J. A. Jance Books in Order

J.A. Jance is a New York Times bestselling American mystery author best known for the J.P. Beaumont, Joanna Brady, Ali Reynolds, and Walker Family series. Her books move between Seattle and Arizona, and several novels and novellas bring characters from different series into the same case. In 2018, The Strand Magazine gave J.A. Jance its Lifetime Achievement Award.

She gives her main characters normal lives where they age, change jobs, form new relationships, and live with the outcome of earlier cases. Beaumont moves from Seattle homicide work into later investigative roles, Joanna builds a career as Cochise County sheriff while raising a family, and Ali Reynolds changing jobs from television news to investigating cases connected with a cybersecurity company. The author’s years growing up in Bisbee and working as a school librarian in Sells also influenced the Arizona books their setting.

This page lists all J.A. Jance books in order, including the J.P. Beaumont, Walker Family, Joanna Brady, and Ali Reynolds series, crossover novels and novellas, collaborative books, short stories, anthology contributions, and After the Fire, her memoir in poem format.

Latest J. A. Jance Books

More upcoming releases:

• Smoke and Mirrors (Ali Reynolds #19), March 2027

How the J.A. Jance Series Connect

J.P. Beaumont and Joanna Brady work the same cases in Partner in Crime and Fire and Ice. Beau later joins retired Arizona lawman Brandon Walker in Dance of the Bones. The Walker Family and Joanna Brady series meet again in Blessing of the Lost Girls.

Ali Reynolds enters briefly into Joanna Brady’s series in the novellas No Honor Among Thieves and Random Acts.

J. P. Beaumont Series (Books in Order)

The J.P. Beaumont series follows Jonas Piedmont Beaumont, known as Beau, a Seattle homicide detective whose career and personal life change a lot in the series as the years pass. He later takes on state investigative work and private cases, but Seattle and the surrounding Pacific Northwest remain the main setting the series. Beau carries with him the effects of earlier books. His struggle with alcohol, changes in his work, his many injuries, marriages, all the friendships and family discoveries are still important throughout the next cases he investigates.

Partner in Crime and Fire and Ice are Joanna Brady crossovers, while Dance of the Bones brings Beau together with Brandon Walker.

1. Until Proven Guilty, 1985
2. Injustice for All, 1986
3. Trial by Fury, 1986
4. Taking the Fifth, 1988
5. Improbable Cause, 1987
6. A More Perfect Union, 1988
7. Dismissed with Prejudice, 1989
8. Minor in Possession, 1990
9. Payment in Kind, 1991
10. Without Due Process, 1992
11. Failure to Appear, 1993
12. Lying in Wait, 1994
13. Name Withheld, 1996
14. Breach of Duty, 1999
15. Birds of Prey, 2001
16. Partner in Crime, 2002
17. Long Time Gone, 2005
18. Justice Denied, 2007
19. Fire and Ice, 2009
20. Betrayal of Trust, 2011
21. Ring in the Dead, 2013
22. Second Watch, 2013
23. Stand Down, 2015
24. Dance of the Bones, 2015
25. Still Dead, 2017
26. Proof of Life, 2017
27. Sins of the Fathers, 2019
28. Nothing to Lose, 2022
29. Girls’ Night Out, 2024
30. Den of Iniquity, 2024
31. The Taken Ones, 2026

Walker Family Mysteries (Books in Order)

The Walker Family series begins with Diana Ladd and Arizona lawman Brandon Walker, then follows their family over several generations. The books are set in southern Arizona and are partly inspired by J.A. Jance’s years working as a school librarian in Sells. Tohono O’odham characters and stories are an important part of the series.

The first four books stay mainly within the Walker family. Dance of the Bones brings Brandon Walker together with J.P. Beaumont, while Blessing of the Lost Girls takes the Walker family into a Joanna Brady investigation.

1. Hour of the Hunter, 1991
2. Kiss of the Bees, 1993
3. Day of the Dead, 2005
4. Queen of the Night, 2010
5. Dance of the Bones, 2015
6. Blessing of the Lost Girls, 2023

Joanna Brady Series (Books in Order)

The Joanna Brady series follows Cochise County Sheriff Joanna Brady, based in Bisbee, Arizona. Desert Heat begins with the death of Joanna’s husband, Andy, who had been running for sheriff. Joanna starts working in law enforcement and eventually takes on the job herself while raising her daughter in Bisbee, the town where J.A. Jance grew up.

Partner in Crime and Fire and Ice are also J.P. Beaumont novels. No Honor Among Thieves and Random Acts bring in Ali Reynolds, while Blessing of the Lost Girls connects Joanna with the Walker family.

1. Desert Heat, 1993
2. Tombstone Courage, 1994
3. Shoot Don’t Shoot, 1995
4. Dead to Rights, 1996
5. Skeleton Canyon, 1997
6. Rattlesnake Crossing, 1998
7. Outlaw Mountain, 1999
8. Devil’s Claw, 2001
9. Paradise Lost, 2001
10. Partner in Crime, 2002
11. Exit Wounds, 2003
12. Dead Wrong, 2006
13. Damage Control, 2008
14. Fire and Ice, 2009
15. Judgment Call, 2012
16. The Old Blue Line, 2014
17. Remains of Innocence, 2014
18. No Honor Among Thieves, 2015
19. Random Acts, 2016
20. Downfall, 2016
21. Field of Bone, 2018
22. Missing and Endangered, 2021
23. Blessing of the Lost Girls, 2023
24. The Girl from Devil’s Lake, 2025

Ali Reynolds Series (Books in Order)

The Ali Reynolds series follows a Los Angeles television news anchor, Ali Raynolds, who loses her job in her forties. She returns to Sedona, Arizona, where her parents run a diner, and begins writing an online blog while becoming involved in local investigations. Ali later marries B. Simpson, whose cybersecurity company, High Noon Enterprises, becomes increasingly important to the series. The later books often begin when the company, one of its clients, or someone close to Ali are involved in a crime related to computers or online information.

Ali’s novels remain independent from the author’s other series, apart from the Joanna Brady crossover novellas No Honor Among Thieves and Random Acts.

1. Edge of Evil, 2005
2. Web of Evil, 2007
3. Hand of Evil, 2007
4. Cruel Intent, 2009
5. Trial By Fire, 2009
6. Fatal Error, 2011
7. Left for Dead, 2012
8. Deadly Stakes, 2013
9. Moving Target, 2014
10. A Last Goodbye, 2014
11. Cold Betrayal, 2015
12. No Honor Among Thieves, 2015
13. Clawback, 2016
14. Random Acts, 2016
15. Man Overboard, 2017
16. Duel To Death, 2018
17. The A List, 2019
18. Credible Threat, 2020
19. Unfinished Business, 2021
20. Collateral Damage, 2023
21. OverKill, 2025

Collaborative Novels

• Naked Came the Phoenix, 2001
• No Rest for the Dead, 2011

Short Stories and Novellas

• Taking the Veil, 2017 (with Eric Van Lustbader)

Short Story Collections

• The J. A. Jance Casebook, 2011

Short Story Anthologies

• Cat Crimes, 1991
• Partners in Crime, 1994
• The Mysterious West, 1994 (edited by Tony Hillerman)
• The Year’s 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories: Fourth Annual Edition, 1995
• Vengeance is Hers, 1997
• Midnight Louie’s Pet Detectives, 1998
• Murder on Route 66, 1999
• More Murder, They Wrote, 1999
• The World’s Finest Mystery and Crime Stories, 2000
• Crafty Cat Crimes: 100 Tiny Cat Tale Mysteries, 2000
• First Cases 4, 2002
• A Moment on the Edge, 2002 (edited by Elizabeth George)
• Dangerous Women, 2004
• Bark M for Murder, 2006
• The Deadly Bride and 21 of the Year’s Finest Crime and Mystery Stories: Volume II, 2006
• The Mystery Writers: Interviews and Advice, 2012
• Chicken Soup for the Soul: Inspiration for Writers, 2013
• Mystery Writers of America Presents Ice Cold: Tales of Intrigue from the Cold War, 2014 (edited by Jeffery Deaver)
• MatchUp, 2017 (edited by Lee Child)

Poetry and Memoir

• After the Fire: A Memoir in Poetry and Prose, 1984

Nonfiction Books

• Writer in the Library: 41 Writers Reveal How They Use Libraries to Develop Their Skill, Craft & Careers, 2008
• The Mystery Writers: Interviews and Advice, 2012

J.A. Jance Biography

J.A. Jance is an American mystery author who wrote four series and over 80 novels. Her full name is Judith Ann Jance, and she publishes under her initials, originally at her publisher’s request, who said that a female author writing a male detective protagonist would be harder to sell.
Official website: jajanceauthor.com

Born October 27, 1944, in Watertown, South Dakota, J. A. Jance grew up in Bisbee, Arizona, the border town that later became the setting for her Joanna Brady series. In 1962 she graduated from Bisbee High School, from where she received a scholarship allowing her to attend the University of Arizona. She was the first in her family to attend a four-year college, graduating from the University of Arizona in 1966 with a degree in English and Secondary Education. Next she got a master’s in library science in 1970.

While at university, she was refused entry to a creative-writing course because the professor did not allow women into the class. She continued writing privately, including the poems that later became After the Fire. Following the end of her first marriage, she raised her two children by selling life insurance and wrote in the early morning before going to work. She taught high school English and worked for five years as a K–12 librarian at the Indian Oasis School District on the Tohono O’odham reservation, an experience that later influenced the Walker Family series.

J.A. Jance began her first novel in 1982. The manuscript, a lengthy fictionalized version of a real murder case, was never published. A literary agent encouraged her to leave the real case behind and write a fully fictional mystery instead. The result was Until Proven Guilty, published in 1985 and the beginning of the J.P. Beaumont series. Her books were inspired by her family life. Her first husband’s alcoholism influenced Beau’s struggle with drinking and sobriety, while her experience of raising kids alone as a working mom helped her write about juggling police work and family

Her first publisher asked her to use initials because they believed some readers might resist a police procedural about a male detective written by a woman. She has continued publishing as J.A. Jance throughout her career. She currently lives with her husband in Seattle, Washington, and Tucson, Arizona.

J.A Jance Awards and Honors

Awards

• Without Due Process – American Mystery Award (1992)
• Failure to Appear – American Mystery Award (1993)
• Strand Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award (2018)
• Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, University of Arizona (2000)

Nominations and Shortlists

• Trial by Fury – Anthony Award for Best Paperback Original (1987)
• Hour of the Hunter – Anthony Award for Best Novel (1992)
• Hour of the Hunter – Dilys Award for Best Book (1992)
• Dance of the Bones – Shamus Award for Best P.I. Novel (2016)

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