Cochise County Sheriff Joanna Brady returns in the long-running police procedural series set in Arizona. When she took on the role left vacant by her husband’s death, Joanna had a little girl. Now, in the wintry nineteenth book, MISSING AND ENDANGERED, she has a spouse and two more young children. Her eldest girl, Jenny, is attending Northern Arizona University at snow-covered Flagstaff. Jenny plays a central role, but first, there’s bad news for the entire Sheriff’s Department. 

Unexpectedly an officer was involved in a shooting when called to the scene of domestic violence. Armando Ruiz was threatened by a man waving a handgun, who fired at him and the man’s terrified wife. Armando returned fire and downed the shooter but took one bullet in the process. He is rushed to the emergency room in Tucson, then to surgery. Joanna gets the job of breaking the news to the officer’s wife. She can’t investigate the case because an incident squad has to come from outside, but from what she can tell, the feuding couple were frequently at odds and their two small children have been neglected. Eventually, grounds to suspect a setup emerge.

Meanwhile, her daughter Jenny’s college roommate Beth Rankin has been invited to the Brady home for Christmas. Beth is having a difficult time as she has met a man online who wants to be her boyfriend but doesn’t like her having other pals. The level of naiveite is unlikely for someone of Beth’s age but her family doesn’t have TV or internet - this thread is a good way to communicate to teens how problems can arise.

Parenting is a major theme of this novel, perhaps hammered home too much. I like a more subtle approach, but it does seem that law enforcement encounters the worst and most blatant cases of any kind. We also observe some other law enforcement agencies in the area, animal control, and child protective services. So it’s quite a rounded look at the scale of interacting policing in Arizona. 

The Joanna Brady crime series emphasises the heroine’s humanity by showing her growing and loving family. In MISSING AND ENDANGERED, Christmas preparations are underway, and Joanna’s husband Butch Dixon is making every effort to give the children and his stressed wife a good time. J.A. Jance shows what consistent backup is needed for an officer to work full-time, be they male or female. Long may Sheriff Joanna Brady serve.