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Saturday, April 24, 2021

Book Review of The Ali Reynolds Series by J. A. Jance

The Ali Reynolds Series by J. A. Jance book covers

Author J. A. (Judith) Jance is the best-selling author of 3 mystery series and four inter-related thrillers featuring the Walker family.

This review is about her Ali Reynolds series.

Characters

Ali Reynolds – Main Character

Ali Reynolds is the main character is this series of suspense stories. Once a well-known TV News Anchor in L.A., Ali returns to her hometown of Sedona, Arizona after her career and her marriage come to sudden ends.

Bob and Edie Larson – Ali's Parents

Ali grew up in Sedona where her parents run the Sugarloaf Cafe, a restaurant started years ago by her grandmother and later inherited and run by her parents and her mother's twin sister.

Ali's parents and the Sugarloaf Cafe play a large part in each book in the series. Some special culinary delights of the Sugarloaf Cafe are mentioned throughout this series of books. Interested readers may want to check out the 'Sugarloaf Cafe' section on the J.A. Jance author website for fun background stories and recipes.

Christopher

Ali has a grown son, Chris, who is just finishing college as the series begins. Chris, who had been living in California with his mother, eventually also returns to Sedona and takes a job at the local high school as a teacher. He is also a metal artist. As the series progresses, Chris meets a fellow teacher, Althena, falls in love and gets married. Thus, Althena then also becomes a regular character in the series.

Other Regular Characters

Leland Brooks – an English Butler who is introduced early in the series and becomes an integral part of each subsequent story. Aged, but entirely capable, Mr. Brooks becomes Ali's personal assistant when she takes over the house where he worked as a butler to a wealthy lady and her daughter for many years.

Dave Holman – A good friend of Ali's who works for the local Sheriff's Department.

Sister Anselm. A Sisters of Providence Catholic Nun who works as a patient advocate for severely injured or ill patients who arrive unidentified and/or are non-English speaking. Sister Anselm speaks a number of languages and helps translate needed information between patient and hospital personnel. She also helps locate the patient's relatives. Sister Anselm is introduced several books into the series and quickly becomes a good friend to Ali. Thereafter, she becomes another regular character in subsequent Ali Reynolds books.

Bishop Francis Gillespie. Sister Anselm's superior. Introduced to the series in the same book as Sister Anselm, he becomes another favorite character in the series.

Bartholomew Simpson – Computer Expert

B. Simpson, known simply as B. due to the unfortunate connotation related to his name matching that of a cartoon character (Bart Simpson), is an expert computer programmer (and sometimes Hacker) who owns and runs a successful cyber-security company called High Noon Enterprises in Sedona. When Ali needs help in one of her investigations, B. comes to her aid with his computer skills. As the series progresses, B. eventually becomes much more than just a friend. B's computer skills also often help solve crimes Ali becomes involved in.

Other characters who start out in the early books in minor roles ,and soon become regular characters in subsequent books, include computer experts Stu Ramsey and Cami Lee of B's company High Noon Enterprises.

Summary

Edge of Evil - Book 1

In the first book in the series “Edge of Evil“ Ali finds herself caught up in an investigation into the death of her best friend. While evidence appears to point to the death being a suicide, Ali discovers that her friend was actually murdered. By the time Ali figures out who the murderer was, she is almost murdered herself.

The subsequent books in the series feature a continuing story. Each book can be read as a 'stand alone' novel, but be forewarned that references in each book refer back to past stories. Thus, it is best to begin with Book One and read forward to understand who all the characters are and how they interact. Besides, the characters are as interesting as the stories themselves.

The Ali Reynolds Books in Order

Ali Reynolds Books

Ali (Alison) Reynolds, a 40-something newscaster fired for aging by a Los Angeles TV network, who returns to her hometown of Sedona, Arizona, and takes up blogging (and subsequent crime solving):

Edge of Evil (2006)
Web of Evil (2007)
Hand of Evil (2007)
Cruel Intent (2008)
Trial by Fire (2009)
Fatal Error (2001)
Left for Dead (2012)
Deadly Stakes (2013)
Moving Target (2014)
Cold Betrayal (2015)
Claw Back (2016)
Man Overboard (2017)
Duel to the Death (2018)
The A List (2019)
Credible Threat (2020)

Ali Reynolds Book #16

NOTE: Ali Reynolds Book #16 – due out June 1, 2021

I highly recommend this Ali Reynolds series, and any and all of the books by J.A. (Judith) Jance to mystery readers everywhere. Especially for those who enjoy having a woman as the main character.

Saturday, October 28, 2023

Book Review: Blessings of the Lost Girls by J.A. Jance

A Brady and Walker Family Novel

Fans of author Judith (J.A.) Jance love her three popular series, one starring Joanna Brady, another J.P. Beaumont and the series with Ali Reynolds. She also wrote a short series (5 books) about the Walker Family featuring Native Americans from the Tohono O’Odham reservation in Arizona.

In this review of her latest book, Blessings of the Lost Girls, Jance combines members of the Walker Family and characters from the Joanna Brady series in an exciting adventure that includes Joanna's daughter Jenny and Brandon Walker's son-in-law, Dan Pardee.

Synopsis of Blessings of the Lost Girls

The story begins with a background of the serial killer who is the villain in the novel.

Then we are introduced to Danial Pardee, a former member of the Shadow Wolves Border Patrol, who patrol the U.S./Mexico border along the Tohono O’Odham Nation Reservation in Arizona. Now he is a field officer in the newly formed MIP agency (Missing and Murdered Indigenous People), an agency under the Department of Interior. The main purpose of MIP is to investigate and put right how law enforcement agencies all over the country had dealt with both solved and unsolved cases involving the deaths and disappearances of Native American victims.

A body is found in the desert on a ranch near Tucson consisting of nothing but burned bones. It took nearly 3 years, but the bones are finally identified as those of Rosa Rios, a young woman of Apache descent who was a one-time rodeo star. Dan is called to investigate, as the victim was found in his territory. As it turns out, all reports each MIP investigator files are automatically shared with other MIP field agents, which soon leads to other agents contacting Dan with reports of similar cases involving young women of indigenous descent, each of whom had some connection to rodeos. Soon, the agency realizes that Rosa's death is connected to a serial killer.

Dan contacts Joanna Brady, Sheriff of Cochise County, Arizona where Rosa's body was found. Later, Joanna's daughter Jenny, currently a criminal justice major at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, becomes involved in the case due to having once met Rosa at a rodeo.

Turns out, Jenny knows another girl who was once attacked at a rodeo by a man who matches the description of the killer they are looking for. And this girl happens to have saved a pair of eyeglasses which were knocked off the man during the attack. The girl never reported the attack at the time because her Morman family would not have approved of the boy she was dating, but finally agrees to turn in the glasses, from which fingerprints are obtained.

Summary

Between Dan, Joanna and Jenny, and Dan's best friend, Brian Fellows, Sheriff of Pina County in Tucson, a case is put together and the serial killer is tracked down.

*Special Note: Throughout the novel, the author weaves in a few fascinating ancient legends from the (Papago) Tohono O’Odham (Desert People) where the basis of the story begins. The legends, plus the excellent writing of J.A. Jance, makes Blessings of the Lost Girls a very special story indeed. I highly recommend it.

Blessings of the Lost Girls, Book 20 of 20 in the Joanna Brady mystery series, is available in several formats on Amazon

Saturday, July 9, 2022

Nothing to Lose by J.A. Jance - Book Review

Bestselling author J.A. Jance has written four different series in the Mystery genre. Her Joanna Brady Mysteries and the Ali Reynolds Novels have both been previously reviewed here on ReviewThisReviews!

The third series is the J.P. Beaumont Novels. My review today is of the newest Beaumont suspense novel titled Nothing to Lose.

Synopsis

Years ago, J.P. Beaumont was a homicide detective with the Seattle PD. His partner, Sue Danielson, was murdered by her ex-husband when he came after her in her home. Terrified, Sue's teenage son frantically called Beaumont for help. Beau urged Jared to grab his younger brother and leave the house. As a result, Beau's plea and Jared's quick action saved the two boys from their father's murderous rage.

Twenty years later, Jared reappears in Beau's life seeking help again. His younger brother, Chris, is missing. Beau, who is now a retired cop working as a private investigator, and still haunted by the events of that tragic night, doesn't hesitate to take the case.

Beaumont follows a lead to the wilds of wintertime Alaska where he finds a tangled web of family secrets and where a killer with nothing to lose is waiting to kill again.

Summary

The entire J.P. Beaumont Mystery series by J.A. Jance is excellent, as are all her books. I am a huge fan of her writings. The Beaumont series is a continuing one, but each story in the series can stand alone as well. Therefore, you do not need to begin with Book #1 to enjoy the story in Nothing to Lose. But, that said, I do highly recommend reading the entire series in order to follow the adventures of Beau from the first book to this latest one.

Book review of Nothing to Lose by J.A. (Judith Ann) Jance

by Wednesday Elf

This book (Number 23 of 23 in the J.P. Beaumont series) is an Amazon Editor's pick for Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense:

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Tuesday, May 25, 2021

The Joanna Brady Mystery Series – Book Reviews.

The Joanna Brady Mystery Series book cover

The Brady Novel of Suspense series is written by J.A. Jance, the New York Times bestselling author of the J.P. Beaumont series and the Ali Reynolds series, plus five interrelated thrillers about the Walker Family.

The Joanna Brady series are filled with beloved characters, small-town charm, vivid history, intriguing mystery, all with the scenic Arizona desert as a backdrop.
~ Quote from the book jacket of Book #18 'Field of Bones'

Joanna Brady (main character)

Desert Heat - Book 1 in the Joanna Brady Series

When the series begins in “Desert Heat”, Joanna is a young widow with a 9-year-old daughter (Jenny). Her husband Andy, a police detective in Bisbee, Arizona, was running for sheriff when he was killed by a hit man sent by the Mexican Drug Cartel he had been investigating. Encouraged to run for the office in his place, Joanna, who is also the daughter of a former Bisbee Sheriff, may have originally been elected on a sympathy vote, but she goes on to prove herself as a boots-on-the ground law enforcement officer.

Cochise County in SE Arizona is 80 x 80 miles square with the southernmost county line the international border with Mexico and the eastern country line the state line with New Mexico. The stories in this series of books take place in and around the town of Bisbee, AZ and throughout the 6400 square miles of the sheriff's office domain. As you can imagine, this large of a territory to police produces a wide variety of crimes which often have to be investigated under extreme conditions of difficult 4-wheel drive locations and desert weather.

Each book begins with a Prologue which sets the scene for the storyline and introduces you to one or more of the characters. Sometimes the character is a victim; sometimes it's the protagonist whose identity we learn as the story progresses.

Another interesting thing about this continuing series is quite often when a new character is introduced in one book, we find that character appearing in subsequent books. We meet the character in one book and when they appear in later books, the author gives a brief summary of who they are as a reminder to the reader. It is a great way to keep track of who they are and what parts they played. From book to book, the characters all become very familiar to the reader. It also becomes a good way to know what happened to that character we first met, and what they are doing now.

*Note: It's rather like your new neighbors who just moved to town. They are strangers at first, but after awhile they become familiar friends.

The storylines in the Joanna Brady series may have murder and mayhem, but they are also filled with family life, interactions with friends and neighbors, introductions to new babies and the latest dog or cat or horse. After all, the sheriff, the deputies and detectives and support staff of the Cochise County Sheriff's Department are also people with family lives that exist outside of work. The stories also give fascinating descriptions to the countryside of southeastern Arizona filled with both desert and mountain areas complete with the sizzling heat of desert summers and the cold of mountain winters.

Summary

If you enjoy novels of suspense with a good story-line which also gives you the back-story of the interesting characters, you will enjoy this Joanna Brady book series.

Book #19 in the Joanna Brady Novels of Suspense

List of Joanna Brady Books:

Joanna Brady, a deputy sheriff's widow, daughter of a former town sheriff, and now elected sheriff in Cochise County, Arizona.

Desert Heat(1993)
Tombstone Courage (1994)
Shoot, Don't Shoot (1995)
Dead to Rights (1996)
Skeleton Canyon (1997)
Rattlesnake Crossing (1998)
Outlaw Mountain (1999)
Devil's Claw (2000)
Paradise Lost (2001)
Partner in Crime (2002)
Exit Wounds (2003)
Dead Wrong (2006)
Damage Control (2008)
Fire and Ice (2009)
Judgment Call (2012)
Remains of Innocence (2014)
Downfall (2016)
Field of Bones (2018)
Missing and Endangered (2021)

*Reviewer's Note: Author J.A. (Judith) Jance grew up in Bisbee, Arizona, a small copper mining town in SE Arizona. I find it interesting that she bases her stories in a real town. one she is so familiar with, and includes real location descriptions. It makes the fiction stories appear very real as if they are happening right now, along with giving you a bit of history of the town and the area. It's a history lesson, a murder mystery, and a suspenseful story, all with interesting characters who, although fictional, seem like people you have always known.

I highly recommend the 'Brady Novels of Suspense' series by J.A. Jance.