Judgment Call by J A Jance

A high school principal goes missing not long after an irate student posts a nasty video about her on the Internet. Sheriff Joanna Brady and her team in Bisbee, Arizona are trying to track down the woman's whereabouts when Joanna's daughter comes across the body while riding her horse. When it turns out that the dead woman had been living under an assumed name, the investigative team isn't sure where to turn. Then another body turns up. Judgment Call is full of interesting turns, as Joanna Brady--sheriff, wife and mother--tries to apprehend the killer(s), placate her tightly wound mother, take care of her (let me just say very understanding) husband and kids--and do it all without much sleep. I like this series by J A Jance. Joanna comes off as a realistic working mom. She has issues with her mother, her teenage daughter has issues with her. She's trying to juggle family and career--and constantly trying to prove wrong the critics who say that a woman can't be a sheriff. The case itself is interesting--as is the twist at the end involving Joanna's late father, the former sheriff.