Concrete Desert: A David Mapstone Mystery, Paperback

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.

About the Author:

Author Jon Talton is a fourth-generation Arizonan and the author of the David Mapstone mysteries, Concrete Desert, Cactus Heart, Camelback Falls, Dry Heat, and Arizona Dreams. The Washington Post has lauded Talton as "a strong new voice in contemporary hardboiled fiction."Dry Heat won the Arizona Highways Fiction Award in 2005. Arizona Dreams was a BookSense Pick, based on the recommendations of hundreds of independent booksellers. Jon's writing was developed over 20 years as a journalist, working for newspapers in San Diego, Denver, Dayton, Cincinnati, and Charlotte. Jon's columns have appeared in newspapers throughout North America. In 2001, Jon returned to Phoenix as a columnist for the Arizona Republic. Before journalism, Jon worked as an ambulance medic in the inner city of Phoenix.

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