Customer Reviews

Desert Shadows (Lena Jones Mysteries)

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I am a big fan of Betty Webb because she not only offers a great detective story with a strong female protagonist but also embeds various social issues within her stories as well. The most compelling part of the DESERT SHADOWS plot lies not within the mystery itself but within the mysterious background of Lena Jones. I find the hints about her past the most interesting part of the book and I can't wait to find out more!

At the Southwest Book Publisher's Expose, Gloriana Alden-Taylor eats salad when the owner-publisher of Patriot's Blood Press starts to feel chest pains. She keels over, foams at the mouth and shortly dies. An autopsy reveals she was poisoned with hemlock sprinkled on her salad; the police arrest Gloriana's employee, Pima Indian Owen Sisiwan for the crime. Earlier that day, group of conference attendees led by Sisiwan went on a field trip where the poisonous plant grew.

Former police officer Lena Jones opened up her own agency after she was wounded on the job and her employee Johnny is Owen's cousin. She knows Owen could never kill a seventy-something year old woman even if she was a racist who treated Owen like a second-class citizen. Her publishing house published books that would appeal to the Aryan nation and they made a lot of money that she used to fix up the house she loved. Lena is determined to find out which of the many people who had a motive to kill Gloriana did the deed.

The protagonist is a person who keeps people at a distance because of the abuses she suffered in foster care, but in spite of the traumas she experienced, Lena is a determined woman who will go the extra mile to see that justice is served. The villainess of DESSERT SHADOW has so many enemies including her employees, her own family and the authors she could not care less about; it is impossible to figure out who the perpetrator is. The juxtaposition of the beauty of the Sonora Desert to the trappings of so-called civilization makes Betty Webb's latest work a terrific private investigative tale.

Harriet Klausner

From "Desert Shadows:Publishing Can Be Murder":
"But everyone who contributes to hate, whether by speech or by printed word, is morally culpable for the pain their words cause others."

This is the 3rd in the Lena Jones series by Betty Webb. The first two books were excellent so I was disappointed as I plodded made my way through "Desert Shadows". The writing and story seemed to be off-kilter all the way through the book. There were a few good stretches. I enjoyed Webb filling in some of Lena's back story through her visits to the therapist she is having to see for anger management issues. But the main story - the murder at a publisher's convention - seemed to fall apart in spots and in my opinion, never did become cohesive. There were too many side characters and none of them were developed enough (plus I think more than one of them were schizophrenic - changing demeanor and personality almost from one page to the next). I think the way the love interest - Dusty - has been dealt with in this book and vague references in book two(after a very strong romantic start in book one) isn't convincing. There seem to be some important pieces of his storyline edited out.

I guess I just couldn't get as involved in this book as the first two. They both reached out and "grabbed" me almost from the first page. Not so with this one and I kept reading and waiting. I'm not giving up, though. I'm not saying this book is terrible - just not as good as the first two. If you are reading the series I would say read this one. There are pieces to be picked up in Lena's continuing life story.

After Desert Wives, I was worried that the Lena Jones series would never again live up to the promise of Desert Noir. I was wrong.
In this book we continue to learn more about Lena's past, through her court assigned anger management sessions and through flashbacks. I don't often cry when I am reading, but some of her "memories" are so poignant! Maybe someday we will learn why her mother shot her, when Lena's memories are of a loving woman.
While all of this is going on, there is also a good mystery taking place, set against the beauty of the desert, and the influx of snowbirds. Gloriana Alden-Taylor, a serious mega-witch (think Marge Shot)is murdered. Suspects abound, from family members to neo-nazis to a serial killer!
This is a great read with a strong female lead, and strong supporting characters, like Jimmy Sissiwan and Dusty. Try it, you'll like it!

I have read all of Betty Webb's Lena Jones books, but not in any order. Maybe they would be better read in the correct sequence, but the novel are good no matter the order. Lena is a strong main character and very smart and down to earth. This book gives a little more insight into her past. Eagerly awaiting the next novel in the series.