In the deserts of Cochise County, high school principal
Debra Highsmith is found brutally murdered. As Sheriff
Joanna Brady digs into the victim's life, she learns that
Debra Highsmith isn't exactly who she claimed to be. To add
to Sheriff Brady's already full case load, new information
comes to light on a case her father was working on before
his death, a case that might have gotten him killed. Joanna
digs into the secrets of the past, exposing the darkest
corners of family secrets.
JUDGMENT CALL is the fifteenth book in the Joanna Brady
suspense series. Joanna has gone through a wonderful
transformation as her character continues to grow and
change with the years and the cast of characters that
surround her continue to grow with her. There's no sense of
stagnation or feeling that the characters are just there as
props. They are all rounded characters who add depth to the
story, but they're never a distraction from the main
character Sheriff Brady.
The charm of this book lies in the juggling of these
connections. Joanna is a mother, a wife, a sheriff, a
daughter, and more. All the roles she must fill are explored
and teased out which makes Joanna an amazingly human and
likeable character. Often in the mystery genre, especially
police procedeurals, the detective is completely consumed by
his or her work. The case haunts them, it eats away at their
sleep until they've no choice but to solve the mystery. I
loved that Joanna isn't one of those characters. The crime
and getting justice for the victim and the family is just as
important to her as those other more narrowly focused
characters, but she is a character who has come to realize
that her family and her life outside of her work is equally
important. She's more relatable this way and more interesting.
I love how the plot reflects these differing aspects of one
person's identity. Debra, the victim, was a principal, she
was a friend, she was an annoyance, she was a mystery. As
Joanna digs into her life, the reader gets to see all these
sides of Debra until the entire picture of her is exposed.
Every character in the novel has hidden depths that are
explored which tie this story together nicely.
If you haven't read any J.A. Jance novels, I highly
recommend them. There's a bit more explanation of past
connections in the beginning that I tended to skip, but
it's also helpful to newcomers to the series. You can pick
up any book in this series (or her others which are also
great reads) and not feel lost or overwhelmed by all the
names thrown at you. JUDGMENT CALL is intriguing, well-
rounded, and worth reading.
New York Times bestselling author J. A. Jance brings back
acclaimed sheriff Joanna Brady in an exciting and twisting
mystery set against the beauty and isolation of the Arizona
desert
Judgment Call
When Joanna Brady's daughter, Jenny, stumbles across the
body of her high school principal, Debra Highsmith, in the
desert, 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. While investigating murders has always meant
discovering unpleasant facts and disquieting truths, the
experienced 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 grown-up 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.
The gruesome picture is just the tip of the iceberg. Even a
small, close-knit town like Bisbee has its secrets.
Navigating her way through the unfamiliar world of social
media, Joanna discovers shocking—and
incriminating—information. The details build, from a
hushed-up suspension, to a group of teenagers with a grudge
against the late Ms. Highsmith, to a hateful video calling
for the principal's death. The video evidence points to one
particular privileged boy, who's already lawyered up thanks
to his father, a well-to-do doctor determined to protect his
son's reputation. Yet the deeper Joanna digs, the more
complications she uncovers. It seems the quiet, upstanding
principal had a hidden past, full of mysterious secrets
she'd successfully kept buried for years.
As the seasoned sheriff juggles professional constraints and
personal demands—budget cuts, new team members, an arrogant
coroner, a confused teenager, a precocious toddler, and a
high-maintenance mother—she finds herself walking a fine
line between justice and family that has never been so blurred.
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