especially when a photo from the crime scene ends up on Facebook. A photo only one person close to the crime scene could have taken…

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins UK
    Release dateNov 21, 2013
    ISBN9780007491018
    Unavailable
    Judgment Call
    Author

    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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    Reviews for Judgment Call

    4/5

    107 ratings14 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I've been following the trials and tribulations of Sheriff Joanna Brady of Cochise County, Arizona for many years. J.A. Jance released the first book in 1993 and the latest installment - Judgment Call - marks the 15th entry in this long running and much loved series. Joanna's fifteen year old daughter Jenny stumbles upon a body while out for an early morning ride. It turns out to be the body of the local high school principal, who had been reported as missing. And with that discovery, her personal and professional lives collide. It seems that Principal Highsmith had some secrets.... What has kept me coming back to this series over the years? The strength is in the recurring characters. Sitting down to read a Brady book is like listening to an old friend tell a good story. Brady's life has continued to change and evolve over the years, in a believable manner. She's a character I've come to know and like. So, the personal story lines are always a draw. I always enjoy the setting descriptions as well. Jance owns a home in Arizona, so the descriptions are drawn from personal observation. The mystery is solid in Judgment Call, as is Joanna's investigation of it. Nothing earth shattering, but again, it's all in the telling. This is the first time I've chosen to listen to a Brady book. I was quite concerned what the reader would sound like, as I have developed a mental image for Joanna over the years. The reader was Hilary Huber and she was an excellent choice. I have listened to her narrate other audio books and enjoyed them. She has a slightly gravelly tone to her voice that is quite unique. Her voice is very well modulated and conveys strength, purpose and urgency without being raised. It conveyed the calm confidence of Sheriff Brady easily. Different characters are portrayed using easily differentiated voices. The only jarring note in The Judgment was the inclusion of a secondary plot involving the death of Joanna's father that seemed almost tacked on. It was another link in Joanna's story and I was glad of the revelations but it just felt a little clumsy. All in all, another good solid read from Jance.
    • 3/5
      Joanna Brady's daughter discovers the body of her high school principal when she is our riding, and the murder results in the uncovering of many secrets, both the victims, and ultimately buried information about the death of Joanna's own father.
    • 4/5
      I enjoy the Sheriff Joanna Brady series and have been waiting awhile for this book. Joanna's 15 yr old daughter is out riding when she comes upon a body and calls her mother. It turns out it's the high school principal who was reported missing but before Joanna can get to the scene Jennie has taken a picture of the body and emailed it to her friend who posted it on the internet. When Joanna starts investigating she discovers that everybody knows who the dead person is before official notification could be made and immediately knows that her daughter is at fault. Discovering who the dead woman really was and other secrets plus dealing with her mother and daughter plus her job keep Joanna Brady a very interesting character.
    • 4/5
      Synopsis: Jenny Brady's principal has been murdered and one of the students is 'a person of interest'. Marlis is using social media to get information for her investigative reports and Joanne's mother is caught up in fund raising. Once again Joanne must deal with things from her father's past including his mistress.Review: This book ties up some loose ends concerning Joanne's family and foreshadows more adventures for Joanne's daughter.
    • 4/5
      Great story! I hadn't read a JA Jance book in a while and I'd forgotten how much I like her characters. I solved one of the mysteries early but there were actually two incorporated into this book and the second outcome was a complete surprise.
    • 4/5
      Excellent book in a very good series. The characters continue to evolve, loose ends are tied and the plot drives the story aptly.
    • 5/5
      First Line: The car stopped in the middle of a stretch of rough dirt road.Sheriff Joanna Brady's daughter Jenny decides to go for an early morning ride and stumbles across the body of her high school principal, meaning that Joanna's personal and professional lives are about to meet head on. Not only did the murderer have to pass right by the ranch, the situation gets even stickier when a photo of the dead woman's body gets posted on Facebook. Joanna knows that there's only one person who could've taken that picture: her own daughter.As the investigation begins, Joanna would dearly love to avoid her mother, who's one of the people in charge of Bisbee's big art show and auction, but it's not meant to be. Joanna has to juggle her demanding mother along with the touchy situation with her daughter, a murder investigation, budget cuts, new employees, and a coroner who thinks he's God's gift. Only her writer husband and energetic toddler aren't adding to her to-do list.As Joanna deals with that to-do list, the investigation seems to point to a group of teenagers who have a grudge against the deceased high school principal, but the more the sheriff digs, the more she learns that the educator had lived a very secretive life. Joanna knows that the woman's buried past undoubtedly holds the key to identifying her killer.I make no secret of the fact that J.A. Jance's Sheriff Joanna Brady series is one of my all-time favorites, and Judgment Call is one of the very best in the series. It's not necessary to read these books in order for them to make sense, but when you do-- as I have-- you can't help but appreciate and admire Jance's skill at putting together a wonderful cast of characters in the perfect setting.Yes, the story is a strong one that blends good old-fashioned detective work with the ever-pervasive internet. I knew who the killer was, in a manner of speaking, but I swung and missed at a fast ball of a clue that the author threw right down the middle of the plate and could only exclaim at my blindness when the all-important identity was revealed. But story isn't the only good thing about a Sheriff Joanna Brady novel.The setting-- the very real old mining town of Bisbee, Arizona-- is pitch perfect. Jance grew up in Bisbee, and you can follow the directions she gives in her books like a road map through the area and the town. When a chase at the end of the book veers onto a dirt "road" that heads up a mountain to the cell phone towers, I had to smile. I've been on that trail, and there's no way a limosine's going to make it in one piece. Strong story and a strong setting. Are you still with me?If you are, then let's add that cast of characters I mentioned earlier. Throughout the series I've watched Joanna Brady grow as a person, as a wife, as a mother, and as the sheriff of one of the largest counties in the United States. She continues to grow with each book; in this book, she sees her mother in a new light, and she learns something about her father's death that leads her to making a very important decision, a judgment call. Joanna may not always make the right choice, but you respect how she comes to make each one.It may be Joanna's show in this book and in this series, but she's not the only character you come to care about. Her husband, her children, her mother... you even grow to know and care about Joanna's co-workers and people like Junior, a developmentally disabled man who works at a local diner. Jance's Joanna Brady novels are what I like to call "slice of life" books because they are so real, so down-to-earth, that you feel as though you know these people. You come to care for them, and you come to each new book wanting to know where this latest adventure will take them. If you like to feel involved with the characters in the books you read, come on down to Bisbee, and sit a spell with the Sheriff of Cochise County, Arizona.
    • 4/5
      The high school principal is murdered in the desert near Sheriff Joanna Brady's ranch. Complications ensue.On par with the rest of the series.
    • 5/5
      At last, J.A. Jance has released another Joanna Brady book. It pretty much picks up where the last one left off, with Joanna's youngest child, Dennis, being two-years-old and older daughter Jenny being fifteen. Right off the bat, someone murders the Bisbee High School principal. The reader is there when it happens. The book then switches to the aftermath as the police try to solve the crime. About 2/3 of the way through, another homicide occurs. And, to top it all off, new information surfaces regarding the death of D.A. Lathrop, Joanna's father, who died when hit by a drunk driver twenty years ago. All in all, series fans will find this a very satisfying read. Even those who have not read previous books should have little difficulty following the action. Highly recommended. Wish I didn't have to wait so long for the next one!
    • 3/5
      Another great Joanna Brady Mystery. J.A. Jance continues to get better and better. This one includes two elements of familial revenge that result in Joanna having to face up to truths about her own family that she had rather left buried. Jance makes good use of social networking and the vastness of the internet as plot points in this mystery as Joanna continues to juggle life as a sheriff, a wife, and mother of a teenager and a toddler.
    • 4/5
      3.5 . I've listened to or read many of the books in this series over the years. They are good road trip books, or good for any time you want to be entertained without thinking too much; I was cooking when I finished this one today.
    • 3/5
      I have an approach/avoidance problem with this series. The plots are great, but I find myself editing instead of getting lost in the writing, which is why I gave the book three stars instead of four.
    • 4/5
      Trouble begins when the high school principal goes missing and Jenny is the one to find her body while out riding her horse. A second murder victim is found just a couple of days later. The Cochise County Sheriff’s office is kept hopping.We’re provided resolution in the elder abuse case that was left hanging from the prior book which took place about one year ago. And Joanna re-opens the case involving the death of her father after Butch starts reading through the man’s journals. It’s not an easy decision to make as a lot of lives would be affected.There is plenty going on and more than one murderer is taken into custody. The subject of social media and the ramifications of not only putting personal information out there is addressed, but seeing how easily something can spiral out of control as well.What I enjoyed about this book is not only the characters and situations, but the realistic relationships, especially between Joanna and her mother, as well as with her daughter, Jenny. We and Joanna get to see a surprisingly different side to Eleanor. This is as much a police procedural as it is a mystery. Solving the first murder is somewhat of a let down. I found it easy to guess who it was and the resolution wasn’t especially satisfying. The last arrest made though, will have the reader smiling.Read from a library book after being lucky enough to get an ARC of Remains of Innocence. I liked that book so much that I’ve now read all 15 prior books in less than 4 weeks. I highly recommend the series.
    • 4/5
      The Joanna Brady novels, set in the Bisbee AZ area, are my favorite J.A. Jance series. Judgment Call has a different audio narrator, and I found that her clipped delivery made the lead character seem more hard boiled than before.