Tombstone Courage

May 30, 1994
Introduced in Desert Heat , a paperback original, young Joanna Brady is a no-nonsense widow running for sheriff in the new wild West. In the gritty mining and ranching community of Bisbee, Ariz., Joanna hopes to take over the office held by her husband when he was killed by a drug dealer's hit man six weeks before. Holly Patterson, a tormented substance abuser, has returned with her lawyer and hypnotherapist to file an unsavory personal injury suit against her feisty, octogenarian father, Harold. Though he appears to be a decent man, Harold clearly has a secret, but it may not be the one Holly is suggesting. As Joanna faces a tough, and sexist, election campaign, she must also come to terms with her widowhood, her overbearing mother and the complicated reactions of her now fatherless nine-year-old daughter. Jance, who also writes the J. P. Beaumont mysteries, maintains generally deft control of her touchy, trendy material. While some of the cast seem stock and the ending is somewhat overwrought, Joanna is engaging and credible, and the novel's pace is unflagging.

Hillary Huber warmly delivers the story of Joanna Brady's election as the first woman sheriff in Arizona. When Brady's husband, formerly the leading candidate, is murdered by Colombian drug lords, she decides she must run herself. But once she's elected, complications ensue: Her 9-year-old daughter is not thrilled with her new job, AND she must immediately solve two murders, one decades old and one recent. The story also involves family secrets, abuse, and greed. Huber's narration is so well done that she nearly disappears, leaving listeners totally involved in the mystery. She easily distinguishes the multigenerational characters. Both performance and story are thoroughly satisfying. S.C.A. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine