New York Times bestselling author J. A. Jance is an American author who wrote various mystery and thriller series, including the J.P. Beaumont series, the Joanna Brady books, the Ali Reynolds series, and the Walker Family series, followed by her latest Joanna Brady and Brandon Walker series which bring characters together from two of her popular mystery novels series.
Here is the list of the J A Jance books in order for each of the series the author has written.
Latest J. A. Jance Books
J. P. Beaumont Books in Publication Order
- Until Proven Guilty, 1985
- Injustice for All, 1986
- Trial by Fury, 1986
- Taking the Fifth, 1988
- Improbable Cause, 1987
- A More Perfect Union, 1988
- Dismissed with Prejudice, 1989
- Minor in Possession, 1990
- Payment in Kind, 1991
- Without Due Process, 1992
- Failure to Appear, 1993
- Lying in Wait, 1994
- Name Withheld, 1996
- Breach of Duty, 1999
- Birds of Prey, 2001
- Partner in Crime, 2002
- Long Time Gone, 2005
- Justice Denied, 2007
- Fire and Ice, 2009
- Betrayal of Trust, 2011
- Second Watch, 2013
- Dance of the Bones, 2015
- Proof of Life, 2017
- Sins of the Fathers, 2019
- Nothing to Lose, 2022
- Den of Iniquity, 2024
J. P. Beaumont Short Stories in Publication Order
- Ring in the Dead (#20.5), 2013
- Stand Down (#21.5), 2015
- Still Dead (#22.5), 2017
- Girls’ Night Out (#25.5), 2024
Joanna Brady Books in Order of Publication
- Desert Heat, 1993
- Tombstone Courage, 1994
- Shoot Don’t Shoot, 1995
- Dead to Rights, 1996
- Skeleton Canyon, 1997
- Rattlesnake Crossing, 1998
- Outlaw Mountain, 1999
- Devil’s Claw, 2001
- Paradise Lost, 2001
- Partner in Crime, 2002
- Exit Wounds, 2003
- Dead Wrong, 2006
- Damage Control, 2008
- Fire and Ice, 2009
- Judgment Call, 2012
- Remains of Innocence, 2014
- Downfall, 2016
- Field of Bone, 2018
- Missing and Endangered, 2021
- Blessing of the Lost Girls, 2023
Joanna Brady Short Stories in Publication Order
- The Old Blue Line (#15.5), 2014
- No Honor Among Thieves (#16.5), 2015
- Random Acts (#16.6), 2016
Ali Reynolds Books in Publication Order
- Edge of Evil, 2005
- Web of Evil, 2007
- Hand of Evil, 2007
- Cruel Intent, 2009
- Trial By Fire, 2009
- Fatal Error, 2011
- Left for Dead, 2012
- Deadly Stakes, 2013
- Moving Target, 2014
- Cold Betraya, 2015
- Clawback, 2016
- Man Overboard, 2017
- Duel To Death, 2018
- The A List, 2019
- Credible Threat, 2020
- Unfinished Business, 2021
- Collateral Damage, 2023
- OverKill, 2025
Ali Reynolds Short Stories in Publication Order
- A Last Goodbye (#9.5), 2014
- No Honor Among Thieves (#10.5), 2015
- Random Acts (#11.5), 2016
Walker Family Mysteries Books in Publication Order
- Hour of the Hunter, 1991
- Kiss of the Bees, 1993
- Day of the Dead, 2005
- Queen of the Night, 2010
- Dance of the Bones, 2015
Standalone Novels in Publication Order
- Naked Came the Phoenix, 2001 (with Nevada Barr, Mary Jane Clark, Diana Gabaldon, Faye Kellerman, Laurie R King, Val McDermid, Pam and Mary O’Shaughnessy, Anne Perry, Nancy Pickard, J D Robb, Lisa Scottoline, Marcia Talley)
- No Rest for the Dead, 2011 (with Jeff Abbott, Lori Armstrong,David Baldacci,Sandra Brown, Thomas H Cook,Jeffery Deaver, Diana Gabaldon,Tess Gerritsen, Andrew F Gulli, Lamia Gulli,Peter James, Faye Kellerman,Raymond Khoury,John Lescroart,Jeff Lindsay, Gayle Lynds, Alexander McCall Smith, Phillip Margolin, Michael Palmer, T Jefferson Parker, Matthew Pearl,Kathy Reichs, Marcus Sakey,Jonathan Santlofer,Lisa Scottoline, R L Stine, Marcia Talley)
Novellas and Short Stories in Publication Order
- Taking the Veil, 2018(withEric Van Lustbader)
Short Story Collections and Anthologies in Publication Order
- 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 (with Dorothy Cannell, Nancy Pickard, and Ann Perry, Lilian Jackson Braun)
- Murder on Route 66, 1999
- The World’s Finest Mystery and Crime Stories, 2000
- After the Fire, 2001 (poetry)
- First Cases 4, 2002
- A Moment on the Edge, 2002 (edited by Elizabeth George)
- Dangerous Women, 2004
- Bark M for Murder, 2006 (with Lee Charles Kelley, Virginia Lanier, Chassie West)
- The Deadly Bride and 21 of the Year’s Finest Crime and Mystery Stories: Volume II, 2006
- Suspense Magazine January 2010, 2010
- The J. A. Jance Casebook, 2011
- The Mystery Writers: Interviews and Advice, 2012
- Mystery Writers of America Presents Ice Cold: Tales of Intrigue from the Cold War, 2014 (edited by Jeffery Deaver)
- MatchUp, 2017 (edited byLee Child)
Nonfiction Books
J.A. Jance Biography – About the Author
New York Times bestselling author Judith Ann Jance (pen name J.A. Jance) was born in Watertown, South Dakota. As a child, she moved with her family to Bisbee, Arizona, where she grew up.
In 1962 she graduated from Bisbee High School, from where she received a scholarship allowing her to attend the University of Arizona. She graduated from here in 1966 with a degree in English and Secondary Education.
Before starting her writing career, JA Jancehad several jobs, including that of being a school librarian on a Native American reservation, a teacher, and an insurance salesperson.
It was during her time selling insurance that she started to write, in the middle of the night, as her day job and her kids wouldn’t give her much time to write during the day. Talk about ambition – which thankfully helped her push on so that she could finally realize her dream of becoming a full-time writer – of successful books, nonetheless.
An interesting fact is that the J.A. Jance Joanna Brady book series is taking place in Arizona, the very place where the author grew up.
I totally admire this author. Over the years she realized that everything that happened to her, the good and the bad, could be used in her writing. Having lived with an alcoholic first husband shaped part of who she is now. The author’s words on this:
The eighteen years I spent while married to an alcoholic have helped shape the experience and character of Detective J. P. Beaumont. My experiences as a single parent have gone into the background for Joanna Brady.
show just how much she has learned over the years – and learned to put that experience to good use. I would dare to think that writing these books was also a cleansing experience for the author. Kudos to her.
While the order of the books by J.A. Jance is pretty clear, you do need to pay attention to the fact that some of the books intersect between the various series (e.g. Partner in Crime is book #16 in the J.P. Beaumont series and #10 in the Joanna Brady book series). Whenever such a crossover happens, I will mention it in brackets next to the relevant book.
To read the J.A. Jance books in order, I suggest you start with the J. P. Beaumont series, which began in 1985. As I mentioned above, the series will cross at some point, and it’s interesting to follow the main characters interacting to solve various crimes.
However, my favorite series of crime stories is the J.A. Jance Ali Reynolds series. I can somehow much more relate to Ali’s female character than with, say, Beaumont or Walker. The series started in 2006 with Edge of Evil, which was also the first book I’ve picked up in the series to read.
Ali is a40+ former TV journalist who is currently living in Sedona, Arizona. Her age greatly contributed to her being kicked out of her job since broadcasting executives wanted someone younger in her place, and wanted a younger face on the TV to say the news.
So Ali goes home to her husband, a famous media mogul, only to realize that he also has replaced her in his life with a much younger female version. So finally she packs her bags and goes home to Sedona to pick up the broken pieces of her life once again, not to mention to help her friend’s family after learning that one of her best friends died.
I found it interesting to read about her starting her own blog. I don’t exactly remember whether in 2006 blogging was as big as it is now.
In Man Overboard, Ali Reynolds book #12, published in 2017, Ali is now more of an amateur private detective. She gets involved in a case where cybersecurity expert Roger McGeary falls down the balcony of a cruising yacht. The police don’t give much thought to his death, so Roger’s aunt, Julia, asks Ali, and Stuart Ramey, who is Roger’s childhood pal, to help find out what exactly happened to Roger.
The serial killer who targeted Roger is also after other people who have lost their parents to suicide. In this book, an AI (artificial intelligence) is used, sadly, for evil. When the killer targets Stuart as well, Ali, with the help of her company, High Noon Enterprises, has to stop the killer before it is too late for Stuart.
In The A List, we meet once again Ali, this time investigating a rather common theme in our modern times: the fraudulent activities of a doctor’s use of his own sperm for artificial insemination. This is a theme that has been touched upon several times ever since DNA has been used to research a person’s ancestry. Dr. Edward Gilchris used to be a rather popular doctor who helped people with artificial insemination back when DNA procedures were not as known as now. It turns out that he actually used his own sperm as a donor for people without kids.
What nobody knew, however, was that he has a genetic kidney defect which has been passed down to some of the children he created using his own sperm. The story is really contemporary in theme, especially since these days practically everyone can find out about their own ancestry from various online places with with a small cost and effort.
Looking back to the first Ali Reynolds books, it was interesting to see the author’s development of technology in her books. She initially started with Ali writing her first blog post. Now, we’re at cyberbullying and even at sophisticated AIs and genetic manipulation.
J.A Jance Awards and Nominations
New York Times bestselling author J. A. Jance received or was nominated for the following awards:
- Dilys Awards Best Book nominee in 1992 for Hour of the Hunter
