Customer Reviews

Desert Noir (Lena Jones Mysteries)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

With a compelling story and a wonderfully sympathetic female heroine, this book has all of the components of a wonderful mystery. The main character is well-developed and offers hints at an intriguing backstory yet to be developed in future books. I am looking forward to the sequel, "Desert Wives."

As a desert mystery writer with my first novel having recently been published, I was greatly impressed by Betty Webb's debut mystery. Set in Scottsdale, it marks the literary birth of Lena Jones--the newest female PI in the long and distinguished line launched by Marcia Muller over two decades ago. Lena Jones knows little about her personal history--as a small child a bullet erased her memory and landed her in a series of foster homes. This case, a mystery involving the art world, gives Lena hope she might discover the truth about her actual identity. It also involves the murder of one of Lena's close friends. There are plenty of suspects ranging from the victim's husband to artists, family members, and professional rivals. In addition to the mystery elements, the novel presents a realistic picture of life in modern Arizona ranging from its deep native cultural roots to its contemporary urban sprawl. All in all, DESERT NOIR marks an impressive and auspicious debut for Betty Webb.

Lena Jones is tough weather from her past life or what she is going through at present. I love this character and Mrs. Webb has done an excellent job pulling this story together. The mystery, the Arizona setting, the back story of the Pima Indians all of it sets this mystery apart. I fully intend to read the other books in this series and look forward to learning more about Lena Jones.

Desert Noir is a really good first in a planned new mystery series. PI Lena Jones is one tough lady who has several mysteries in her own life: Who shot her when she was a child? Who and where are her parents? Not all her questions are answered in this first book and some of the relationships are just developing and their outcomes do not seem predictable. I am glad something is left for later books. It will be most interesting to see Lena grow and mature. Author Webb, who writes for a Scottsdale paper, does a good job of making Scottsdale (the arty West's Most Western Town) a character of this novel. Good job. I'm waiting for the next in the series.

Betty Webb's novel about a murder in Scottsdale arts scene is ripped from the headlines. The action in Desert Noir fast and eerily familiar for people who live in metro Phoenix. The author presents a deep cast of suspects, all of whom have good reason to have done the evil deed. The PI heroine unwraps the mystery in true who done it fashion. The scenes, locales and people in the book are all true to life in Scottsdale, a resort-lined city with quite a bit to hide.

Don't you just love discovering a new author/series? I don't remember how I stumbled across the Lena Jones mysteries, maybe a recommendation by Amazon, but I am excited about the find.

I just finished "Desert Noir" and have the other five books in the series waiting for me - I can surmise that not much is going to be done around the house or yard over the next few days.

First of all, Lena Jones is my type of protagonist. She is gutsy, loyal to her friends, she has a mysterious past. She loves Scottsdale, where she lives (I am sure this echoes from the author) but I feel like I am in Scottsdale/Phoenix/desert because the descriptive passages are so vivid. I feel like I am experiencing the sunsets with Lena,the extreme heat, the build-no build conflicts.

I thought the mystery component itself was well done, kept me guessing up to the end of the book. Lena and all the different side characters were extremely well-drawn; I could visualize all of them. I hope we see her love interest in future books - who doesn't love a cowboy?

"Desert Noir" I received in hard cover. It is small size and printed by Poisoned Pen Press. I had never heard of them before but the book itself was a very nice presentation; edited very well (something we are seeing less and less of nowadays); beautiful cover art. I will try to find other authors/titles printed by them.

I really enjoyed this atmospheric, action-packed Southwestern mystery. The Phoenix-Scottsdale region of Arizona comes alive here, as do the characters, especially our heroine, Lena Jones, a true survivor, who was shot in the head at the age of four, has no idea who her parents were, and grew up in a succession of foster homes.

After Clarice, a friend of Lena's who runs a local art gallery, is viciously murdered, there are plenty of suspects, including her abusive husband, her parents, her brother and sister, an angry Apache artist, and the daughter of an elderly Hispanic woman who was bulldozed to death as a result of Clarice's greed. There are a number of sympathetic, likable characters, including Jimmy Sisiwan, a Pima Indian computer whiz who was raised by a Mormon family and who is Lena's business partner.

This is a dark, violent story, but fortunately Lena, who is the narrator, has a good sense of humor, which keeps things from getting too bleak. Now I'm looking forward to reading the next book, "Desert Wives," in which Lena investigates the murder of the leader of one of Arizona's fundamentalist polygamy compounds. "Desert Noir" looks like the beginning of a fascinating series.