Random Acts: A Joanna Brady and Ali Reynolds Novella by J. A. Jance

Joanna is pregnant and worrying about her reelection as sheriff.  Her daughter and her husband are a bit worried about it, too, but they are being supportive.  She sure didn't need to get a phone call telling her that her mother and stepfather had been in accident.  George died, mom was in the hospital and it didn't look good.  She and her husband drop everything and head for the hospital her mother is in...

Witness Impulse and Edelweiss gave me the opportunity to read this book for review (thank you). It's being published today.

When Joanna and her husband arrive, they get bad news that her mother has passed on also.  Joanna is not going to take this laying down.  She gets on the phone with the local sheriff and gets permission to work with the local law to help solve this case.  Her family had no enemies.  Her mother's last words were "red dot".  She understands that is a laser sight from a rifle and tells the cop that.  He thinks it was just a traffic accident due to a medical condition until the finds the bullet holes...

Looking for a random killer isn't easy, and Joanna asks her friend Ali for help.  Top surveillance teams are hard to find, but Ali's got one.  She's also a friend and helps quickly.

I like both of these characters of Ms. Jance.  They are strong women who use their brains and their expertise to succeed at their goals.  If you haven't met them yet, check out the series on them.  There's some real good reading there.

In this case, Ali does help find the killer.  It was a silly sad thing and all the deaths involved were needless.  Joanna is going have to do some damage control in the next book.  She still has an election to get through and the will is going to cause a problem...