This is the first in the Phoenix Cold Case series, featuring Professor David Mapstone. Mapstone is an ex-cop, who left the police, and Phoenix, for a new life in California as an academic. Now divorced and refused tenure, he is back in the house he grew up in, wondering how he reached forty with so little to show for it. His old partner, Mike Peralta, is now County Chief Deputy and, while David attempts to get a new post in teaching, he suggests he rejoin the sheriff's office as a deputy and a consultant. David is asked to combine his old skills with his work as a historian, joining the cold case desk and thinking "outside the box", as Peralta puts it. Having wrapped up a fifteen year old case in three days, David has brought the department great headlines and is given another case to solve.In 1959 a young woman called Rebecca Stokes got a taxi home from the station and vanished; her body later found strangled and dumped in the desert. Rebecca was the niece of the former governor and first cousin to the man tipped to be the possible next governor, so Peralta is hoping David can uncover some new leads. What he finds is the possibity her killing was linked to a serial murderer. Meanwhile, his first love, Julie Riding, arrives on his doorstep to ask for his help. Her sister, Phaedra has gone missing. When her body is found, David believes the murder has links to that of Rebecca, so long ago. Before long, his life is in danger in the exhausting heat of a gripping summer.This is a really strong start to a crime series. David is a great character and the author has built up an interesting cast of characters to support him in future cases; including Lindsay who helps him in his investigation and the volatile Mike Peralta. I can't say that he has really done much to help the Phoenix tourist board though - as well painting an unpleasant picture of the 'mean season' of summer, virtually everyone he encounters seems armed to the teeth; with shoot outs at malls and David being threatened and shot at on a regular basis. The amount of guns seems more than a little worrying, but it does make for an exciting read, which is well plotted and certainly a series I will continue reading. The next in the series is Cactus Heart: 2 (A Phoenix Cold Case).
I admit I like free shit. I also admit I'm not entirely rational in my thought process. For example, I happily hand over my Bouchercon and Left Coast Crime Conference fees and feel like I've won the lottery when I receive a bag filled with books. Seriously, this ends up being one of the major highlights of these conferences. So in my continued pursuit of this high, minus the conference fees, I have decided to scour Amazon for the best free short stories and books available. With that being said, let's get to the review.The Arizona sun never felt hotter. Blazing, beating, reverberating off my skin, blistering my face, and stripping layers off my forehead. I peeled my cheek from the scorching asphalt, the sweltering concrete bouncing off my feet. The metropolitan monstrosity otherwise known as Phoenix bounding up around me, the sounds of traffic bouncing around me. Adobe and enchiladas surrounded me, and I packed my boxes with a hardened heart.Atmosphere popped out at me, pounding away at my chest, and it was hard not to be intrigued by a city I had never ventured to. David Mapstone may have reached the front of the unemployment line with his history degree hanging at his side, and a sea filled with regret hanging around his neck, and a case colder than the Canadian border bounding from the confines of his mind.The cast of characters might have lacked a few mental faculties, and there was so much blow I thought it might snow in the Phoenix sun. There’s a more than good chance I might get shot in a mall, or at the side of the road, and the bad guys might wield flak vests and submachine guns like popcorn and Junior Mints, and the plot might move a bit slowly at times while speeding nearly out-of-control at others. But that’s just a part of the experience in CONCRETE DESERT. It’ll shave more than a few years off your life, and it’ll have you staring up at a starry sky while your eyes roll back in your head from the concussion you just suffered.Cross-posted at Robert's Reads
What do You think about Concrete Desert (2001)?
The Arizona Republic has been a far poorer newspaper since Jon stopped writing for them a number of years ago, but there's his "Rogue Columnist" blog and, fortunately, his growing body of detective novels to keep his fans and admirers happy. This is the first volume of Jon's Cold Case series featuring deputy sheriff (and former history professor) David Mapstone. It's a well-written, intriguing tale that kept me engrossed. Better still, Jon is a native of Phoenix, where the Mapstone books take place. His views on the charm of the Phoenix that once was and the faceless concrete-and-stucco heat sink that it's become add a rich dimension.
—Dan Sussman
I like my kindle books cheap.Unfortunately, that usually equals mysteries framed with annoying codependent romances between sexy, smart, stiletto wearing women and the ex-secret agent, take charge, brooding, gentle giants who love them. I can only take so much of that before I start yelling at the book, 'Just say you are sorry/that you forgive/admit you are in love, and let's get on with the mystery people!' This book is nothing like that, and still cheap!The main character, David Mapstone, is very likeable ex-history professor/deputy who despite not really wanting get back into law enforcement manages to solve some cold cases (which so happen relate to current cases), while maintaining healthy personal relationships. The supporting cast of characters are equally likeable.The writing is engaging and keeps you flipping the pages.I liked this one enough to get the second one, and barring some tragic change in writing style, I will be getting the rest.
—Dangeramy
David Mapstone is a former Maricopa County Sheriff's Deputy, and now a former history professor. Having been denied tenure in San Diego, and running from a failed relationship there, Mapstone returns to his hometown of Phoenix to deal with his grandparents' home.Mapstone's former instructor and partner Mike Peralta is now Chief Deputy, and Peralta has Mapstone going through cold cases with a fresh set of eyes, giving David some much-needed income. His first one goes easily, but the next one – a 40-year-old homicide – seems to be annoying someone. At the same time, his first love comes to him for help finding her little sister, who's gone missing.Talton did a great job of intertwining the two investigations Mapstone is dealing with, and I really enjoyed watching Mapstone go from history professor back to cop. Attacked early in the story, he realizes that his 15-year-younger self could have easily beaten the attacker, and is too embarrassed by losing the fight to mention it to Peralta. In the beginning, Mapstone doesn't even carry a sidearm as he's doing his digging, since it's most often in dusty archives. But after the attack, he starts keeping a weapon in his car, finally resorting to carrying it all the time.The city is as much a character as a setting. Talton tells of us Phoenix's history through Mapstone's eyes, and how it grew from a sleepy little town into a place where the joke is that if you've been there more than five years, you're a native. He doesn't dump it out all at once though, instead feeding it into the story as Mapstone remembers his childhood and days as a deputy.The side characters are fleshed out well, from a couple of retired Phoenix cops to the shadowy guy in the black Mustang. I really liked Harrison Wolfe. This was the debut novel for Jon Talton, and I look forward to reading more of the Mapstone series.
—Bob
