She writes three series of novels, centering on retired Seattle Police Department Detective J. P. Beaumont, Arizona County Sheriff Joanna Brady, and former Los Angeles news anchor turned mystery solver Ali Reynolds.

Jance was born in Watertown, South Dakota,[2] and raised in Bisbee, Arizona (the setting for her Joanna Brady series of novels).

Before becoming an author, she worked as a school librarian on a Native American reservation (Tohono O'Odham), and as a teacher and insurance agent.

[3] In July 2018, The Strand Magazine gave Jance its Lifetime Achievement Award to recognize her contributions to the field of crime fiction.

[5] Jance uses her initials for her pen name because a publisher told her that disclosing her gender would be a liability for a book about a male detective.