City of Dark Corners: A Novel

By Jon Talton

"Talton shines in weaving together the mystery elements of the plots with historical events from the Prohibition period. Fast-paced, gritty, and exciting, this one will have fans of both Depression-era and southwestern-set crime fiction begging for more!"

—Booklist, Starred Review

A fresh take on classic noir, City of Dark Corners reveals the seedy underbelly of the budding city of Phoenix in the 1930s and the lengths one man will go to uphold justice no matter the cost.

Phoenix, 1933: A young city with big dreams and dark corners

Great War veteran and rising star Gene Hammons lost his job as a homicide detective when he tried to prove that a woman was wrongly convicted of murder to protect a well-connected man. Now a private investigator, Hammons makes his living looking for missing persons—a plentiful caseload during the Great Depression, when people seem to disappear all the time.

But his routine is disrupted when his brother—another homicide detective, still on the force—enlists his help looking into the death of a young woman whose dismembered body is found beside the railroad tracks. The sheriff rules it an accident, but the carnage is too neat, and the staging of the body parts too ritual. Hammons suspects it's the work of a "lust murderer"—similar to the serial strangler whose killing spree he had ended a few years earlier. But who was the poor girl, dressed demurely in pink? And why was his business card tucked into her small purse? As Hammons searches for the victim's identity, he discovers that the dead girl had some secrets of her own, and that the case is connected to some of Phoenix's most powerful citizens—on both sides of the law.

Perfect for fans of David Baldacci and historical mysteries, City of Dark Corners puts readers at the heart of the fear and uncertainty of the Great Depression and the lawlessness of America during prohibition.

Additional praise for City of Dark Corners:

"This gritty stand-alone deals with Phoenix's rough-and-tumble past and its questionable police force in the 1930s. Talton excels at creating the ambiance of historic Phoenix. [Suggested] for fans of realistic historical mysteries or Phoenix Noir."

—Library Journal, Starred Review

"References to movie actors and other celebrities of the day, as well as speakeasies and bootleggers, lend atmosphere to this well-crafted tale involving desperate people who could easily disappear."

—Publishers Weekly

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sourcebooks
• Release date: May 11, 2021
• ISBN: 9781464213274

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 City of Dark Corners

[edgoldberg · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

City of Dark Corners takes place in 1933 Phoenix, Arizona. Gene Hammons was the ace homicide cop on the Phoenix police force who solved the University Park Strangler case. However, he didn’t toe the party line on a sensational murder and was kicked off the force. Now he’s a private detective, eking out a living during the Depression. Hammons’ older brother, Don, is still on the force and brings him to the scene of a ‘suspicious death’ just on the Phoenix side of the railroad tracks. The theory is that the girl committed suicide by jumping off the train. But, how could this be anything but murder when the body has been dismembered, the pieces dressed in new clothes and laid out in a ritualistic manner. Additionally, the victim’s wounds aren’t consistent with being thrown under the wheels of a train. Equally disturbing is the fact that the woman had nothing in her purse except Gene’s business card and he had no idea who she was. Is someone trying to set Gene up for murder, and if so, why?The police are doing nothing to investigate the ‘suspicious death’ as the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce doesn’t want crime to scare away the tourists. As a result, it is up to Hammons, along with his girlfriend, photographer Victoria Vasquez, to investigate the dismembered body. As they gather evidence, several suspects emerge, including the girl’s ex-boyfriend and a crooked cop. It also appears she was not as innocent as everyone says she was. But Hammons also has the feeling he’s being followed and, at times, played. Are Gene and Victoria putting their lives in danger to get at the truth?Talton includes flashbacks to Gene’s tracking and capture of the University Park Strangler which provides insights into his investigative methods.As I mentioned earlier, City of Dark Corners definitely has that 1930s/1940s pulp feel to it. As a matter of fact, the author includes a Note on Language, stating that he is using the vernacular of the era, which include racial epithets and references to ethnicity and gender that would be considered highly offensive today.But Talton has created an empathetic character in Gene Hammons, one who readers will like and root for. There is some violence and a lot of action, none of which is gratuitous. Talton shines in weaving together of the mystery with The Great War, the Depression, hoboes and Hoovervilles, the migration west, Prohibition and organized crime. But these were the signs of those times. In addition, some well known dignitaries and crime bosses of the time are characters in the book, all lending atmosphere to the story.I don’t know if Gene Hammons and crew are the beginnings of a new series, but I’d be happy if they are. Talton is a breath of fresh air in an overly crowded American mystery scene.

[rowingrabbit · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

You know the movie that plays in your head while you read? This is a book you’ll be watching in black & white. Dark city streets, Packards driven by men in fedoras & plenty of cigarette smoke….all of this transports you to 1930’s Phoenix. It’s like many American towns…..reeling from the Great Depression & not even able to (legally) drown its sorrows due to Prohibition. It’s in this setting we meet brothers Gene & Don Hammons. Both are veterans of the Great War who returned & joined the Phoenix Police Department. But any similarities end there. To get a sense of their relationship dynamic, think Cain & Abel or maybe Noel & Liam. Gene rose quickly through the ranks & was a well respected detective before being forced out after he stood up for a woman framed for murder. His innate sense of right vs wrong meant he couldn’t go along to get along in a department riddled with corruption. So now he ekes out a living as a P.I. His days are spent looking for missing persons & catching up with girlfriend Victoria Vasquez, a news photographer. Don resented Gene’s success & skills as a detective. Fortunately, he’s never been burdened by ethics & welcomes the little perks that come with being on the job. He never misses an opportunity to sneer at Gene’s moral code. So it’s more than a bit surprising when he reaches out to help his little brother.It all begins with a body. A pretty young blond is found by the train tracks & there are a couple of things immediately wrong with this picture. First, she’s in pieces…literally. Second, the only thing in her handbag is Gene’s business card. Fortunately, Don was at the scene & the card quickly makes its way back to Gene who’s stumped. Was the woman planning to hire him? Or was he being set up to take the fall? Identifying the woman proves a challenge. Local politicians worried about bad PR are keen for the cops to move on & with no new leads, the case is quietly shelved. But Gene can’t let it go. He begins to dig into the mysterious young woman’s past, a decision that puts him & Victoria in danger.Settle in for a dark & twisty tale that is richly evocative of the era. It’s a time of rampant poverty, Depression camps, dirty politicians & corrupt cops. The mob is spreading west like a fungus & no one is immune. There’s a definite noir vibe to the narrative but the style of prose & Gene’s character prevent it from sliding into pulp territory. Yes, he’s a PI in the 1930’s but that’s where any similarity to his hardboiled counterparts ends (although he may argue that Victoria qualifies as a femme fatale…). Instead of a swaggering, tough talking collector of dames (that would be Don), Gene is a quiet man haunted by what he experienced during the war. Today he’s be diagnosed with PTSD but the best they had then was shell-shock, a mildly derogatory term implying weakness. As a consequence, he is startled by loud noises & frequently takes little mental side trips down memory lane. As he recalls these vignettes from his past, we get a better understanding of his relationship with Don & how they grew so far apart. He’s a deep thinker with a spirituality he clings to as his last hope for redemption. In terms of pace & direction, it reminded me of The Searcher by Tana French. It’s a literary PI story that is more about the people than the crime. It moves along at a steady speed that allows you to enjoy the descriptive prose & get to know the characters. Tension builds slowly until you reach a place where you’re afraid to turn the page, sure there’s going to be an “oh crap” moment right around the corner. That continues to the last few pages when all pieces finally slide into place. It’s a dark, immersive read with a sympathetic MC you’ll quietly root for. BTW, thumbs up to those responsible for the beautiful cover art.

[cathyskye · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

City of Dark Corners is an absolute gold mine of Phoenix history, but that's not the only reason to read it. (Although I will say that anyone who thinks that it's too hot for anything to happen here needs to think again.) Readers will also get a good feeling for life during the Depression. For one thing, it never occurred to me that there would be a lot of missing persons during this time, and I felt about as smart as a box of rocks when Talton explained this to me. The mystery is a good one, too, which is something that I always expect from Jon Talton, and it has a noir feel that some readers are going to love. If you're not a noir fan, don't roll your eyes and move along. I said a noir "feel"-- a bit like using margarine instead of butter.As with any mystery worth its salt, there have to be characters that keep my interest, and City of Dark Corners has them. Besides the City of Phoenix, which is a character in and of itself, there is Gene Hammons, the World War I veteran, a former police detective who was Amelia Earhart's bodyguard when she was in town, and now private eye who sings in a church choir to help keep him sane. His love interest, Victoria Vasquez, is a strong, interesting character, too. She's a photographer who often takes crime scene photos for the police department, but she's working toward a career in photojournalism like Margaret Bourke-White's. If you're in the mood for a historical mystery that's a bit gritty, a puzzler to solve, and has two strong characters, City of Dark Corners may be just the thing for you. I'm hoping that it's the start of a brand-new series. If you don't go in for historicals, try Talton's David Mapstone mysteries. They are first-rate.(Review copy courtesy of the publisher and Net Galley)

[kmartin802_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This mystery set in Phoenix in the 1930s stars Gene Hammons who was a homicide detective until he lost his job when his efforts to free a wrongly convicted woman came into conflict with a well-connected, powerful man. Now he's a private investigator trying to make a living in the midst of the Great Depression.Gene served in World War I, even lied about his age so that he could enlist with his older brother, and came home with bad memories and trouble with loud, unexpected noises. He managed to build a very successful career in the Phoenix police department. He's most famous for finding the University Park Strangler who left a trail of young female bodies in a nice part of town.When his brother calls him to a crime scene, Gene gets involved in trying to find out who murdered a beautiful young blonde, dismembered her, and left his business card in her purse. He's pretty much alone in his investigation since the powers that be don't want any more bad publicity for Phoenix which would damage their role as a tourist destination.Gene and his girlfriend news photographer Victoria Vasquez soon find lots of hidden secrets surrounding the murder victim Carrie Dell. The story is filled with corrupt cops, mob exports from Chicago, and local criminals from a variety of ethnic groups. The language is contemporary to the times and jars a little on our more sensitive current nerve ends, but the story is compelling and fast-paced.Fans of historical mysteries will enjoy this story which is larded with real life characters including Barry Goldwater. It paints a vivid picture of life and crime in 1930s Phoenix, Arizona.