Paradise Lost by J.A. Jance [review 2]
Joanna Brady Mystery, #9
William Morrow - August 7, 2001
ISBN: 038097729x - Hardcover
Police Procedural

Reviewed by Susan Johnson, MyShelf.com
Amazon

Joanna Brady is a very busy woman .Not only is she doing her job as the Sheriff of Cochise County, Arizona, but she is also busy being the mother of thirteen-year-old Jennifer Brady and the newlywed wife of Butch, an aspiring writer. This would be a full plate for anyone. Add to this the possibility of running for reelection, and you have one frantic woman.

When her daughter, Jennifer, goes on a Girl Scout camping trip, the troubled girl paired with Jennifer uses peer pressure to talk her in to slipping out to smoke. The pair stumble on the dead body of a nude woman, and at that point, things become even more hectic.

Joanna has enough to worry about regarding how this will affect Jennifer, but soon her worry turns to terror when the troubled teen is missing. It appears that the killer thinks the two girls have witnessed more than they actually did.

Suspense mounts with every turn of the page and the reader is swept along at a runaway speed. JA Jance does a wonderful job of describing the beautiful, desolate countryside of Arizona. The picture she paints of the complexities of one woman playing multiple roles as Sheriff, mother and wife is very true to life. I am very eager to read her next book.

Reviews of other titles in this series

Paradise Lost #1 [review 1] [review 2]
Tombstone Courage #2
Dead to Rights #3
Exit Wounds #11
Dead Wrong #12
Damage Control #13
Fire and Ice #14 [JP Beaumont series #19]