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Order of J.A. Jance Books
Imagine being told you couldn’t write because you were the wrong gender. Now imagine spending decades proving the world wrong — one bestselling murder mystery at a time. That’s Judith Ann Jance for you, known to her legions of loyal readers as J.A. Jance. Born on October 27, 1944, in Watertown, South Dakota, she didn't just defy expectations — she torched them with a burning pen dipped in suspense and human insight.
The Woman Behind the Pen
Raised in Bisbee, Arizona, Jance grew up in a copper-mining town surrounded by secrets, silence, and shadows — the perfect ingredients for a future mystery writer. But even though her heart throbbed with stories, her path to literary stardom was blocked right from the start. When she applied to the University of Arizona’s Creative Writing program in the 1960s, a professor told her bluntly that women couldn’t write fiction. (Yes, really.)
She wasn’t accepted into the program — but she wasn't defeated either.
Instead, she earned a Bachelor’s in English and Secondary Education in 1966, and later a Master’s in Library Science in 1970. For a time, she worked as a librarian, then as an English teacher on a Native American reservation, and finally, as an insurance saleswoman — all while quietly feeding the fire of fiction inside her.
That fire would eventually explode into a literary career spanning over 60 books, four major series, and millions of fans worldwide.
Turning Pain into Power
Jance’s stories aren't just masterclasses in mystery — they’re stitched together with raw human emotion and experience. Much of her early writing was born out of deep personal pain. Her first husband, an alcoholic, died of complications related to the disease, and she found herself raising two children alone. But instead of breaking under the weight, she poured that pain into words — powerful, suspenseful, heart-wrenching words that readers couldn’t put down.
She wrote her first novel in the pre-dawn hours, in secret, on a dinosaur of a typewriter, after putting her kids to bed. And when “Until Proven Guilty” hit the shelves in 1985 — introducing the iconic Detective J.P. Beaumont — the literary world had no idea what had just hit it.
The Irony?
The very professor who once told her she couldn’t write fiction likely saw her books in every major bookstore, airport, and library from coast to coast. J.A. Jance became a New York Times bestselling author — not once or twice, but dozens of times. And the kicker? She still lives in Seattle, a place she has turned into a noir-infused landscape for her fictional crime sprees.
More Than Just Mysteries
Sure, Jance writes gripping plots, unpredictable twists, and complex crimes — but it’s her characters that sink their teeth into your soul. From the tortured but tough J.P. Beaumont, to the razor-sharp Sheriff Joanna Brady, to the mystical Walker Family in her thrillers with a Native American edge — her heroes don’t just solve crimes. They confront demons, both external and internal.
She writes about justice — and also about healing. Her books don’t just make you turn the page — they make you look inward.
Today, Jance Is…
Still writing. Still breaking barriers. Still turning trauma into page-turners.
She’s a survivor. A trailblazer. A literary rebel who once wasn’t allowed in the writing program and now teaches the world how to write from the soul.
She’s proof that rejection isn’t the end of the story — it’s just the best kind of beginning.
So if you haven’t read J.A. Jance yet, just know — once you start, you won’t stop. Because behind every murder mystery she writes is a life story more gripping than fiction.
Publication Order of Series Books
Publication Order of Ali Reynolds
| Title | Year | Amazon Links |
|---|---|---|
| Edge of Evil | 2005 | Amazon |
| Web of Evil | 2007 | Amazon |
| Hand of Evil | 2007 | Amazon |
| Cruel Intent | 2008 | Amazon |
| Trial by Fire | 2009 | Amazon |
| Fatal Error | 2011 | Amazon |
| Left for Dead | 2012 | Amazon |
| Deadly Stakes | 2013 | Amazon |
| Moving Target | 2014 | Amazon |
| Cold Betrayal | 2015 | Amazon |
| No Honor Among Thieves (Short Story) | 2015 | Amazon |
| Clawback | 2016 | Amazon |
| Man Overboard | 2017 | Amazon |
| Duel to the Death | 2018 | Amazon |
| The A List | 2019 | Amazon |
| Credible Threat | 2020 | Amazon |
| Unfinished Business | 2021 | Amazon |
| Collateral Damage | 2023 | Amazon |
| OverKill | 2025 | Amazon |
Publication Order of Brandon Walker
| Title | Year | Amazon Links |
|---|---|---|
| Hour of the Hunter | 1991 | Amazon |
| Kiss of the Bees | 2000 | Amazon |
| Day of the Dead | 2004 | Amazon |
| Queen of the Night | 2010 | Amazon |
| Dance of the Bones | 2015 | Amazon |
| Blessing of the Lost Girls | 2023 | Amazon |
Publication Order of J.P. Beaumont
| Title | Year | Amazon Links |
|---|---|---|
| Until Proven Guilty | 1985 | Amazon |
| Injustice For All | 1986 | Amazon |
| Trial by Fury | 1986 | Amazon |
| Taking the Fifth | 1987 | Amazon |
| Improbable Cause | 1988 | Amazon |
| A More Perfect Union | 1988 | Amazon |
| Dismissed with Prejudice | 1989 | Amazon |
| Minor in Possession | 1990 | Amazon |
| Payment In Kind | 1991 | Amazon |
| Without Due Process | 1992 | Amazon |
| Failure to Appear | 1993 | Amazon |
| Lying in Wait | 1994 | Amazon |
| Name Withheld | 1996 | Amazon |
| Breach Of Duty | 1999 | Amazon |
| Birds of Prey | 2001 | Amazon |
| Partner in Crime | 2002 | Amazon |
| Long Time Gone | 2005 | Amazon |
| Justice Denied | 2007 | Amazon |
| Fire and Ice | 2009 | Amazon |
| Betrayal of Trust | 2011 | Amazon |
| Second Watch | 2013 | Amazon |
| Ring In the Dead | 2013 | Amazon |
| Dance of the Bones | 2015 | Amazon |
| Proof of Life | 2017 | Amazon |
| Sins of the Fathers | 2019 | Amazon |
| Nothing to Lose | 2022 | Amazon |
| Den of Iniquity | 2024 | Amazon |
Publication Order of Joanna Brady Books in Chronological Order
| Title | Year | Amazon Links |
|---|---|---|
| Desert Heat | 1993 | Amazon |
| Tombstone Courage | 1994 | Amazon |
| Shoot Don't Shoot | 1995 | Amazon |
| Dead to Rights | 1997 | Amazon |
| Skeleton Canyon | 1997 | Amazon |
| Rattlesnake Crossing | 1998 | Amazon |
| Outlaw Mountain | 1999 | Amazon |
| Devil's Claw | 2001 | Amazon |
| Paradise Lost | 2001 | Amazon |
| Partner in Crime | 2002 | Amazon |
| Exit Wounds | 2003 | Amazon |
| Dead Wrong | 2006 | Amazon |
| Damage Control | 2008 | Amazon |
| Fire and Ice | 2009 | Amazon |
| Judgment Call | 2012 | Amazon |
| Remains of Innocence | 2014 | Amazon |
| Downfall | 2016 | Amazon |
| Field of Bones | 2018 | Amazon |
| Missing and Endangered | 2021 | Amazon |
| Blessing of the Lost Girls | 2023 | Amazon |
Publication Order of Standalone Novels
| Title | Year | Amazon Links |
|---|---|---|
| After the Fire | 1984 | Amazon |