Judgment Call: A Brady Novel of Suspense (Joanna Brady Mysteries, 15)

High School principal Debra Highsmith is gruesomely murdered and her body is discovered by Jenny Brady, daughter of Cochise County Sheriff Joanna Brady. Jenny does a big no-no - she takes a photo of the corpse and sends it to a friend - and before you can blink the picture's all over the internet, along with nasty comments. Seems Ms. Highsmith was not popular among the high school crowd and some students seem to be likely suspects. However, while looking for next of kin Sheriff Brady discovers that Ms. Highsmith was a mysterious person with an unknown past, and the investigation widens. As usual, nosy, interfering reporter Marliss Shackleford is making trouble; this time she's illicitly using social media to get news tips she shouldn't have. Meanwhile, Joanna's critical, difficult mother, Eleanor Lathrop Winfield, is involved with an art auction where another murder occurs. Are the murders connected? Joanna and detective colleagues investigate the crimes and find the culprit, whose motive seems a little far-fetched but believable enough. (After all, there are a lot of nuts out there.) In a side story, Sheriff Joanna Brady re-examines the death of her father, also a sheriff, many years before. What was thought to be an accident caused by a drunk driver may have been murder. To me, this tangential story seemed unnecessary and could have been left out. All in all an okay mystery book.

"Judgment Call" weaves two incidents from the past into a tragic present, and resolves two long-ago accidental deaths that may not have been accidents after all. The characters, for the most part, are believable and Sheriff Joanna Brady acts like a proper competent sheriff: she gets the job done with patience, intelligence, and attention to procedure and detail, rather than the macho guns blazing and improbable fistfighting approach so beloved of the manly hero genre. Way too much mystery fiction relies on dumb overused gimmicks like witnesses who refuse to talk, when in reality most people can't be shut up, and silly contrivances like cell phones going dead or other contrived interruptions at crucial moments. "Judgment Call" doesn't commit any of those errors.

Where it falls down is the writing style. The first half of the book is a bit bumpy. When characters are introduced they get a rushed backstory, and then back to current events; there is too much telling and not enough storytelling. There is little physical description of any of the characters. The main villain is rather cartoonish, and the technical basis of his obsession is howlingly wrong. Minor factual flubs are no big deal, but this a key plot point.

The best parts are the relationships between Joanna's friends and family, how they grow and evolve, and how they resolve old conflicts. For the most part they behave like actual adult people, rather than devices to move some improbable plot forward. I get very tired of characters who are forever butting heads and never progress in their relationships, never evolve, and never work anything out, which is a flaw in a lot of mystery fiction. It's a cheap and easy way to gin up conflict, and I like that Jance doesn't do this, but rather gives us a good story. The second part of the book flows better and knits the multiple storylines together nicely.

(***Spoiler alert: face recognition technology isn't going to work reliably from an old photograph.***)

Well written, as Jance always does. A great book.

Jance's storytelling is superb! She weaves in bits and pieces of past stories, but even if this was the first of her books you read - you're not totally lost with characters and stories from past books. I can't get enough of her books.

Always enjoy her books.

Fantastic book. I love the series.

This is a nice series from this author. I wasnt into this book as much as I expected. Too many characters, convoluted plot. Enjoyed, but not her best.

J.A. Jance definitely holds your attention when she writes. This book was with Sheriff Joann Brady and the interesting mishaps that happen in her county. Always a surprise at the end!

Ms Jance grabs you at the start, you form your own solutions but she always beats you with the ending. One of my favorite authors for a good read. Try her and you won't be disappointed.

Love J A Jance.....have read many of her books and always enjoyed them . I used to live in Seattle, so I enjoy the Beaumont series . Keep 'em coming J A !!