Synopsis
“A pretty, popular teenager never returned from her secret tryst in Skeleton Canyon. Perhaps it was youthful rage or savage passion that ripped the life from a child of privilege and abandoned her broken body to the cold Arizona night. Or maybe she stumbled onto something terrible, something too dangerous to know. Now dark secrets about a future hideously destroyed are pulling Sheriff Joanna Brady of Cochise County into a lethal nest of lies and greed, hidden in a desolate corner of the Southwestern Desert – where the next blood that feeds the parched earth could be her own.”
-Synopsis from back cover
Review
Skeleton Canyon (Joanna Brady #5) by J.A. Jance is easily going to be one of my favorite books in this series. I say that about all of them, but this time I mean it 🙂 Joanna is such an incredible lead and her wit and talents are on full display in this story. It begins with Joanna taking her daughter, Jenny, to summer camp and lamenting on the fact that with Jenny gone for two weeks it will be the first time since her husband Andy died that Joanna will be alone at the house. Joanna has to conceal her true feelings so as not to dampen Jenny’s excitement at going to camp, making the drop-off bittersweet.
There are several plotlines in this story but what I liked most was the involvement of Joanna’s good friend, Angie Kellogg. Angie has her own mini-adventure out in the desert which goes terribly wrong and results in Angie going missing. This happens at the same time the investigation into Brianna O’Brien’s death ramps up, and Joanna feels guilty for possibly contributing to Angie being in an unsafe environment, resulting in her becoming lost in the desert.
Amidst all of that, it is the dead of summer in Arizona which means monsoon season is in full swing. As Joanna informs her coworker, who is from the Midwest, that monsoons in Arizona are serious and bring life-threatening flash floods with them. The saying “turn around, don’t drown” crops up in the story which is widely used in Arizona to discourage drivers from driving into flooded roads that appear shallow enough to get through but in fact are not.
“She put down the phone and looked outside just as a storm-spawned dust devil tore through the parking lot. Wind-drive rain came moments later, slanting down to the ground with such ferocity that for a few minutes even Joanna’s Crown Victoria, parked right outside the window, was totally obscured from view.
Ernie was right. If the storm lasted for very long, it would indeed be another gully-washer. All her life, Joanna had delighted in these spectacular downpours. But as sheriff, she couldn’t help seeing them through the nagging prism of her fiscal and budgetary responsibilities. What had once been a welcome summertime diversion now meant nothing more than another hit in the overtime department.”
from Skeleton Canyon by J.A. Jance
I always love when weather plays a role in a story. J.A. Jance again does an amazing job of capturing what it feels like to be in Arizona, particularly in the summer.
“For weeks now, clouds had drifted up from the south each afternoon, bringing with them the tantalizing promise of much-needed rain. By morning they would retreat back into the interior of Mexico without leaving behind a trace of moisture. This time, though, the clouds were still there, billowing up in tall, puffy columns above the far horizon. From miles away across the thirsty desert came the welcome scent of an approaching storm.
from Skeleton Canyon by J.A. Jance
Of course, there is plenty more to love besides the rich setting descriptions. Joanna comes toe-to-toe with a self-described bigot, a police officer accused of brutality against migrants, and a private investigator hot on her trail, hired by the victim’s father who doesn’t trust Joanna to find his daughter’s killer. Butch makes an appearance (I am starting to love seeing his character pop up) and we get another full circle ending with Joanna and Jenny. The more I read contemporary novels with vague open-ended endings, the more I appreciate the artful storytelling style of J.A. Jance who is truly masterful at what she does.
This was another great addition to the series, and I’m now one step closer to the crossover book with Joanna Brady and J.P. Beaumont which I cannot wait to read.
Hannah's Library 