Downfall (Joanna Brady Series #17)

by J. A. Jance

Overview

Arizona sheriff Joanna Brady returns in this outstanding new mystery set in the beautiful desert country of the Southwest.

With a baby on the way, sudden deaths in the family from which to recover, a re-election campaign looming, and a daughter heading off for college, Cochise County Sheriff Joanna Brady has her hands full when a puzzling new case hits her department, demanding every resource she has at her disposal.

Two women have fallen to their deaths from a small nearby peak, referred to by Bisbee locals as Geronimo. What’s the connection between these two women? Is this a case of murder/suicide or is it a double homicide? And if someone else is responsible, is it possible that the perpetrator may, even now, be on the hunt for another victim?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062496645
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	09/06/2016
Series:	Joanna Brady Series , #17
Edition description:	Large Print
Pages:	496
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

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.

Hometown:

Bellevue, Washington

Date of Birth:

October 27, 1944

Place of Birth:

Watertown, South Dakota

Education:

B. A., University of Arizona, 1966; M. Ed. in Library Science, University of Arizona, 1970

Website:

http://www.jajance.com/

Editorial Reviews

07/11/2016
In bestseller Jance’s engrossing 17th novel featuring Cochise County, Ariz., sheriff Joanna Brady (after 2014’s Remains of Innocence), the pregnant Joanna, who’s facing an election campaign and has just lost her mother and stepfather in a road accident, must also cope with the discovery of two women’s bodies at the base of a peak the locals refer to as Geronimo. The victims have no apparent connection to each other and either jumped or were pushed to their deaths. One is immediately identified as Desirée Wilburton, a graduate student who was studying cacti in the area; the other turns out to be teacher Susan Marie Nelson, the wife of a preacher, Drexel Nelson, who displays no grief when Joanna tells him the news of Susan’s death. The pressure on Joanna increases when a domestic assault becomes a murder, and a relentless reporter, Mariss Shackleford, needles local officials, especially Joanna, about the unsolved crimes. The action races to a dramatic confrontation between Joanna and the killer, who has been hiding in plain sight. Agent: Alice Volpe, Northwest Literary Agency. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

04/01/2016
Never mind that she's pregnant, up for reelection, and coping with the murder of her mother and stepfather. Cochise County, AZ, sheriff Joanna Brady must understand what happened to two women who have plunged from a nearby peak known to the locals as Geronimo. A suicide and a murder? Or a double murder, with more victims looming? In July, the publisher will release Random Acts, an e-original novella related to this work. With a 250,000-copy first printing.

Library Journal

Hilary Huber narrates the seventeenth book featuring Arizona sheriff Joanna Brady. Two women are found murdered on a mountainside, and Brady must solve their homicides while arranging the funerals of her mother and stepfather. Huber provides a soothing listen even as the suspense ratchets up. Listeners know they’re in safe hands as she she subtly portrays the characters without being intrusive. It’s possible to listen to this audiobook and enjoy it without having heard others in the series, but details from previous books are revealed, and there is at least an hour after the mystery’s denouement that is all about Joanna and her family. New listeners may want to begin with an earlier book. C.A.T. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

OCTOBER 2016 - AudioFile