Concrete Desert (David Mapstone Mysteries, 1)

Concrete Desert (David Mapstone Mysteries, 1)

Review"The perfect setting for private eyes used to be the urban jungle, rife with alienation and secrets. More recently, though, such writers as Tony Hillerman and Nevada Barr have opened up regions of landscape, history, and soul previously unexplored by the detective novel. Talton's summer mystery, a first novel, shows how fertile the desert can be as mystery setting...A stunning debut." (starred review) (Booklist)"[Talton's] economical style and fast pacing keep the story flowing, and the dialogue is intelligent and realistic. The Phoenix setting is particularly strong, with wonderful and succinct descriptions of a city in flux...more intelligent and rewarding than most contemporary mysteries." (Washington Post)"Talton's summer mystery, a first novel, shows how fertile the desert can be as a mystery setting... A stunning debut." -Booklist STARRED reviewHaving recently lost his job as a history professor, David Mapstone returns to his boyhood home of Phoenix, Arizona, to find the city dramatically changed. It's now a haven for wealthy retirees and a seasonal retreat for West Coast "sophisticates," but pockets of his earlier life-some welcome, some not-remain. Mapstone eagerly accepts a temporary job from his old friend, Maricopa County Chief Deputy Mike Peralta: look into still-open cases and see if he can close any. He is settling into his new job when his college sweetheart appears at his door one evening. True to his memory of her, she is there because she wants something. Her sister is missing, and she wants Mapstone to look for her.Mapstone's search for the missing woman is quickly resolved when her body is discovered in the desert, but he is stunned to find the dead sister in circumstances identical to a sensational 40-year-old unsolved murder. Mapstone's dogged investigation of both murders bridges the chasm of clashing cultures, meshing his own long-ago memories with the tangled doings of newcomers and their acolytes, young women eager to share the lifestyle of tainted wealth, drugs, and careless violence.About the AuthorJon Talton is a fourth-generation Arizonan, the author of 12 novels, and a former columnist for the Arizona Republic. Talton now lives in Seattle, where he is the economics columnist for the Seattle Times and writes the blog Rogue Columnist.