From Publishers Weekly
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.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
YA?When Joanna Brady's husband, a leading candidate for sheriff of Cochise County, Arizona, is gunned down by Colombian drug dealers, she decides to run for the office herself. The story of her election, her relationship with her nine-year-old daughter, and two murders (one decades old and one recent) form the basis of this cracker-jack mystery. The book has a strong female protagonist and explores issues such as child abuse and hidden memories. Will Joanna win the post and the respect of her fellow (male) police officers? Will she be able to reassure her frightened daughter? And will she solve the murders? All these questions are answered in Jance's thoroughly satisfying novel.?Susan B. McFaden, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.