Desert Noir (Lena Jones Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Betty Webb (Author)

Book Description

Series: Lena Jones Mysteries | Publication Date: June 15, 2001

Survival in the upscale Scottsdale art scene depends on how well a private eye does her footwork...



At the age of four, private detective Lena Jones had been found lying unconscious by the side of an Arizona highway, a bullet robbing her of her memories.

Now the scarred survivor of a dozen foster homes, Lena has vowed to find the truth about her origins—no matter how terrible that truth might be.

In Desert Noir, the first of the Lena Jones mysteries, Lena’s quest is interrupted when her friend, heiress Clarice Kobe, is beaten to death in the Western Heart Art Gallery. Lena and her Pima Indian partner Jimmy Sisiwan at first suspect the art dealer’s abusive husband, but their investigations soon reveal that domestic violence was hardly the only problem in the victim’s troubled life.

Clarice, for all her money and beauty, had a dark side; her enemies far outnumbered her friends. Among those who wished her dead are George Haozous, the fiery Apache artist whose graphic work she once banned from her gallery. Another enemy is Dulya Albundo, the daughter of an elderly Hispanic woman whose death was directly attributable to the art dealer’s greed. Even Clarice’s parents—wealthy land developers whose housing tracts have ravaged the beautiful Sonoran Desert—appear to be oddly untroubled by their daughter’s death.

Lena’s search for Clarice’s killer brings violence back into her own life, yet it also brings her closer to the solution of her own mystery—her real identity.

Set against the backdrop of the posh Scottsdale, Arizona art scene and the nearby Indian reservations, Desert Noir heralds the debut of a detective as wounded as her clients, a woman battling her own demons while trying to rescue others from theirs.

Compare her to J.A. Jance (Hour of the Hunter 0-380-7107-9 and Kiss of the Bees 0-380-97747-8) and Sinclair Browning (The Last Song Dogs 0-553-57940-1).

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

When her friend who runs an art gallery across the street in Scottsdale, Ariz., is brutally murdered, Lena Jones of Desert Investigations decides to track down the killer in this highly accomplished debut of what promises to be an exciting new series. Clarice Kobe's abusive husband, Jay, is the natural suspect, but the Apache artist George Haozous, whose graphically violent paintings were ejected from the gallery not long before, arouses suspicion, as do members of Clarice's family and the owner of the adjoining gallery. And one trail may lead Lena to an answer she has been searching for her entire adult life her own identity: after being shot in the head at age four and left for dead, she grew up in a succession of foster homes. Webb uses these two quests to present a fully realized picture of Arizona, from barrios to mountaintop mansions, with the rich backdrop of Indian legend and desert facing erosion by urban sprawl. The series feel is comfortable, from Lena's contacts on the local police force (before another bullet forced her to go private) to her sleuthing partner, Jimmy Sisiwan, a Pima Indian and computer whiz. Her boyfriend, Dusty, being a Clint Eastwood look-alike seems a bit much, but for every aspect that doesn't quite click, five others do, and the writing is solid and fun: "I'd gotten warmer receptions raiding dogfights"; "At $4 per oyster, the slimy little bastards should deliver multiple orgasms." A must read for any fan of the modern female PI novel. 16-city author tour.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

The perfect setting for private eyes used to be the urban jungle, rife with alienation and secrets. More recently, though, such writers as Tony Hillerman and Nevada Barr have opened up regions of landscape, history, and soul previously unexplored by the detective novel. Webb's summer mystery, a first novel, shows how fertile the desert can be as mystery setting. Desert Noir can be seen as an elegy for the lost West. Noir kicks off its social commentary at the height of the Summer Spectacular Art Walk in Scottsdale. Just when the tourists are being scammed to the max, a scream leads former-cop-turned-PI Lena Jones into her friend Clarice's kitschy art gallery, where Clarice is found stabbed to death. The obvious suspect is Clarice's abusive ex-husband. Lena finds, however, when she takes on the investigation, that any number of people, from all social levels, wanted Clarice dead. Untangling the mystery leads Lena through the social levels of Phoenix, from the tony desert resorts, through the Apache-run casinos and the San Carlos Reservation, to the Sonoran Desert itself. Another mystery strong on atmosphere and insight. Connie Fletcher
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press; 1 edition (June 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1890208639
• ISBN-13: 978-1890208639
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #986,246 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Former journalist Betty Webb is a prize-winning mystery novelist whose books are based on true crimes, including human rights abuses. Publishers Weekly called her novels "mysteries with a social conscience." She lives in Arizona, where her Lena Jones mysteries are set.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Desert Scars, September 1, 2003

By 

Bruce Crocker "agnostictrickster" (Whittier, California United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Desert Noir (Lena Jones Mysteries (Paperback)) (Paperback)

Lena Jones has issues with bullets. The first bullet scarred her face when she was a child. The second bullet ended her career as a cop. If you want to know about the third bullet, you'll have to read Betty Webb's excellent debut novel, Desert Noir. We catch up with Lena Jones early on in her career as a private eye for Desert Investigations in Scottsdale, Arizona. Her apartment and office are on art gallery row and the dead body that gets the story rolling is an art gallery owner acquaintance of Lena's from across the street named Clarice Kobe. The violent ex-husband is accused and Lena is coerced into working for his lawyer. Clarice Kobe's up-the-hill family, and George Haozous, an angry Native American artist, also become suspects. The mystery plays out among the city [both ritzy and rundown], the rez, and the desert. Other characters include Jimmy Sisiwan, Lena's cyberhead nontraditional traditional Native American partner, and Dusty, Lena's cowboy lover from a local dude ranch. One of my favorite elements in the story is Lena's daily jog to a butte in a park in the middle of the city, a remnant of the once grand desert that has been scarred by the city. There are similarities to Judith Van Gieson's Neil Hamel novels and I suspect that Neil's fans could easily become fans of Lena's. Fans of Tony Hillerman's Leaphorn and Chee novels should appreciate Webb's skillful use of the desert setting and sensitivity to native american culture and realities. I enjoyed Desert Noir immensely and look forward to reading Desert Wives, Betty Webb's second Lena Jones mystery.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Kept me turning pages; I hope that this will become a series, November 9, 2001

By 

SkiBum (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Desert Noir (Lena Jones Mysteries) (Hardcover)

This was a very unique book. As a native New Yorker who has never met an Indian or been to the Southwest, it provided a fascinating introduction to Scottsdale, AZ. And I was fascinated with the main character, Lena, as she searched for her own identity along with proving her client innocent, etc.
There were also many gut-wrenching glimpses into Lena's childhood in foster care; the book made me thankful for my own loving family, and helped me become more empathetic to those les fortunate. Although parts of the book seemed unbelievably far-fetched, it nonetheless held my interest to the very last page, and makes me hope that it will become a series, and eager to read
subsequent books.

My one and only quibble is with the vulgarity of the language. I don't expect violent criminals to say "Golly, gee, he shot me!" -- but, to put it mildly, every character doesn't have to use vulgarity/profanity on every page. However, I'm admittedly a prude. The book was unusual as well as outstanding, and I grealy enjoyed it.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome debut-rippling with suspense, humor, and atmosphere, October 25, 2001

By 

Elizabeth Klisiewicz (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Desert Noir (Lena Jones Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Betty Webb is a resident of Scottsdale, Arizona and gives readers an intense perspective of what it's like to live there. Her own personal politics are revealed through the multi-dimensional character of Lena Jones. In fact, all her characters and sense of place are so vivid they practically leap off the page and paint themselves on a cinematic canvas. Not much impresses me anymore. So many novels have cookie-cutter plots and stereotypical characters. Even seasoned authors that I normally like grow stale over time. Betty Webb's set of characters potentially have the depth to transcend these limitations.

Lena Jones is a private investigator who left the local police force who views the development and deterioration of the Arizona landscape with a sadness and anger that I share. She is a white woman cast adrift in a sea of unanswered questions as she searches for the truth about her origins and tries to find her friend's murderer.

I am overly impressed by this debut and heartily recommend it to everyone. It has it all: romance, angst, and action combined with a heart and soul that is incredibly rare in a world that grows increasingly more violent and fast-paced. Adding to this already rich tapestry are wonderful passages about the Pima Indians and other indigenous people supplanted by the already overdeveloped part of the country.