Concrete Desert

By Jon Talton

Having 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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
• Release date: Jan 31, 2010
• ISBN: 9781615952083

Jon Talton

Jon Talton is a fourth-generation Arizonan who grew up in the same neighbourhood that Mapstone calls home. He is the author of nine novels, including the Mapstone mysteries, The Pain Nurse and Deadline Man.

Reviews for Concrete Desert

[smithfieldjones · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The characters keep you reading, the plot leads you on but you enjoy the language so much there is no hurry to get to the climax and end. Jon Talton is a terrific writer. Written in 2001, Concrete Desert is the first of a series about a different and interesting protagonist named David Mapstone--out of work History Professor back in his old slot of Deputy Sheriff--only temporarily--and working a cold-case and a new murder, Mapstone is the new denizen of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office under his old boss Chief Deputy Mike Peralta. The entrance back into his life of a long-ago love of his life not only stirs the pot, but adds just the right flavor for a great mystery story. Well written, good read and when done you can't wait to find a copy of Camelback Falls to see what trouble Talton has in store for Mapstone (and Peralta)--all for your reading pleasure.

[mchenrysplace · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The characters keep you reading, the plot leads you on but you enjoy the language so much there is no hurry to get to the climax and end. Jon Talton is a terrific writer. Written in 2001, Concrete Desert is the first of a series about a different and interesting protagonist named David Mapstone--out of work History Professor back in his old slot of Deputy Sheriff--only temporarily--and working a cold-case and a new murder, Mapstone is the new denizen of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office under his old boss Chief Deputy Mike Peralta. The entrance back into his life of a long-ago love of his life not only stirs the pot, but adds just the right flavor for a great mystery story. Well written, good read and when done you can't wait to find a copy of Camelback Falls to see what trouble Talton has in store for Mapstone (and Peralta)--all for your reading pleasure.

[seasidereader · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I like to "discover" new authors who set their work in the southwest. Talton succeeds in making his love-hate realtionship with Phoenix compelling, but fails badly in constructing believable characters or plot.