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Joanna Brady #11
Exit Wounds
Sheriff Joanna Brady seeks an elusive and chillingly brutal killer whose crimes run deep into the past in the next New York Times bestseller from the author of Partner in Crime
480 pages, Paperback
First published July 22, 2003
704 people are currently reading
1753 people want to read
About the author
J.A. Jance
117 books4,158 followersJudith 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
Series:
* J.P. Beaumont
* Joanna Brady
* Ali Reynolds
* Walker Family
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 337 reviews
December 19, 2007
Right on the cover, this book says it is a “Novel of Suspense and Mystery.” The only mystery I uncovered is the mystery of why this book was ever published. The book starts off good for a suspense story. A murder. But the Sheriff doesn’t get her first clue in the case until page 260. The whole rest of the time she’s involved in a bunch of meaningless subplots that don’t add to the story, and are marginally resolved. Finally, about 20 pages from the end of the book, Jance realized that she had better wrap things up, so a whirlwind of activity unearths countless clues that lead to the actual killer, who commits suicide in an attempt to relieve the state budgetary problems that would have arisen from a long, drawn out trial.
August 16, 2021
This one rebounds from the previous book as far as I am concerned.
A single woman living alone with a pack of dogs is shot multiple times through the locked back door of her house. Inside with her are her dogs, brought inside to be fed. In the Arizona July heat, not only does the woman die but the dogs trapped inside a modular home die from heat and dehydration.
Sheriff Joanna Brady's detectives discover that the woman was shot with ammunition manufactured in 1917, the same ammunition used in Bisbee of that year to quell striking miners. With no clues but old ammunition, they know they may have a struggle finding the killer. When two more women are found dead in neighboring New Mexico and shot with the same make of ancient ammunition, the case becomes twisted. Could this be a serial killer on the move? But why a woman locked inside her own home?
As usual, the case takes its share of twists and turns. And, as usual, there are outside complications in Sheriff Brady's life. This time, she's pregnant ... and running for reelection.
Another good story.
A single woman living alone with a pack of dogs is shot multiple times through the locked back door of her house. Inside with her are her dogs, brought inside to be fed. In the Arizona July heat, not only does the woman die but the dogs trapped inside a modular home die from heat and dehydration.
Sheriff Joanna Brady's detectives discover that the woman was shot with ammunition manufactured in 1917, the same ammunition used in Bisbee of that year to quell striking miners. With no clues but old ammunition, they know they may have a struggle finding the killer. When two more women are found dead in neighboring New Mexico and shot with the same make of ancient ammunition, the case becomes twisted. Could this be a serial killer on the move? But why a woman locked inside her own home?
As usual, the case takes its share of twists and turns. And, as usual, there are outside complications in Sheriff Brady's life. This time, she's pregnant ... and running for reelection.
Another good story.
July 22, 2025
This one is a huge improvement over the previous book.
July 22, 2010
Sheriff Joanna Brady juggles crime & family in fine yarn...
We'll admit we're big fans of JA Jance, having read every novel she's written, some two dozen to date. This tenth book (or so, depending if you count "Partner in Crime" featuring both her fictional stars) in the Sheriff Brady series sees Joanna incredibly busy with an unfortunate murder of a lonely poor woman surrounded by 17 dogs; a horrific car crash filled with 20-some illegal aliens; and family issues in abundance including morning sickness! Deaths of two reporters, a bigamist cult, and a dysfunctional family filled with incest only add to the headaches and heartaches. Joanna tends to be a workaholic anyway, personally doing much of her detective's leg work or attending trouble calls at all hours of the day and night. If you're wanting to read about a highly competent, driven law enforcement officer, you need to look no further. Indeed author Jance not only develops her plot carefully, with plenty of character work to get you hooked on the people involved (as is our leading lady), but also spins the story with enough complexity to keep you guessing 'til the end.
An ulterior motive with this book is to describe a mental illness called "hoarding", in which usually an unbalanced loner starts accumulating far more animals than they can begin to feed or care for properly. Using the ploy that the county Animal Control operation has recently been turned over to the sheriff to manage, she and we learn about the difficulty in placing animals for adoption and the surprising number being put to sleep every week. Pictured on the back cover with two dogs, it's clear Jance makes a compelling case for more awareness of the issues and the funding such shelters really need.
With a realistic cast of characters hard not to like, with family tensions and murders galore, it's hard to put down the latest Joanna Brady. Enjoy!
We'll admit we're big fans of JA Jance, having read every novel she's written, some two dozen to date. This tenth book (or so, depending if you count "Partner in Crime" featuring both her fictional stars) in the Sheriff Brady series sees Joanna incredibly busy with an unfortunate murder of a lonely poor woman surrounded by 17 dogs; a horrific car crash filled with 20-some illegal aliens; and family issues in abundance including morning sickness! Deaths of two reporters, a bigamist cult, and a dysfunctional family filled with incest only add to the headaches and heartaches. Joanna tends to be a workaholic anyway, personally doing much of her detective's leg work or attending trouble calls at all hours of the day and night. If you're wanting to read about a highly competent, driven law enforcement officer, you need to look no further. Indeed author Jance not only develops her plot carefully, with plenty of character work to get you hooked on the people involved (as is our leading lady), but also spins the story with enough complexity to keep you guessing 'til the end.
An ulterior motive with this book is to describe a mental illness called "hoarding", in which usually an unbalanced loner starts accumulating far more animals than they can begin to feed or care for properly. Using the ploy that the county Animal Control operation has recently been turned over to the sheriff to manage, she and we learn about the difficulty in placing animals for adoption and the surprising number being put to sleep every week. Pictured on the back cover with two dogs, it's clear Jance makes a compelling case for more awareness of the issues and the funding such shelters really need.
With a realistic cast of characters hard not to like, with family tensions and murders galore, it's hard to put down the latest Joanna Brady. Enjoy!
December 25, 2020
3.0 STARS
Fast. Easy. Entertaining. Unmemorable.
This was my very first experience with Judith Ann (J. A.) Jance which in and of itself is remarkable given how prolific she is. According to Goodreads and other online sources she has authored over 100 bodies of work which begs the question … quantity over quality?
I’m leaning towards quantity over quality when it came to Exit Wounds. Fast. Easy. Entertaining. Unmemorable.
The best parts of the book for me were the historical references. The first reference was related to the murder weapon, specifically the casings stamped with S for Springfield Massachusetts and 17 for 1917. Smith & Wesson, based in Springfield, MA, is less than ten miles from my home and remains a major gun manufacturer in the USA today.
The second historical reference was the Bisbee Deportation, the illegal deportation of more than 1,000 striking mine workers (IWW-led strike), their supporters, and citizen bystanders by 2,000 vigilantes in Bisbee, AZ, the setting for this book. Striking for better working conditions and pay, the striking workers were kidnapped and held at a local baseball park. They were then loaded onto cattle cars and transported 200 miles for 16 hours through the desert without food or water. The deportees were unloaded at Hermanas, New Mexico, without money or transportation, and warned not to return to Bisbee.
Evidently I missed this lesson in history class!
Short of that, I found the story fast, easy, entertaining, unremarkable and quickly forgotten!
Another book in my Covid Reading Series, I purchased this book years and years ago at a Friends of the Westfield (MA) Athenaeum book sale and promptly tucked it away in one of my many bookcases at home. Fast forward to COVID 2020 - libraries and book stores are closed or limited in hours or services so I turn to these forgotten treasures.
Fast. Easy. Entertaining. Unmemorable.
This was my very first experience with Judith Ann (J. A.) Jance which in and of itself is remarkable given how prolific she is. According to Goodreads and other online sources she has authored over 100 bodies of work which begs the question … quantity over quality?
I’m leaning towards quantity over quality when it came to Exit Wounds. Fast. Easy. Entertaining. Unmemorable.
The best parts of the book for me were the historical references. The first reference was related to the murder weapon, specifically the casings stamped with S for Springfield Massachusetts and 17 for 1917. Smith & Wesson, based in Springfield, MA, is less than ten miles from my home and remains a major gun manufacturer in the USA today.
The second historical reference was the Bisbee Deportation, the illegal deportation of more than 1,000 striking mine workers (IWW-led strike), their supporters, and citizen bystanders by 2,000 vigilantes in Bisbee, AZ, the setting for this book. Striking for better working conditions and pay, the striking workers were kidnapped and held at a local baseball park. They were then loaded onto cattle cars and transported 200 miles for 16 hours through the desert without food or water. The deportees were unloaded at Hermanas, New Mexico, without money or transportation, and warned not to return to Bisbee.
Evidently I missed this lesson in history class!
Short of that, I found the story fast, easy, entertaining, unremarkable and quickly forgotten!
Another book in my Covid Reading Series, I purchased this book years and years ago at a Friends of the Westfield (MA) Athenaeum book sale and promptly tucked it away in one of my many bookcases at home. Fast forward to COVID 2020 - libraries and book stores are closed or limited in hours or services so I turn to these forgotten treasures.
March 22, 2017
Really good story, as always! However, I did find an annoying error, which I hope was corrected in publications which followed the one I read. More than once.....I believe a total of three times, if not four......the county in Arizona was misspelled. It's Mohave County. It may be the Mojave Desert, but the county is Mohave. I live there, so it bugged me. No big deal, certainly not important enough to interfere with my enjoyment of the story!
September 2, 2018
Very well written mystery. It deals with some painful topics to read about . . . animal "hoarding" and how often times the person who takes too many strays in has deep emotional problems stemming from an abused past.
October 17, 2008
Exit Wounds, by J.A. Jance, is my second Joanna Brady mystery. This review is based on the audio version. The reader, Debra Monk, was a little annoying. Everything she said was pretty monotone.
This story started off really well, and caught my interest immediately. Carol Mossman, a loner, is found shot to death in her mobile home. Carol's seventeen dogs, were trapped inside her mobile home, and all except a puppy are found dead from the Arizona heat.
What follows after this was several subplots: Joanna's unexpected pregnancy, every minute detail about her home life and her job, and another subplot about illegal immigrants. None of these subplots were needed, in my opinion, as I felt it just made the plot drag, until we find out what really happened to Carol Mossman.
This was my second Joanna Brady, Jance novel in the past month, and at least for now, I plan to pass on this author.
This story started off really well, and caught my interest immediately. Carol Mossman, a loner, is found shot to death in her mobile home. Carol's seventeen dogs, were trapped inside her mobile home, and all except a puppy are found dead from the Arizona heat.
What follows after this was several subplots: Joanna's unexpected pregnancy, every minute detail about her home life and her job, and another subplot about illegal immigrants. None of these subplots were needed, in my opinion, as I felt it just made the plot drag, until we find out what really happened to Carol Mossman.
This was my second Joanna Brady, Jance novel in the past month, and at least for now, I plan to pass on this author.
August 4, 2009
The prologue was a good opener and no hints given at all as to who or why for several chapters.
Joanna is the headstrong and focused lady sheriff of a southern Arizona town. She investigates three murders performed on the same day. I was mislead by events until the “ah-hah” revelation surfaced more than three-quarters into the book. There was one major plot with one aside plot that ended with vague assumptions. All in all, the major storyline was solidly finished.
It was refreshing to read about a character such as Joanna. Any personal drama was kept to a minimum and true-to-life. Butch is her fussbudget author husband with too much time on his hands. But, I suppose the author planned it this way.
This was the first book I’ve read by J.A. Jance and I enjoyed it and recommend it.
Joanna is the headstrong and focused lady sheriff of a southern Arizona town. She investigates three murders performed on the same day. I was mislead by events until the “ah-hah” revelation surfaced more than three-quarters into the book. There was one major plot with one aside plot that ended with vague assumptions. All in all, the major storyline was solidly finished.
It was refreshing to read about a character such as Joanna. Any personal drama was kept to a minimum and true-to-life. Butch is her fussbudget author husband with too much time on his hands. But, I suppose the author planned it this way.
This was the first book I’ve read by J.A. Jance and I enjoyed it and recommend it.
October 31, 2023
I've not read this particular series before, so I was thrilled to discover that it's just as good as the other Jance series. A sheriff up for re-election and everything in her jurisdiction and in her home life seems to be imploding all at the same time. Add to that the intense Arizona summer and you've got a hot thriller of a read!
July 14, 2019
J.A. Jance's Joanna Brady series is fun. Joanna is smart and likable. Her daughter is written like an adolescent instead of being too adult. Her parents and those of her deceased first husband are well-rounded and interesting, and her second husband, Butch, is a joy. He is maybe my favorite character. The mysteries aren't intricate or complex, they aren't shocking and scary... these books are a bit cozier. They are quieter. And they are quick, easy reads that are fun to read.
In Exit Wounds Sheriff Brady is busy investigating the murder of a solitary woman who hoards dogs. She and all 17 dogs are found dead in her trailer. And unfortunately at the same time she must find the driver of a van that crashed with close to 30 illegal aliens aboard, killing many of them. While figuring out that the dog hoarder was the victim of child sexual abuse, she finds that two reporters have also been murdered. And, she is working through morning sickness! Like all the books in this series the stories come together and with the help of her deputies, Sheriff Brady solves the cases.
One of the best things that Jance does is to create a woman with all the problems that come with working and balancing family demands. It seems that Sheriff Brady is always being torn between her daughter's activities, her husband's desire to see his wife, her mother's demands, and a crazy job that interrupts it all. I find this tension completely believable and accurate which makes the books feel very real.
*****
You can follow me on my Facebook book blog:
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In Exit Wounds Sheriff Brady is busy investigating the murder of a solitary woman who hoards dogs. She and all 17 dogs are found dead in her trailer. And unfortunately at the same time she must find the driver of a van that crashed with close to 30 illegal aliens aboard, killing many of them. While figuring out that the dog hoarder was the victim of child sexual abuse, she finds that two reporters have also been murdered. And, she is working through morning sickness! Like all the books in this series the stories come together and with the help of her deputies, Sheriff Brady solves the cases.
One of the best things that Jance does is to create a woman with all the problems that come with working and balancing family demands. It seems that Sheriff Brady is always being torn between her daughter's activities, her husband's desire to see his wife, her mother's demands, and a crazy job that interrupts it all. I find this tension completely believable and accurate which makes the books feel very real.
*****
You can follow me on my Facebook book blog:
https://www.facebook.com/Kelly-Hunsak...
and on Bookstagram:
https://www.instagram.com/kelly_hunsa...
May 7, 2019
I am a huge J.A. Jance fan and follow three of her series--JP Beaumont, Ali Reynolds, and Joanna Brady. In this story, the heat is a killer in Cochise County, Arizona, with temperatures over 100 degrees. In the suffocating stillness of an airless trailer, a woman is lying dead, a bullet hole in her chest. Why someone would murder a harmless loner with a soft spot for strays is only one of the questions nagging at the local police; another is why the killer used an eighty-five-year-old bullet, fired from the same weapon that slaughtered two other women who were discovered bound, naked, and gruesomely posed on the remote edge of a rancher′s land. The slayings are as oppressive as the blistering heat for Sheriff Joanna Brady, who running for re-election along with a surprising development in her marriage to Butch.
February 27, 2008
I love J.A. Jance. Gary and I listened on CD's and were actually in the town of Bisbee, Arizona where her heroine resides as the Cochise County sheriff. I wanted to go in the sheriff's dept and ask for her, but I thought perhaps they'd think me crazy, because she isn't afterall, really the sheriff. We found all the backdrops in her books, the street names, the restaurants and it was very fun. The story is about sects of bigamists in Arizona and wasn't too complimentary, but interesting. Fortunately, she modified the "Mormon" part and clarified that they were renegade fundamentalists that had strayed way off-track. Gary even stayed in the car at times to finish certain chapters rather than get out and explore, so he was also enthralled.
January 18, 2009
A Joanna Brady novel. Boring and no real surprises. A women who owns several dogs is shot and found dead with her dogs in her white trash trailer house. It is soon discovered that the dead women’s father belongs to a sect of the Mormon church called the “Bretheren” who believes in polygamy. The father has also had incestial relations with his daughters. These things lead to a series of murders. Good idea for a story but Jance failed to make the characters sympathetic or interesting.
February 9, 2014
This story is back to just Brady and no Beaumont. It was a good multi-layed story with several different problems for the sheriff to solve. We had incest, we had murder, we had illegal immigrants, we had animal rights, we had a pregnant Brady, newly published author, a barrel racing teenager, and pancreatic cancer. A rather heavy load for one novel, but in the end all things turn out well. If you like slow soap operas then these novel perform a good function.
June 20, 2018
The story told here is ultimately a very sad story, one of incest and how it affects families and children. And how certain cults can be used to cover it up and to even encourage it. While it is sad, I'm afraid it is not all that uncommon. It's just covered up and not talked a lot about. It is disturbing. And the subject of the book is something I found a bit disturbing.
November 11, 2014
Office politics, a nasty murder, a hoarder and a cult. An entertaining read, unless you have issues with mistreated animals.
September 15, 2014
I like her more and more
April 1, 2015
Really really loved this book. Just can't get enough of Joanna Brady. Love this sheriff. JA Jance is one gifted writer.
October 18, 2019
I like Joanna Brady. This is the first book I have read in the series (at least I think it is-- a few things seem vaguely familiar so I may have read something years ago before I started keeping track). I really appreciated how she highlighted the issue of animal control and the need for spay/neuter/adoption programs without being preachy. I also liked the nitty-gritty details of police work, and thought that the multiple cases going on at once gave a sense of authenticity, even if some of the side cases didn't have anything to do with the main mystery.
All of the talk about her election campaign reminded me of how grateful I am to live in a state that does not elect sheriffs, coroners, etc. to office. Merit-based hiring makes so much more sense to me.
All of the talk about her election campaign reminded me of how grateful I am to live in a state that does not elect sheriffs, coroners, etc. to office. Merit-based hiring makes so much more sense to me.
February 14, 2019
Another great J. A. Jance booking featuring Detective Joanna Brady. I've yet to read one of these books about Detective Brady that I haven't enjoyed. This one starts off with a huge why would someone murder a poor loner of a woman that does her best to care for stray dogs. The twisted tale begins with the slug being over eighty years old and two more unsolved cases match the ballistics. Joanna has a serial killer on the loose in Cochise County, a life altering event in her personal life and is in the middle of her re-election campaign for sheriff. The plot just keeps on thickening.
February 3, 2020
Joanna is running for reelection for sheriff and finds out she is pregnant. This causes some tension with her mother who doesn’t think she should be sheriff. An animal hoarder is found dead with 17 dogs in her trailer. This causes lots of problems with the animal rights people and gives Joanna’s opponent a better change of winning. This is just the tip of the ice berg when they find 33 illegal’s in a car wreak and a religious group who treats woman like slaves.
September 18, 2020
Highly recommended
Enough twists that I had no idea till close to the end what really happened. As usual, highly, highly recommended.
Enough twists that I had no idea till close to the end what really happened. As usual, highly, highly recommended.
January 11, 2021
Two-haiku review:
Woman shot through door
With antique ammunition
Then two more bodies
Really like series
Joanna's great character
Family and staff
Woman shot through door
With antique ammunition
Then two more bodies
Really like series
Joanna's great character
Family and staff
January 11, 2022
Joanna Brady is the busiest woman on the planet! Eleven down, eight more to go!
July 23, 2018
Book on Tape
Women was shot through her door with all her dogs in her house. They died along with her. She was ready to tell her secret. Good Sheriff Brady book.
Women was shot through her door with all her dogs in her house. They died along with her. She was ready to tell her secret. Good Sheriff Brady book.
March 10, 2018
The appeal of Sheriff Joanne Brady to many of her long time fans is that she persists and prevails despite being burdened with many of same sorts of daily hassles and personal issues that they too experience, such as having a witch of an interfering mother, snagging her hose on prickly pear, or, a new issue, an unexpected pregnancy. This is especially true for female readers who, like Joanna, have experienced workplace misogyny or, in the earliest novels in the series, raising a daughter as a single mother after her husband, a deputy who was running for sheriff, was killed in the line of duty.
The fact that Joanna is a sheriff means that in addition to her personal hassles, she has to cope with unending paperwork, administer the jail, deal with personnel issues, formulate budgets, cope with county officials, and even, in this novel, take charge of animal control. In the course of this series, Jance has also introduced a number of continuing characters, all of whose stories have to be updated. First time Brady readers are apt get frustrated while Brady deals with these issues instead of focusing on the murder which opens the book.
Best solution is to go back to the first Brady book and read them all in order as I have been doing. Second best is to switch from Brady to Jance's other main character, J. P. Beaumont who, as a conventional hard drinking, unmarried, lone wolf detective, is free from all the annoying hassles that plague Sheriff Brady.
The fact that Joanna is a sheriff means that in addition to her personal hassles, she has to cope with unending paperwork, administer the jail, deal with personnel issues, formulate budgets, cope with county officials, and even, in this novel, take charge of animal control. In the course of this series, Jance has also introduced a number of continuing characters, all of whose stories have to be updated. First time Brady readers are apt get frustrated while Brady deals with these issues instead of focusing on the murder which opens the book.
Best solution is to go back to the first Brady book and read them all in order as I have been doing. Second best is to switch from Brady to Jance's other main character, J. P. Beaumont who, as a conventional hard drinking, unmarried, lone wolf detective, is free from all the annoying hassles that plague Sheriff Brady.
March 5, 2019
A much better book than the previous one with Beaumont making an appearance (can you tell I don't like him? LOL)
A lady down on her luck with way too many dogs is murdered in her own home and the dogs become collateral damage. The Mossman family's secrets are going to be revealed but someone is trying to prevent that as more deaths occur. A terrible car accident with UDA's has Joanna on the verge of losing her temper. She has more trouble brewing as the countdown to her re-election campaign for Sheriff is off and running with an opponent who likes to fight dirty. To top it off, Joanna finds out she and Butch are going to be parents.
A good suspenseful story and Joanna really did a great job in pulling all the threads and tying up the case. Like how she is adapting to her marriage and how it is changing some of her relationships for the better (i.e. Eleanor). Ready to read the next one!
A lady down on her luck with way too many dogs is murdered in her own home and the dogs become collateral damage. The Mossman family's secrets are going to be revealed but someone is trying to prevent that as more deaths occur. A terrible car accident with UDA's has Joanna on the verge of losing her temper. She has more trouble brewing as the countdown to her re-election campaign for Sheriff is off and running with an opponent who likes to fight dirty. To top it off, Joanna finds out she and Butch are going to be parents.
A good suspenseful story and Joanna really did a great job in pulling all the threads and tying up the case. Like how she is adapting to her marriage and how it is changing some of her relationships for the better (i.e. Eleanor). Ready to read the next one!
May 16, 2017
Another well written book in this series! It was weird reading this one because I usually listen to the series, but seeing the characters names and knowing how they are really pronounced was interesting! This book has Joanna running around EVERYWHERE it felt like! She was dealing with a murder in her jurisdiction (and those poor dogs!!!) that may be connected to two murders in another area. Then someone smuggling illegals into the country with no care for their lives. An inmate also dies. And on top of that, she has events to go to as sheriff and to make appearances with the election coming up! (And did I mention a health thing too??) She definitely stayed busy!! I loved how it wasn't one thing going on. It shows how police departments really work instead of only having to deal with one case at a time! Next please!!
August 16, 2012
Quite simply one of the worst books in the mystery/police procedural genre that I've ever had the misfortune of reading. Author Jance forces the unfortunate reader to endure over 150 pages of nonsensical non-plot related fluff before the story actually addresses the main plot line described in her prologue. Everything from overly dramatic descriptions of Rodeo riding, what characters have for breakfast to adopting stray dogs, I can hear the collective anguished cries of "OMG...get ON with it already." I always give an author two reads before closing the door, but I must admit I can't see how this author's writing can improve without a total re-tooling of basic style.
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