This book is everything Cover Her Face is not. And that is not a compliment. I've read every book in this series for one reason, and one reason only: they are set in Southern Arizona. In the past that has been enough to keep me entertained, but I think this most recent entry in the series may be the last one I read.

The main character is the sheriff of Cochise County (where Tombstone and Bisbee are located) and is the first female sheriff in Arizona (still a fictional construct, alas). While she seems competent enough, she never uses her brain to solve any of the crimes she is faced with. Instead, she always makes an intuitive leap and requires the deputies she works with to follow her lead. I would rather see her collect, organize and analyze information in order to figure out who has murdered whom and for her deputies to follow her simply because she's the boss. But that doesn't happen. I suppose there is some sort of point here about women viewing the world differently from men, but it isn't forcefully put forward.

For fans of the series, there is a lot of character development in this book. Issues between Joanna and her mother, Joanna and her fiance, Joanna and her daughter, and Joanna and her new in-laws are dealt with in interesting ways.

In the end, the resolution to the mystery is not fair. It isn't until after the sheriff solves the mystery (via yet another intuitive leap) that the reader learns about a whole slew of clues that weren't mentioned previously.

This book seriously annoyed me.