Dry Heat: A David Mapstone Mystery (David Mapstone Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Jon Talton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 14, 2004 | Series: David Mapstone Mysteries

The past is never past on the mean streets of Phoenix, especially when the mercury hits a hundred and it's only April. Half a century after the unsolved murder of an FBI agent, the missing badge is found on the body of a dead transient. The case seems a perfect fit for David Mapstone, history professor turned Maricopa County deputy sheriff. That is, if he can get past a forced partnership with rival cold-case expert Sgt. Kate Vare and the FBI's strange stonewalling about the details of the agent's killing.

To complicate matters, there are the crimes making history today, like the arrest of Russian mafia members in a multimillion-dollar fraud case. David's wife, Lindsey, star of the sheriff's Cybercrimes Bureau, was on the task force that busted the case wide open. But her triumph is short-lived when a hit in Scottsdale leaves three task-force members dead. Lindsey's life in danger, Sheriff Peralta stashes Lindsey and David in a safe house. That doesn't get the good "History Shamus" off the hook, though, as Sheriff Peralta inexplicably demands that David solve the cold case.

The trail will take Mapstone to the most forlorn parts of Phoenix, as well as to San Francisco and picturesque southern Arizona, as he slowly uncovers the bloody secrets surrounding the mysterious FBI badge. He's got the brains and the leads. Now all he and Lindsey have to do is live long enough to bring justice to a fifty-year-old crime.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Talton avoids the excessive carnage and high body count that too often mar otherwise competently handled crime novels in his compelling third mystery to feature the Phoenix deputy known as "The History Cop" (after Camelback Falls and The Concrete Desert). When an FBI badge turns up with the body of a homeless man found facedown in a swimming pool, Mapstone recalls the story of John Pilgrim, the only FBI agent ever murdered in Arizona. Although the unsolved slaying occurred in 1948, the gang suspected of Pilgrim's shooting death is still operating. When Mapstone's police officer wife, Lindsey, obtains proof of their guilt in Pilgrim's murder, she becomes their next target. And so the heat is on—and it's mostly on Mapstone, who proves a resourceful and intelligent protagonist. Taut prose helps tighten the screws, and the winning, sensitive portrayal of the Mapstones—both of them a relief after too many hard-nosed PIs who are all gristle and no brain—lends credibility to the noirish narrative. While Talton breaks no new ground, he knows all the angles and plays them for maximum impact.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Jon Talton is a fourth-generation Arizonan. He has worked as a columnist and editor for newspapers in Charlotte, Cincinnati, Dayton, Denver, and San Diego. He currently works as a columnist for The Arizona Republic. Jon and his wife, Susan, live in Phoenix.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (October 14, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312333854
• ISBN-13: 978-0312333850
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,594,508 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Talton does it again, November 28, 2004

By 

Melissa D. Allison "Melissa Allison" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dry Heat: A David Mapstone Mystery (David Mapstone Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Mapstone is at his intellectual and deep-feeling best in Talton's third David Mapstone mystery, DRY HEAT. The dialogue is pure Talton -- witty, gritty and insightful. The story is another sophisticated tale of Mapstone, a history professor turned sheriff's deputy, taking on crime in the blistering heat of Phoenix, this time with his wife, Lindsey, whose life is in danger because of some Russian mafia-busting she's done.

As usual, Talton's strong sense of place and history make this a book even non-mystery buffs like me love. Anyone who believes Phoenix is a Shangri-la of swimming pools and merely "dry heat" will appreciate Mapstone's nuanced view of the sprawling city as an "acquired taste." The book's cadence is peppered with fresh turns of phrase, such as Mapstone's contention that con artists, misfits and other "rough-hewn faces" end up in Phoenix, "as if the city is the last fence line catching the unattached debris of a windy world."

Thanks for another one, Mapstone and Talton.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dry Heat, March 9, 2006

By 

Sandra L. Loveland "Sandra" (Scottsdale, AZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dry Heat: A David Mapstone Mystery (David Mapstone Mysteries) (Hardcover)

David Mapstone and his wife Lindsay are a delightful pair of crime solvers: David because he really doesn't want to be but can't refuse the order of the Sheriff to work a long-dead case, and Lindsay because her life is in serious jeopardy if they don't solve the case soon. It's also great to read about a couple that are not romanticized but are definitely committed to each other.
The reason these books are so appealing is that the author Jon Talton makes such wonderful, insightful and downright derogatory comments about Phoenix that are SO true! It is a city without a soul. Talton's style is clean, clear, and the plots are complex enough to keep the reader going.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fine "History Shamus" tale, December 2, 2004

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dry Heat: A David Mapstone Mystery (David Mapstone Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Having a homeless person die is no big deal anywhere in this country. However, having a homeless person die with an FBI's badge sewn into his pocket raises eyebrows. When that badge found on the John Doe belonged to Agent John Pilgrim murdered in 1948, nothing makes sense.

The FBI asks Maricopa County, Arizona Deputy s David Mapstone to help on the case because he brings a unique perspective to an investigation. A former San Diego State University Professor of History, David looks at clues from the viewpoint of a historian sifting through information. The Feds believe that point of view might explain how a badge lost over fifty years ago surfaced on a dead; ironically the FBI fails to cooperate when it comes to providing full information on the long dead agent. However David has other concerns involving his wife Lindsey; a computer whiz, she several others cracked a case involving the Russian mafia; now three members of her team have been assassinated. As the Mapstones struggle to stay alive, the professor begins solving the current spin of the cold case homicide.

The third "History Shamus" tale is an intriguing mystery especially when David works the cold case with little cooperation from the FBI, who wants to restrict his investigation to how the homeless person got the badge. His work also puts him in professional conflict with the Cold Case Squad. The sidebar involving his spouse adds suspense and ultimately ties back to the prime theme, but can be distracting until the reader sees the links. DRY HEAT is a terrific entry in a fine unique police procedural (see CAMELBACK FALLS and CONCRETE DESERT for the previous novels).

Harriet Klausner