Johanna Brady and the Walker family return in this mystery about missing and murdered indigenous women. This story is fast-paced and kept me entertained. I especially like the blending in of Indian folklore.

ARC was provided by NetGalley and William Morrow in exchange for an honest review.

In “Blessing of the Lost Girls,” J.A. Jance masterfully combines characters from two of her long-standing series into a standalone narrative, creating a riveting serial killer crime mystery. This book introduces a new generation from both families, making it accessible to newcomers while still satisfying longtime fans.

The story centers around Federal agent Dan Pardee, now part of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People Task Force (MIP). The discovery of an unidentified burned body in Cochise County, identified two years later by new dental records, sets the stage for a complex investigation that intersects with Joanna Brady’s jurisdiction. It is Joanna’s daughter, Jenny Brady, a criminal justice major, who provides critical information for the case.

As Pardee delves deeper, he uncovers a horrifying rodeo connection linking the killer to several missing girls. He soon realizes he’s on the trail of a serial killer who targets marginalized girls and skillfully covers his tracks. The novel’s strength lies in its meticulously crafted plot, which leads readers through a suspenseful journey to an exhilarating conclusion. The revelation of the killer’s identity early in the story does not diminish the narrative’s intensity but rather adds to its urgency.

Jance’s portrayal of Dan Pardee is particularly notable. His Native American heritage and unwavering dedication make him an intriguing and fitting lead for the MIP. The potential collaboration with Jenny Brady in future narratives is a tantalizing prospect, left intriguingly open-ended.

The novel also stands out for its chilling depiction of the serial killer, whose proficiency is terrifyingly realistic. Jance’s focus on the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women lends the story a topical and poignant edge.

I found “Blessing of the Lost Girls” to be an enthralling and thought-provoking read. Its focus on contemporary issues, coupled with a compelling plot and complex characters, makes it a standout addition to the crime mystery genre.

The marketing as a Brady and Walker book may be confusing, since it’s not really part of that series, just set in that universe (brief mentions of those characters) but the novel’s quality stands on its own, with Dan Pardee deserving a spotlight in future narratives.

BLESSING OF THE LOST GIRLS is a tense serial killer thriller with heart. Jance manages to give her readers a police procedural infused with emotion and honest moments between the characters. This combination makes for a story that is not only intriguing but also feels real to life.

Having never read any of the books in the Walker Family or Joanna Brady series, I wasn’t sure if I would be lost. However, I was pleasantly surprised at how easily I fell into step with the characters throughout the investigation. The way the author presents Joanna and Dan is both familiar as well as informative. As a new reader, I have enough background to keep me invested as well as learning about the other relationships within these worlds. This is especially true with Joanna’s daughter, Jennifer. It felt like there was a great balance between her starting her journey into law enforcement and her mother and Dan’s seasoned status in their respective agencies.

The one item I loved about this book was the insertion of the Native American tales. Though it may not seem to relate to the murder investigation, there is a thread that was very impactful. It directly brought into play the heritage of Dan, his wife, and Chair Man as well as the victim Rosa.

All in all, this was an amazing hard-boiled detective mystery with a serial killer you are hoping against hope gets caught before he strikes yet again. Jance’s writing has that fast-paced movement you want with just enough pauses in the right places. I can honestly say I will be reading more from this author even if I am a little late to the party.

You start off with the prologue, all sweet and innocent. Then bam, straight into the action. I found this to be a well written, nicely paced story, like the other Jance stories I've read.

I loved reading the Indigenous Peoples stories. Beautiful Girl and the Hunter was my favorite one.

There were a few too many characters for me to keep track of the outliers.

Spoiler Alert: I did not care for Jenny's unwillingness to go to her mother for help with the case. Isnt' that what family is for?

Human remains have been found in Cochise County, Arizona, which means it’s a case for Sheriff Joanna Brady. It takes a while, but the remains are eventually identified as those of a missing Apache woman. Dan Pardee, the son-in-law of retired Sheriff Brandon Walker, is assigned to investigate the cause of death. Dan is a member of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People’s Task Force and is determined to get justice for this young woman. He could never have predicted how complex this case would get and how so many people would come together to help solve it.

Blessing of the Lost Girls combines characters from two of the author’s series, the Sheriff Joanna Brady series and the Walker Family Novels. I’ve read almost all of the Joanna Brady books but have only read one book in the Walker series, so it took me a bit to get caught up on who was who among the characters from that series. Otherwise, it works well as a standalone. In this book, Joanna actually plays less of a role than her daughter, Jenny, who is about to graduate from college with a degree in criminal justice. It was nice seeing the valuable contributions Jenny makes to the investigation, even if it was somewhat unrealistic that a student could outthink all of the seasoned members of law enforcement involved with the case.

I enjoyed the character of Dan Pardee, who is smart and dedicated to both his job and his family. It is refreshing that Dan has a supportive boss who backs his decisions and requests so the case can progress. The plot is interesting, seeing how the investigation unfolds. There are chapters told from the killer’s point-of-view, and his name is given near the beginning, so this isn’t a “whodunnit” but instead a cat-and-mouse chase between a predator and law enforcement. I also enjoyed the Arizona setting. I was familiar with some of the places, but the author’s descriptions are so vivid I could clearly picture even those I have never seen.

The author took a unique approach to the book by including some ancient stories from Arizona’s Tohono O’odham (translated as Desert People) Nation at the beginning of some of the chapters. The author gives interesting background information about these stories in the back of the book. She said she hoped readers wouldn’t skip over them to get to the main story, and I am glad I didn’t. In fact, one of the stories about “Beautiful Girl” and her brother “Hunter” was so good I actually wanted the chapters with only the main plot to move faster so I could find out what happened next with Beautiful Girl. The book as a whole comes to a satisfying conclusion, and I would be interested in reading more books featuring Dan Pardee.

~ Christine

“Blessing of the Lost Girls,” by J.A. Jance, William Morrow, 352 pages, Sept. 19, 2023.

Charles Milton drives an RV on the rodeo circuit in the Southwest. He is pleasant enough, but keeps to himself. Of course, no one knows he is a serial killer.

He attends collegiate and professional rodeos, moving from region to region. Milton chooses young indigenous women because of law enforcement’s history of ignoring their disappearances. He is meticulous in his methods, abducting, murdering, and disposing of his victims while leaving no evidence of his crimes—or their identities—behind.

Milton seems like such an average guy that his former neighbors are shocked when his photograph is on newscasts all over the country. His real name is Ronald J. Addison and he is wanted for six murders.

Cochise County Sheriff Joanna Brady is called to the scene when a homicide victim is found. The remains are eventually identified as Rosa Rios, who has been missing for three years. Federal investigator Dan Pardee, a field officer with the newly formed Missing and Murdered Indigenous People’s Task Force, is assigned to the case.

Joanna’s daughter Jennifer is also taking a personal interest in this case, having known Rosa from her own amateur rodeo days. Now a criminal justice major, she’s unofficially joining the investigation.

This is the 20th in the Joanna Brady series. It is fast-moving and suspenseful. The stories of the lore of Tohono O'odham Nation add to the modern-day mystery.

In accordance with FTC guidelines, the advance reader's edition of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

Good book. Engaging characters and a story that keeps readers interested. The Indian stories told alongside the main plot were an unexpected extra bit of folklore.

J.A. Jance's Sheriff Joanna Brady series set in Cochise County, Arizona, and her books about the Walker family in Tucson have been my favorites for years. There are some series that, when you read them, you feel as though you've come home, and this applies especially to Joanna Brady. Over the years, I've watched Joanna grow from a young widow and newly elected sheriff to a seasoned veteran with a new family. These characters have become my fictional family who just happen to live in one of my favorite (and well-traveled) corners of the world.

The author's Walker family books are also favorites. I love the Tucson setting and how Jance weaves Tohono O'odham legends into each book. When I learned that Blessing of the Lost Girls combined both the Bradys and the Walkers, I couldn't be happier, and I hope this is only the first book to see this blending.

From the first, readers know the identity of the serial killer. This story is about how he is caught and the people determined to bring him to justice. I am thrilled with the direction Jance is going with the character of Joanna Brady's oldest daughter, Jenny. Jenny has grown from a young girl crazy about her horse and barrel racing to a young woman about to graduate from college with a degree in criminal justice. When she realizes that she knows Rosa Rios, she doesn't hesitate to contact Dan Pardee with what she knows. She's also careful about how she helps with Pardee's investigation because she doesn't want to get her mother the sheriff in hot water.

The characters in this book are intelligent, and I enjoyed how they worked together to find a killer who'd been flying beneath the radar for years. Pardee, field officer with the newly formed Missing and Murdered Indigenous People's Task Force (MIP), is a strong presence who works hard to find the killer. I definitely want to see more of him.

This is also a book that celebrates diversity and blended families. One character faces moving into assisted living. The adjustments people had to make due to Covid are mentioned. These characters, these families, come from different cultures, different races, different physical abilities, and different ages, and they've blended into strong families that readers will feel a part of.

If you're worried about reading Blessing of the Lost Girls because you haven't read previous books about Joanna Brady or the Walker family, don't be. Jance does a skillful job of bringing everyone up to speed. Not to be missed are the two Afterwards at the end in which Jance explains her inclusion of Tohono O'odham stories in the book and her inspiration for one of the characters.

Character, story, setting... by all means, pick up a copy of this book. You will find yourself in the hands of a master... while I'm in the unenviable position of being forced to wait for more.

his review was originally posted on Books of My Heart


Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I have read all four series by J.A. Jance for a long time. I always recommend to read series in order. This Joanna Brady - Brandon Walker series is a spin-off of their two individual series. I have read both of those series so it was easy for me to start, already knowing all the characters. The naming of the series is bizarre because Brandon Walker won't really be in this series. I think this will be about his son-in-law Dan Pardee primarily.


The point of view here was primarily Dan Pardee, but a bit of the serial killer. Dan has left the Shadow Wolves where he was a border patrol agent. Now he is in a new group MIP - Missing / Murdered Indigenous Persons. It is a team of investigators with Native heritage looking for missing persons of that heritage.

The identification of a body which was burned and dumped a few years ago, starts a fresh look into the case as it has just been identified. More evidence comes about quickly in a unique way. Dan gets a tip and looks at similar cases finding young women of all heritage have disappeared or been murdered in the same methods. It feels like Dan is getting the information in a deluge without as much investigating on his part. The forensics gave him a big assist.

Joanna Brady was hardly in the story and that makes me sad because I really enjoy her. She and her family play a role though and we do get to catch up with them. There is nice background and family issues for Dan as well. His wife is dealing with care for her elderly mother. The personal aspects provide another layer and those layers add to the interest and complexity of Blessing of the Lost Girls.

I am a huge fan of J.A. Jance's books, especially the Joanna Brady series. That being said, this wasn't one of my favorites in that series.

There is a serial killer on the loose (not a spoiler as you know this right from the beginning). There are missing girls, mostly indigenous girls. When one of the girls' bodies is found, the race begins to find the killer. However, Joanna Brady is minimally involved in the case. Her daughter, Jenny, is also somewhat involved.

I feel like a lot more time was spent on introducing new characters and families of the characters than on the actual mystery. Joanna Brady is seldom heard from in this book, which is a huge disappointment for me as she is such a great character.. By the end of the book, however, the new characters were starting to grow on me, and the ending of the mystery portion of the story was very satisfying.

I hope that with the next novel there is a return to the characters we know and love, Joanna, Butch, and all the others.

Blessing of the Lost Girls by J. A. Jance is a great mystery featuring the Walker Family. It includes interesting Indian legends and stories.

Blessing of the Lost Girls by J A Jance is a story featuring Brandon Walker and Diana Ladd’s son-in-law, Dan Pardee, who has left the border patrol to work with a new Federal agency, MIP: Missing Indigenous Persons. An entire agency seemed to be called for as local police rarely seemed to take notice, often not even filing a report when an indigenous person was reported missing. He had been working on the case of Rosa Rios. She had been “taken” from a rodeo in Tucson. In his discussions with her mother, he had discovered that she had never turned over Rosa’s dental records to the authorities. These same dental records turned out to match a burned out skeleton found in the desert and started the journey that would lead Dan Pardee to capturing her killer.

Jance’s writing style leads one through the investigation, one clue at a time. These clues often come from various sources and would never have seen the light of day if not for someone like Pardee. Jance believes people, most people, are good and willing to help where they can. Skills make a difference and not everyone has the necessary ones. It was a complex plot, chasing a serial killer over years and through many states, while at the same time his wife, Lani, was dealing with her mother who had fallen apart after her husband’s death during the pandemic as well as the death of her son. Fortunately she was capable and believed in what he was doing and lent counsel and support, mostly over the telephone, as Dan chased this murderer. It was a comfortable novel for Jance fans with many characters reappearing that we’ve read before. People get older and they change or not. Fascinating way her mind works.

I was invited to read a free e-ARC of Blessing of the Lost Girls by William Morrow, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #WilliamMorrow #JAJance #BlessingOfTheLostGirls

I’ve read every single JA Jance book there is for a reason and this one didn’t disappoint. A few years ago, I read one of her Joanna Brady series books, not realizing it was a series. When I ended up reading a second one and a JP Beaumont series book, I was hooked. I love how all of her different series intertwine. I started researching the author and made a list of all of her books in order of publication. I felt like this way I could get the full effect when one of her series characters appeared in a different series. The Joanna Brady series is probably my favorite of all of them, so when I saw that this newest book was a Joanna Brady/Walker Family combination, I was excited.

With the storyline of this book, I feel like she is setting things up for even more books with this partnership. I love books where we get to know the characters and see how they grow and change through the years. When they start as children, this is even more fun for me, and this novel had that in the characters.

The serial killer storyline itself was great. As with the other Walker Family books, the Native American folklore is incorporated into the story which gives them a bit of a difference than most of the books on the market. I love that we see Jennifer Brady coming into herself and I expect to see far more of her as the years go on. I would not be surprised if she ends up with a series of her own.

If you’ve never read a JA Jance book before, this isn’t the one to start with, but it’s definitely one to read. While it could be read as a stand-alone book, her books are definitely better if read in order of publication. Go start at the beginning and make your way through all of them. Get to know the characters and enjoy the ride.

To the publisher/editor (left out of public reviews): I did notice several inconsistencies in the story. I am assuming these will be corrected during final edits, but thought I would mention in case they might be helpful.

1. Kindle Location 1553-1554 chapter 16: “It sounds like Eddie’s a bit of a jerk, but you’re still giving him a pass?” There was nothing about Eddie being a jerk in previous text. It does come out later some of the things he had done, but at that point, none of those things had been told to the reader.

2. Location 1855 chapter 18: “Charlie paid extra to have a search engine that automatically deleted his online history.” This is a basic option in all browser settings. You don’t need to pay extra for a special browser for this.

3. Location 2270 chapter 21: “two rodeo-connected attacks, both of them featuring either manual strangulation or attempted manual strangulation” At this point in the book, it was not known that the attacks were both manual strangulation.

4. Locations 3045 and 3053, chapter 30: “As soon as I told them what had happened, they bought me a plane ticket home to Salt Lake.” … “‘Did you tell your parents what had happened?’ ‘Not at first,’ Michelle admitted.” These two paragraphs on the same page contradict each other.

5. Location 3893 chapter 39: “Let’s hope you do more than thing” Thing should be think.

6. Location 3969-3970 chapter 41: “She had a very specific way in which she wanted this conversation to go, and she didn’t intent to talk to anyone other than the guy she’d seen on tv the day before. If she couldn’t speak directly to Dan Pardee, she wouldn’t talk to anybody..” It would make more sense to have this before the last chapter since she made the call in the last chapter.

This was a solid serial killer mystery set in the present-day southwestern United States. Blessing of the Lost Girls combines J.A. Jance’s Brady and Walker family series, and includes quite a bit of backstory and family history, especially at the beginning. Although I am very familiar with Joanna Brady and her family, I have never read any of the Walker family stories. Despite this unfamiliarity, I would rather have just taken the Walkers as presented in this story without all the complicated family history. It interrupted the otherwise smooth and intense flow of the story. The characters were so fully formed in this novel that the detail seemed unnecessary.

Despite the detailed family tree explanations, the story of the serial killer targeting mainly young indigenous women was timely and compelling. After a quick, grisly start, the first third was a bit slow, mainly due to all the family history. But it quickly picked up and I stayed up late last night to read the final 75 pages.

A very good read, especially for J.A. Jance’s many fans.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this novel.

Federal investigator, Dan Pardee investigates the cases of missing Indian people. Women have been coming up dead and missing after going to rodeos. Sheriff Joanna Brady’s daughter, Jenny, a criminal justice major may have information to help crack the case.
This was a good story with many great characters. It had me quickly flipping the pages.
Thanks NetGalley and William Morrow for this ARC that will be released September 19, 2023!

While I enjoyed this book I hope it does not signal the end of the Joanna Brady series. Characters are interesting however crime was solved rather easily. There are several interwoven stories about minor characters. Indian stories were interesting. Afterwords provide interesting and educational explanations.

This story focuses on missing and murdered indigenous women. A new agency has been created headed by Dan Pardee. There is a great cast of characters and a mystery that will have you turning the pages to see what will happen next, thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

This was a great mystery with good characters and a page-turner plot. Once I got past the family tree of names and connections in the beginning, I couldn't put this book down. Dan Pardee is a new addition to the government's Missing and Murdered Indigenous People's Task Force and when a set of bones is discovered near his home area, he sets out to try to solve the crime. A parallel storyline follows the serial killer who preys on young women he finds at rodeos. This was a page-turner for me and I really enjoyed the plot twists. The book is described as a Brady and Walker novel but that is a little misleading. Joanna Brady is a minor character and Dan Pardee is a Walker relative. It is a really good story, however, and I highly recommend it. Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in return for my honest review.

Blessing of the Lost Girls: A Brady and Walker Family Novel by J. A. Jance is an engrossing read currently scheduled to be published on September 19th. One should make sure to read both of the afterwords as they are very important to the context of the story.

Readers are first introduced to Charlie Milton and it is clear very soon that he is a really bad guy. One of those guys that neighbors always say afterwards during media interviews that the guy was odd and just didn’t fit in right with other folks.

It is February 2019 as the book begins and Charlie Milton is in town for the Tucson Rodeo. Charlie Milton is a serial killer. He likes to hunt for the right victim. He has a type. He prefers women of color, especially those from Indian reservations. He counts on law enforcement arguing over which agency should handle the missing person case which means the case went cold long before it ever started. That works well for serial killers like Charlie Milton. Once he has killed, he soon hits the road in his RF and drifts to the next place.

What he didn’t count on was that fact that DNA from a kill he did several years ago would make its way into the system in 2022. It did. Field Officer Dan Pardee works for a new federal agency, Missing and Murdered Indigenous People’s Task Force. Known as “MIP,” they are part of the Department of The Interior. Their mission is to work cases involving the disappearances and deaths of Native Americans.

Dan Pardee, an investigator with a background in Border Patrol, is assigned the case of Rosa Rios. With the DNA match, it makes it clear to everyone that it was her charred body was found three years ago on a rancher’s land in the jurisdiction of Sheriff Joanna Brady of Cochise County. He is going to work the case. He will need Sheriff’s Brady’s help in bringing justice and, hopefully, a little peace to her family.

What follows is a complicated read. Dan Pardee is the focus, but Brady and her family make a number of appearances in this very enjoyable read. A tale that also, in addition to providing a complicated and enjoyable mystery, brings attention to what has been going on for decades for missing indigenous women. Complicated and fast moving, Blessing of the Lost Girls: A Brady and Walker Family Novel by J. A. Jance is well worth your time and attention.

My reading copy came by way of a NetGalley ARC with no expectation of a review.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2023

A mix of characters with Joana Brady as side character. A long ago mystery solved by a new male character. Really interesting read. Realistic Indian characters