Skeleton Canyon

Joanna Brady #5

by J.A. Jance

After the murder of Brianna O'Brien, a beautiful girl who never returned from a secret meeting with her boyfriend Ignacio Ybarra, Sheriff Joanna Brady is disturbed by the family's persistence in blaming Ignacio for the crime and is plunged into a world of deceit and betrayal where nothing is as it seems. Reprint.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Audiobook, Thriller, Suspense

387 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 1997

About the author

Judith Ann Jance is the top 10 New York Times bestselling author of the Joanna Brady series; the J. P. Beaumont series; three interrelated thrillers featuring the Walker family; and Edge of Evil, the first in a series featuring Ali Reynolds. Born in South Dakota and brought up in Bisbee, Arizona, Jance lives with her husband in Seattle, Washington, and Tucson, Arizona.

Series:
* J.P. Beaumont
* Joanna Brady
* Ali Reynolds
* Walker Family

Reviews

[Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars for Skeleton Canyon: Joanna Brady, Book 5 (audiobook) by J. A. Jance read by c. J. Critt.

The Cochise County Sheriff, Joanna Brady is called in when a girl goes missing. But the girl has already turned 18 and she told her parents when she would be home. She’s not even late getting back yet. Is her over protective father with ties to the Arizona governor just making something out of nothing? Or is there more to this, and somehow the girl is in trouble?

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This author is a constant 3 stars for me. I like that her stories are clean, content wise. Sometimes, that is exactly what I'm in the mood for. She also creates warm and personable characters. They all seem like the people you'd expect to find next door in a small country town. For being a series, I liked that the characters are moving on and progressing.

I really liked the beginning of this book. I thought that this was definitely the best one yet. However, the last half, as the plot was supposed to thicken, it wasn't able to sustain that same vibe. The climax was a bit of a let down and the "big" reveals were not big or dramatic. So 3 stars.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started the Joanna Brady series late. This is the 5th book in the series. Currently there are 18 books. I have found all 5 books to be very good reads. J.A. Vance is a very good story teller.

Joanna Brady is the sheriff of Cochise County in Arizona. She lives in Bisbee Arizona on a ranch. She is newly widowed and the mother of a young girl. She gets called to a home of a wealthy and influential home owner whose daughter has gone missing. He want the FBI called in. Twenty four hours are not up and the daughter did not arrive where she said she was going. However, the young girl has been meeting up with her boyfriend who her parents have forbidden her to see. So she is not telling them the truth where she is going.

This starts the mystery. The regular characters are back. The characters, location and good story telling make this a very good entry in the series. This series is one where you know that if you want to read something that you will enjoy, you can pick up a book and enjoy it. It's always good to have series like that. I find the Todd Borg series also as one the reader will not be disappointed in.

[LadyCalico · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story gripped me in the beginning and in the ending, but lost me somewhere in the middle, where the writing, relationships, and banter seemed to lose some of their depth and realism. On the other hand, I really, really liked the protagonist who seems more like a real person than the stereotypes of females that I often find in books written by women authors--either superwoman or girlygirl. I found JoAnna very real and very sympathetic. I could relate heart and soul to the "sandwich" theme with her being at the stage of life when you have to shunt your own needs and wants to fourth place while you are busy doing a fancy tap dance trying to deal with both a young child and a difficult parent while also trying to keep food on the table--and keep the table--that's real life for most divorced, widowed, or single women--not worries about whether your Manolo's or Jimmy Choos go better with your Glock.

[CD {Boulder Blvd} · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm binge reading this series and this book is one of my favorite so far.

[Dee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two-haiku review:

Teen girl disappears
Latino boyfriend suspect
Rich parents hate him

Very good series
I like growth of characters
And good plotting too

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best book of the series so far. The chase was great, and the mystery was very good. Looking forward to next book

[Brittany McCann · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better ones of this series so far.

I liked the series. Joanna Brady was better. The romance is still strange, though.

I liked The Parrot Man, I wish he was more than two dimensional, though.

The mystery was good, and that chase was great!

4 Stars

[Susan (on hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read three books about Sheriff Joanna and really liked them!

[Dick Aichinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Skeleton Canyon is the fifth book in the Joanna Brady series by J.A. Jance and it is progressing in the development of the characters very nicely. Jance has a wonderful knack for presenting a detective story with elements of police procedure, questions, and discovery while also weaving in the varied elements of life that happens while the case is ongoing. This is especially true of a Sheriff of a large, sparsely populated county in the desert and mountains of Arizona.

As I have mentioned before for other books of this series, I am especially enjoying reading about details of life in the desert and mountains which happens to be represented on the other side of the mountains from where I now live. This is a different land from what I have known and Jance seems to capture it wonderfully.

Skeleton Canyon is centrally around a young white (rich) woman and young Hispanic man who are secretly sneaking off to be together in the summer between graduating from high school and attending the University of Arizona in the fall. When the Nacio (the young man) can't get off work on Friday night, Bree (the young woman) decides to continue to 'their' spot anyway for Nacio to meet up with her on Saturday for the rest of the weekend. When Bree is found under her new truck off the side of the road dead, suspicion turns to Nacio, of course.

And, of course, the situation is much more complex than that. Jance weaves another good mystery with sufficient suspects to consider and complicating other events to keep Sheriff Brady and her department torn and spread too thin. Add to all that the start of the monsoon season with the danger of flash floods causing havoc through the mountain canyons and washes.

[Julianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Book #5 of the Joanna Brady Mystery Series. Wonderful! It starts out at a high school football game and ends up with murder and mayhem. In between you have Romeo and Juliet, nuns, smugglers, wild parrots, an abandoned cemetery, a search for Wedgewood China, Girl Scout camp, flash floods, people who elope, racism, at least three drunks, a flying bra, javelina tracks, a helicopter rescue and the fireworks on the Fourth of July.

Which is better in the hot summer of Southern Arizona, a Crown Victoria with air conditioning or an Eagle SUV without? Well, it depends....are the washes running? If so, then you'd best get in the Hummer! This book takes us from Mount Lemmon to Bisbee to Peoria to the Mexican border. And in charge of it all is Joanna Brady, the sheriff of Cochise County. What a woman! In one day she rides a horse in the parade, hosts a wedding at her ranch in the afternoon and presides over the fireworks show that evening. And she does it all with grace, with authority and a gentle sense of humor. I recommend this book and this entire series to anyone who wants to have a wild adventure in reading!

[Gloria ~ mzglorybe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in 1997, this one takes place in her home town of Bisbee AZ. My husband enjoyed reading this as he grew up in the area and attended Douglas AZ high school, who was and still is Bisbee's greatest rival. Since the main plot revolves around a cheerleaders murder, it would especially appeal to those that know the area or could relate to those times when relationships between whites and hispanics (especially in border towns) was so frowned on. The mystery of the murder and other subplots is ok, fast reading. She has gone on to do better things, appropriately enough. The main attraction for us in reading this was the locale.

[Ginny · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the best of the series so far. Joanna has matured as a politician and a sheriff. The story is woven together well. Conflicts between the whites and people of Mexican descent are one of the focuses of this story as are the hopes and dreams parents have for their children and the children's needs to be independent of those dreams.

[Plum-crazy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pretty sure I'd like this as I'd enjoyed "Tombstone Courage"....but this book was far better than I was expecting! A good, entertaining, suspense thriller with strong characters & a likeable heroine in Joanna Brady.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joanna is facing the first time apart from her daughter when her daughter goes to a two week camp. While she is wondering what to do a high school girl is missing and then found dead. Joanna knows something is off about the household and wonder what the real story is. someone is also smuggling and she might have a clue to that. Her friend goes out with a man and when he laughs at her, she gets lost in the canyon while he finds the dead girl.

[John (Just bought an Oculus 2 VR, so less time to read these days!) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This was a tearjerker of a story if you are a parent. Still, it was really well done with some great action sequences in the last 1/3 of it. Highly recommended.

[Sister · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book in the series so far. Jenny, Sheriff Joanna Brady’s daughter, is starting to mature (I.e., she’s not as whiny as she was), courtesy of the new horse her grandfather gave her as a birthday present. She’s always liked the horse & is taking good care of it. Eleanor, Joanna’s mother, is doing more than stepping out with the coroner. Joanna doesn’t like it - will she “let it go”, as George, her mother’s new love interest, suggests? Adam York, the DEA agent, is back, with a new case. There’s less tension between Joanna & Dick Voland, her chief deputy, but there are still some clashes. Oh yeah, there is a murder, but it doesn’t happen until about Chapter 10. Jance is good with creating tension in these mysteries, but they wrap up a little too neatly. Nevertheless, I still want to find out what’s going on with Joanna & her “peeps” in Rattlesnake Crossing.

[Allison]

Hey, this time ethnic slurs were only used by people who were confirmed racists and also bad guys! (And once by a Mexican character in a joke, in a usage I think qualifies as reclaiming.) And the good guy characters are appalled by the racism exhibited by the bad guys (one of whom ends up seeing the error of his ways and deciding being a racist, that's no good), and Joanna at one point corrects a good guy character's annoyance about Spanish words -- when she corrects his pronunciation of one (he is a transplanted Midwesterner), he grumps about what happened to good old English, and she responds, "You mean like Minnesota? Or Illinois?"

So, loads better than previous books. Good work on that front.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm being a little tough with this mystery by giving it only ***, which means it's NOT a bad book, just OK. As a mystery, it did keep me engaged--and guessing as to what was going on. I liked the main character, Joanna Brady, the sheriff of Cochise County in southeastern Arizona. And what I liked best was Jance's bringing to life the desert Southwest, centered on the far south of Arizona on the Mexican border. It was a fast enjoyable read, so maybe *** 1/2! But I guess I was expecting more... I prefer Tony Hillerman and his mysteries set in the Southwest. But I will probably read more of the series...

[Stephanie Jenkins Ortiz Cerrillo · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Romeo and Juliet scenario on the U.S. and Mexico border intertwined with murders and smuggling. Sheriff Joanna Brady proves she has the ability to question suspects, follow leads and tie together everything like an experienced law officer with years under their belt. When she gives romantic advice to her friend she may have set her up for heartache and danger. I loved the twists and turns in the plot and how it all came together in the end. An excellent read by Jance.

[Gerard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good narrative. But an OK read.

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable easy read — love the character

[Nicole Cook-Gritz · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Nicole · Rating 1 out of 5]

Such bad writing 😬 but did make for an interesting book club discussion.

[Bookmom · Rating 5 out of 5]

With this series we’re sometimes told right up front who the bad guy is, name and all. Other times we’re given some insight into the murderer, but don’t know who they are until much later. With this story we’re kept in the dark about the who and why until quite far into the book when looking into the murder of a teenager who’d gone missing.

On the home front, both Joanna and Jenny are dealing with Andy’s death a lot better. It’s at least 9 months since his death. Jenny is especially doing well since getting Kiddo, the horse from the prior book. But Jenny gets taken to Girl Scout Camp for a couple of weeks and Joanna is definitely having an empty-nest-syndrome feeling going on. So it’s a good thing that work is keeping her busy. And speaking of work, things are going better on that front as she’s earned the respect of those who work closest with her. Of course not everyone is on the Sheriff Joanna Brady bandwagon; the first female sheriff in AZ.

As like the earlier books in the series, Joanna pulls together the mystery from conversations with many people instead of through interrogation, and I love that aspect of the books. People aren’t always comfortable talking with her, but she doesn’t grill them, making a huge difference.

We’ve got a mystery, scenery, drama, surprises, and a few scenes that will make you feel good. You’ve heard about how dangerous a sudden rainstorm can be in the desert? We learn why. Another aspect of the series I’m enjoying is the vivid description of the terrain and wildlife of the area.

We’re constantly learning more about the secondary characters and this one is no exception. For some it’s like reading about old friends.

These books could easily be read as stand-alones. There is enough back filler provided without drowning the story in them.

Read from a library book.

[Debfiddle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brianna "Bree" O'Brien never returned from Skeleton Canyon. Someone brutally murdered the pretty, popular teenager who had stolen away under cover of darkness to rendezvous with her boyfriend. Perhaps youthful rage, jealousy and savage passion cost young Bree her life. Or maybe she stumbled onto something too dangerous to know. Sheriff Joanna Brady of Cochise County knows only too well the pain of losing a loved one to violence. But she is disturbed by the O'Brien's insistence that Bree's boyfriend is responsible for their daughter's slaying. Joanna senses there are words not being spoken, and dark mysteries locked behind doors of the sprawling O'Brien family compound. But it is the strange disappearance of a good friend that is pulling Sheriff Brady ever closer to the lethal nest of lies, greed and secrets hiding in a desolate corner of the Arizona desert - where the next blood that feeds the parched, cracked earth could be her own.
Bree is not murdered by her boyfriend, but by a cartel that want to use the O'Brien's land to smuggle freon, now illegal in the states passing through their land. She's in the wrong place at the wrong time.

[LJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

SKELETON CANYON - G
Jance, J.A. - 5th Joanna Brady

The sheriff of Cochise County, Arizona, widow Joanna Brady becomes caught up in a deadly family tragedy initiated by a pair of star-crossed lovers, while trying to prove herself in the male-dominated world of law enforcement and struggling to cope with echoes of Tombstone's infamous Clanton gang.

Although I prefer her Beaumont series, I did like the characters in this. However, the plot could have been stronger.

[Sandra Strange · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good series set in the country area where my daughter, Jana, lives. I like the characterization and the ideals. The mysteries are good puzzles, realistic, with a hint of jeopardy and adventure. They are for mature readers, with some language and frankness about feelings and sexuality (very tasteful and not usually explicit). In this novel, Joanna Brady must solve the murder of a young girl who goes to meet her boyfriend secretly because her parents object because he's Mexican.

[Bob Cutler · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very well done mystery. However I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because of one significant flaw. It was never explained why the murderer drove over Bree and killed her. Most people jam on the brakes when they see a person in front of their car. The killer decided in a split second to drive over her even though she couldn't have seen him through the glare of his headlights. He could have backed away, turned around, and never started the cops on his trail in the first place.

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is only my second book by this author and I have enjoyed both. It was a quick read and definitely worth picking up and reading.