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Damage Control (Joanna Brady Mysteries, Book 13)
By J. A. Jance
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Customer Reviews

Frustrating read!
Warning: spoilers

Now, I love Joanna Brady. I love the series so much I drove hours from Tucson TWICE to visit Bisbee. But this book was a frustrating read. I kept waiting for the main story line to begin, only instead of a main story line, it was a series of fragmented stories. No mention of the beauty of the desert in Cochise County, no mention that Butch is apparently set for life after selling his restaurant in Glendale, or that Joanna inherited $300K in insurance money after her first husband was murdered, no mention of lots of details that were established in earlier books. I find that insulting. And how did Jenny get Kiddo her horse to Cassie’s place? Off the highways, it’s all mountain and steep gorges ’round those parts.

What else? Oh yes: a 4 month old does not get bottles at night any longer. Especially if the 4 month is started on solid food. Joanna and Butch and baby should be sleeping more during the night. And Joanna doesn’t spend nearly as much time as she should with her baby. She has deputies! I’m a working mother too, but the descriptions of Joanna’s days without meals or sleep are ridiculous. Why does she have to come off as a superwoman or martyr? It’s the worst portrayal, in my opinion, of Joanna since “Partners in Crime” (one case with JP and she’s ready to abandon Butch?).

The opening chapter set such a tone of terror but its denouement (for this strand of the story) was so unsatisfactory, I wanted to throw the book in disgust.

And how did Larry Wolfe manage to drive from Cochise County to Hudspeth County Texas in something like 2 hours? Just to drive from Gallup NM to Albuquerque takes on the order of 4 hrs, and that’s only half across NM.

Joanna’s stepfather just ups and quits on her right after Frank Montoya tells her he’s in for Chief of Sierra Vista- and she’s down a deputy due to the death of the rookie! What will she do, hire Dick Voland back to be Chief Deputy? I don’t think so. The entire shtick with Eleanor made zero sense (when did Eleanor ever?), but to wrap it up with George quitting and Eleanor and George motoring off, towing a Mazda Miata to Minnesota (at $4.50 a gal for gas) made me wonder if Jance is losing her zest for Joanna. She’s long said that JP Beaumont is her favorite creation and that’s fine. But if she’s going to dilute the Joanna Brady series by writing this kind of loose pablum she’s going to loose a significant fan base, the one that doesn’t like her 3 other series.

Maybe that’s what happens when authors leave too much time elapse between books in a series. The Joanna Brady series is one of my favorites. Let’s hope for better in the next installment and hopefully, that will come soon.

Damage Control
Excellent book. I have read it and passed it on to my friend to read.

A week at the sheriff’s office
I did not like this novel as well as the previous novels in the series. It starts out a bit slow, and wanders between various cases and Sheriff Brady’s personal like. About halfway through, it picks up a bit as activities concentrate more on two main cases. You learn a little more about Brady’s family.

It’s an OK read, and recommended if you are following the characters.