Book Talk: J.A. Jance, ‘Tombstone Courage’

J.A. Jance has written dozens of best-sellers. She became famous for her J.P. Beaumont series, a tough male detective. Because her publisher didn’t think that people would believe that she could write a mystery/thriller from a male point of view, she was advised to use her initials, rather than her name. The “J.A.” stuck, and she went on to write about two dozen novels in that series. The bottom line is simply that Ms. Jance is an excellent author of modern fiction.

Now, she has written about 20 novels in her Joanna Brady series. She states, “When I wrote the first Beaumont book, I had no idea I was writing a series. With Joanna Brady, I knew it was a series from the beginning. In the early Eighties I was involved in a political campaign that resulted in a heart-breaking loss. That experience taught me that, in a democracy, no matter how large or small the position, running for office is an exhausting, all-consuming process. As I prepared to write Tombstone Courage, I expected the race for sheriff would take a central role, but I was due for a rude awakening.

After her husband is murdered in “Desert Heat,” Joanna Brady is encouraged to run for sheriff, a position that had been held by her father as well as her husband. When she is elected in Cochise County, she becomes the first female sheriff in Arizona’s history. But that doesn’t make her popular with the officers or staff at the office. That becomes clear when her secretary conveniently “forgets” to inform her of meetings and events that take place in her jurisdiction.