Web of Evil by J.A. Jance

In this second Ali Reynolds book, she is finally getting her divorce from the philandering husband she refers to as Fang. She drives from Arizona to California only to find that her soon to-be-ex missed the meeting. He couldn't quite make because he was murdered the night before by being stuffed into a trunk of a car and left of the railroad track. You can imagine what happened. Ali is the prime suspect since she was alone on her drive which actually passed the crime scene, and since the murder occurred before the divorce, she inherits everything despite the pregnant fiancee in the picture. Ali's mother and police detective friend come to California to help her out of the mess.
I am a big JA Jance fan from the acclaimed Joanna Brady series to the grittier Beaumont series. Both of those series with their corresponding characters are highly anticipated by me. I did read the previous Ali Reynolds novel and while the story was not as good as the other series', I did like the cast of primary characters. I'm not sure what happened in this book. Again, I was really looking forward to reading this novel, but a few chapters in, I was wondering if I was actually reading a JA Jance book. I still liked Ali as a character, but that whole blog gimmick is not needed. I started skipping the blogs and the comments. I know this is a new era of technology and everyone and their mother has a blog, but don't use one in book. Boring. The story itself was totally ludicrous and ridiculous. It reminded me more of a Evanovich Stephanie Plum Novel than a JA Jance novel. Maybe that was the point since for some ungodly reason the Stephanie Plum novels are popular, but if it was, then JA took a wrong turn. Tripe maybe be popular, but it doesn't mean it's good. Bring back Joanna and Beau or write a traditional mystery for Ali. She deserves better.
Last comment--I think it is unacceptable when a book goes to press with blatant errors. Several times the character of Tracy was referred to as Terry, and the character of Jake was referred to as Jack.


Related Tags: crime fiction, J.A. Jance, Web Of Evil, Ali Reynolds, book, review

Dead Wrong By J. A. Jance

DEAD WRONG is an entry in Jance's Joanna Brady series. Johanna is in her last weeks of pregnancy with her second child, her first with her new husband, Butch. Joanna had recently won a closely contested election for Sheriff of Cochise County, Arizona. Joanna is eager to solve her homicide case before her baby is born. A body had been found of a man who had spent twenty years in prison for killing his pregnant wife whose body had never been found. Questions arise whether the victim was guilty of the killing of his wife. Clues lead to a rather eccentric family who rather keep their secrets hidden. In a concurrent case, a animal protection officer is badly beaten while on an off-duty stakeout.

I am a fan of both the Beaumont and the Joanna Brady series written by J.A. Jance. Each series is very different, set in different locals, the protagonists are different genders with one in law enforcement and the other is a private investigator. What they do have in common is that both series are well-written with character-driven storylines. The plots are usually fairly straight forward and are suspenseful without going over the top with surprises the way some authors do. DEAD WRONG was an engaging read and I was sorry when the story ended.

Related Tags: Dead Wrong, Jance, J.A. Jance, crime fiction, Book Review, review, Joanna Brady