Review: Desert Wind (A Lena Jones Mystery) by Betty Webb

• Paperback: 250 pages
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press (February 7, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590589815
• ISBN-13: 978-1590589816

Book Description

When P.I. Lena Jones’s Pima Indian partner Jimmy Sisiwan is arrested in the remote northern Arizona town of Walapai Flats, Lena closes the Desert Investigations office and rushes to his aid. What she finds is a town up in arms over a new uranium mine located only ten miles from the magnificent Grand Canyon. Jimmy’s sister-in-law, founder of Victims of Uranium Mining, has been murdered, but the opposing side is taken hits, too. Ike Donohue, the mine’s public relations flak, is found shot to death, casting suspicion on Jimmy and his entire family. During Lena’s investigation, she finds not only a community decimated by dangerous mining practices, but a connection to actor John Wayne and the mysterious deaths resulting from the 1953 filming of “The Conqueror.” Gabe Boone, a wrangler on that doomed film, is still alive, but the only person the aged man will confide in is John Wayne’s ghost. It’s up to Lena to penetrate Gabe’s defenses and find out the decades-old tragedy no one in Walapai Flats wants to talk about. By delving into the area’s history, Lena learns that old sins never die; they’re still taking lives. As with “Desert Wives: Polygamy Can Be Murder,” this seventh book in the Lena Jones series exposes real life crimes, and the reason why high-ranking government officials want those crimes to remain under wraps.


About The Author

As a journalist, Betty Webb has interviewed U.S. presidents, astronauts who walked on the moon, and Nobel Prize-winners, as well as the homeless, the dying, and polygamy runaways. The seven Lena Jones mysteries, based on stories she covered as a reporter, include Desert Lost, Desert Noir, and Desert Wives. A long-time book reviewer at Mystery Scene Magazine, Betty is a member of National Federation of Press Women and Mystery Writers of America. You can contact her at www.bettywebb-mystery.com .


My Review


The Lena Jones Mystery series by Betty Webb is a first class mystery series and I am thrilled to be able to review the newest addition via Net Galley, Desert Wind, which will be available in February.

Once again Betty Webb brings her rich writing skills to a social issue plaguing the Southwest.  This time Betty exposes the nuclear testing and fallout and consequences.  While the testing occurred in Nevada the winds brought the nuclear fallout to Northern Arizona and Southern Utah.  Cancer and other ailments plague the citizens of this area to this day.

Of course there was also a modern day mystery for our sleuth Lena Jones.  And Lena continues to have flashbacks to her mysterious childhood. 

I cannot recommend this series highly enough.  And I cannot wait until the next Lena Jones adventure.  You can pick up a copy of Desert Wind in February or pre-order a copy today.