Outlaw Mountain (Joanna Brady Mysteries)
J.A. Jance's Joanna Brady series whisks us off to a small town in  the desert terrain of the Southwest. When Joanna's newly elected husband is  killed while serving as sheriff of Cochise County, Arizona, Joanna steps  into his position. We watch her grow into the job inJance's series: she has to cope with the problems of juggling family and  personal life while solving crimes. At the same time, we've learned about the benefits and shortcomings of daily life in a desert--how beautiful and dangerous the landscape can be in all seasons.Jance's seventh book,Outlaw Mountain, begins with the death of an old woman who was injured when she fell on a poisonous cholla cactus. But  it isn't the plant that finishes off Alice Rogers; the lively, free-spirited widow is murdered by someone who injects her as she lies writhing in pain. Now Joanna has to find out whether anyone in Alice's large family would have  killed her for her land and money. Was it her son Cletus, "a restaurateur with the diplomacy of a mountain goat," who was recently elected mayor of the legendary Arizona town of Tombstone (where Wyatt Earp once reigned)? Or did the murder have something to do with a local political power struggle? As she has done so well before, Jance balances scenes full of action and excitement with more intimate moments.--Dick Adler--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.