Concrete Desert
By Jon Talton
3.5/5
()
About this ebook
"Talton's summer mystery, a first novel, shows how fertile the desert can be as a mystery setting... A stunning debut." —Booklist STARRED review
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.
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.
Read more from Jon Talton
City of Dark Corners: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dry Heat Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5High Country Nocturne Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Camelback Falls Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Bomb Shelter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Arizona Dreams Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cactus Heart Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Night Detectives Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSouth Phoenix Rules Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPowers of Arrest Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Deadline Man: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Brief History of Phoenix Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Pain Nurse Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Concrete Desert
Related ebooks
Solid Ground Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Queer and Loathing on the Yellow Brick Road Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPop Princess Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Death Rub Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTestament Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAnthony Carrick Hardboiled Murder Mysteries: Box Set (Books 1 - 3): An Anthony Carrick Mystery Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJohnnie Come Lately Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pop The Clutch Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5John Logan: Hindsight Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Long and the Short and the Tall Story Book Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSteal the Lightning: A Field Ops Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Red Gift: The Peregrine Dunn Papers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ghost Within Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAdventure into the Unknown Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStep Softly Ere You Go: Matt Murphy Mysteries, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStep Softly Ere You Go Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKing Bullet: A Sandman Slim Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Homecoming: Small Town Women's Fiction Romantic Suspense: Olman County, #1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Taste of Noir — Volume 1: A Collection of Four Short Stories, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsInto You Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMadtown Redux Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Millionaire and the Maid Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Illuminated Aftermath Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKiller Swell: The Noah Braddock Series, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDiscreet Inquiries: The Dominatrix Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThis Billionaire's Single Mom: This Billionaire, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Distance of Mercy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKnottspeed: A Love Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTwo Heads Are Deader Than One Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDagger Jameswood Enters the Fouth Dimension Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Thrillers For You
Hidden Pictures: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fairy Tale Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Flight: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Animal Farm Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Rock Paper Scissors: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Kind Worth Killing: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Perfect Marriage: A Completely Gripping Psychological Suspense Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Girl Who Was Taken: A Gripping Psychological Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Paris Apartment: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finn Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pretty Girls: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Long Walk Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sympathizer: A Novel (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Institute: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Housemaid Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Needful Things Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'm Thinking of Ending Things: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The It Girl Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Terminal List: A Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Family Upstairs: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rose Code: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Golden Spoon: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Best Friend's Exorcism: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Razorblade Tears: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Maidens: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Cabin at the End of the World: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Huntress: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Concrete Desert
27 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The 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.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I 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.