Excerpt from Downfall

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme. Read the rules and more teasers at The Purple Booker. Anyone can play along.

Gluten-Free Murder is now available for preorder. Going live this Friday!

This week’s teaser is from Downfall: A Brady Novel of Suspense by J.A. Jance. I haven’t read any of the other books in this series, but I certainly wouldn’t hesitate. There are a lot of references to Sheriff Brady’s previous cases and experiences in Downfall, and it sounds like she’s had an exciting career. Downfall had lots of suspense, police procedure, and family relationships. A well-rounded story. I did figure out the villain before the reveal, but I still enjoyed waiting to see how Joanna Brady and her department would sort it out.

…the disappointment registered on Denny’s face represented every working mother’s all-too-familiar tug-of-war.

“Finish your dinner, Denny, and get your jammies on,” Joanna suggested. “Maybe I’ll have time enough to read some Dr. Seuss to you before Chief Deputy Hadlock comes by to pick me up.”

Susan Wiggs, Family Tree

Arizona sheriff Joanna Brady returns in this outstanding new mystery set in the beautiful desert country of the Southwest.

With a baby on the way, sudden deaths in the family from which to recover, a re-election campaign looming, and a daughter heading off for college, Cochise County Sheriff Joanna Brady has her hands full when a puzzling new case hits her department, demanding every resource she has at her disposal.

Two women have fallen to their deaths from a small nearby peak, referred to by Bisbee locals as Geronimo. What’s the connection between these two women? Is this a case of murder/suicide or is it a double homicide? And if someone else is responsible, is it possible that the perpetrator may, even now, be on the hunt for another victim?