Judgment Call audiobook

Joanna Brady's daughter Jenny discovers the body of her high-school principal in the desert, and Joanna finds out that Jenny may know more about this than she should. Joanna has to plumb the depths of Social Media to solve this crime.Ok, despite being only a few years old, this book is severely dated with the whole Social Media thing. Seriously, what parent of a teenage, AND law enforcement officer, doesn't know about Facebook at the very least? So the ridiculousness of this made it a little hard to enjoy the book, lol. However, the plot itself was good, the characters were engaging, the students portrayed in the book were well-written. The book was very readable and had some nice twists. And to be fair, the out of date tech references were unintentionally very funny!!

Judgment Call by J.A. Lance is the 15th book featuring sheriff Joanna Brady. Joanna Brady's daughter, Jenny comes across the body of her high school principal Debra Highsmith who has been shot dead. This is the first book that I have read by this author and did not realise that it was well into the series. I enjoyed it very much and it did not take long to become acquainted with the characters. I liked the way that the sheriff dealt with her family complications. Overall a solid mystery and investigation making me want to start from the beginning of the series and catch up.

When Jenny found her high school principal’s bullet ridden body lying on the horse trail; she called her mom Sheriff Joanna Brady. The case was baffling because Sheriff Brady just couldn’t come up with a motive but once she learned that the principal was living under a false identity, she knew that the first step in solving the crime would be learning the identity of the victim. Judgment Call was a terrific read! Never was there a lull and it was exhilarating until the end. Hillary Huber was rightly chosen to be the voice of the characters as she understood each of them well and knew when and when not and how much emotion to interject. Judgment Call was like sitting in a theatre watching a play because the characters were as large as life!

The latest Joanna Brady story and it was good. In this one you learn some of the back story about Joanna and her family and long unsolved crimes are taken care of!!!!

Every once in awhile I decide to read a J.A. Jance mystery because most of her mysteries are set where I live, Cochise County Arizona. I haven't liked all of the Joanna Brady series--sometimes the books focus too much on her domestic affairs--but I definitely enjoyed this one. First, the mystery is very good. Who killed Debra Highsmith, Bisbee High School's principal? The murder occurs right at the beginning of the book, the killing is particularly mean. What did Debra do to deserve to be shot in the desert, left to die? Brady, who is Sheriff of Cochise County, is called in by none other than her teenaged daughter, who comes across the body while she is out riding. Said daughter takes a photo of the body and posts it on social media! Right away, we have modern life intruding on standard police procedure. Later, it emerges that Debra was being trolled by an angry student on social media, her photo published with "Die Bitch" as a banner. Social media plays a large part in this book, as it seems to be doing in so many mysteries I have read lately. Living in Cochise, I could easily picture the area where the murder took place and Bisbee, the town where the rest of the action occurs, is a favorite hangout of mine. Jance does a very good job of describing Bisbee although I do think she ought to have used Bisbee Coffee Co.'s cafe . . . great place for breakfast! I haven't lived in Cochise County long enough, however, to fully understand the role that the copper mine played in Bisbee's history; it was interesting to read one of the side stories and understand what made Bisbee the quirky, slightly shabby, town that it is.I enjoyed how Jance was able to describe so much about the characters, their lives, their foibles, events like a local Plein Air course (quite familiar with those in the Southwest), without taking away from the investigation, from the mystery. I wondered, when we discovered the way that the murderer scoped out his prey, whether she was a little too far fetched. But maybe that's wishful thinking--I sure hope no one in MY past is tracking me this way! Because social media IS becoming a mainstay in mystery novels, Jance might want to vet her book for whether she is "using" it correctly. People post on Twitter, they don't really use it for text messaging. I don't know of any teen that would let a nosy aunt take over their Facebook account. Small details, things that people who are savvy about social media, (not that I count myself among them, reference whether I believe the murderer's stalking) will notice.Still in my opinion, it was a satisfying, if long (426 pages in paperback), read. There was a twist at about page 350, just when you think the mystery part of the book is done. That was strange--who suddenly introduces a mystery at the END of a book? Especially when it wasn't a cliffhanger. After taking 350 pages to solve the main mystery, this second one is cleared up in 76 pages. Odd.

Another good one in the series. I have to say that I actually liked that they took a break from having so much happening in one novel. Usually I have to pay attention to who is working what case or the names for each case. This one wasn't that bad. It had more than one thing going on, but I never got confused. I was a little surprised that her dad's death was a story-line. I guess I missed those clues in earlier books that it would come up? Any-who, almost caught up with Joanna Brady's books and that makes me a little sad!

The best part of this installment was the fact that Jenny was shown to be a teenager. She makes a big mistake that could cost her mother, and that could hurt others. But she did so out of ignorance and immaturity. I liked this because I like characters to be real and flawed. Too often children and teens are portrayed too young or too old. This was a really nice detail.

One of my favorite authors when I need a quick read mystery. Jance never fails to disappoint. Of the 4 different characters she writes about, Joanna Brady seems to be my favorite. By turns she has been married, widowed, a single mom, and remarried with another child. Along the way she has to walk a fine life between personal and professional life.

One of my favorite series by J.A. Jance. In this book, the main mystery wraps up a little early and then some time is spent learning more about the death of Joanna's father.

Book on tapeJenny found a body while riding. It was the principle at her high school. Sheriff Brady was on the case early!

Great read :) could not wait to get home from work to finish it !!