Two years earlier, Joanna Brady's husband was killed in the line of duty. Friends convinced Joanna to pick up where he left off and run for sheriff of Cochise County. Having won the election, Joanna is still proving to naysayers that a woman without a law-enforcement background can do the job.

Following reports of the vandalism, Sheriff Brady decides to call on gun dealer, Clyde Phillips, an unappealing character with a penchant for boys and a nasty habit of taking advantage of his ex-wife, Belle. Finally gaining entry into his ramshackle house with Belle's help, Joanna discovers Clyde's lifeless body in bed with a plastic bag over his head surrounded by an odor even her most experienced deputies find overwhelming. Jance's recounting of the discovery and investigation of the murder scene, including the retrieval of Clyde's body, is a clever combination of horror and humor.

Jance uses the death to introduce Pima county medical examiner, Dr. Fran Daly. She and Joanna are prickly around each other initially, in a realistic depiction of two successful, professional women unable to trust each other. They gradually develop an appreciation of each other's talents as bodies begin to appear in all sorts of odd places. Readers of this sixth Joanna Brady book may miss her etiquette-spouting mother, but Eleanor has married George Winfield, Cochise County's medical examiner, and convinced him to take a belated honeymoon, creating an opportunity to introduce the entertaining Dr. Fran.

Jance also provides human interest in the form of Clyde's neighbor, Sarah Holcomb, a very independent old lady, who really cannot abide a woman playing detective. Though Sarah is very uncooperative with Joanna and quite vocal about preferring a nice male detective like she sees on TV, the old woman reluctantly provides Joanna with some helpful clues, despite serving refreshments to the men only. Such touches of humor provide a breather from the grisly reality of mutilated and decaying bodies.

As it becomes clear that Joanna is dealing with a madman on a killing spree, some suspects in the case are the guests at a zany ranch in the area where foreigners masquerade as Indians, staying in air-conditioned geodesic domes between trips to sweat lodges. Another suspect on Joanna's list is Alton Hosfield, whose pump was the object of the initial target practice. Alton's intense anti-federal bias and isolationist tendencies subject him to scrutiny and involve Joanna with Alton's wife, one of few appealing stepmothers in fiction.

Despite a well-constructed plot and strong secondary characters, a major problem with the series now is Sheriff Brady. Hopefully, Joanna has found a "keeper" in Butch Dixon, which could allow Jance to lighten up on the Johnny-one-note of "how will I ever manage this single-mother routine." Joanna's agonizing over that very real concern ad nauseam struck a false note, since her in-laws had Jenny, her eleven-year-old daughter, on vacation throughout the book. This working mom not only has unbelievably flexible hours but also is free to invite Butch to spend the night once she is emotionally ready.

And, since I am on a rant about Jance's handling of certain women's issues, Joanna ought to stop wearing pantyhose and heels to all those crime scenes. She seems like such a smart lady, doesn't she realize she's at the top of the pecking order in Cochise County? Yoohoo Joanna, you CAN change the dress code!!

Although this is the sixth book in the series, you need not have read the earlier books to enjoy Rattlesnake Crossing. However, if you have difficulty parting with the bucks for a hardback book, I recommend checking your library's mystery collection or buying one of the outstanding earlier books in this series available in paperback, such as Tombstone Courage.

--Sue Klock