Desert Noir (Lena Jones Series Book 1)

I would have easily given this book a 4 star rating except that the author has two pet peeves that she kept hammering the reader with. I quickly agree that abusive husbands are horrible, and agree that overdevelopment of pristine areas is a problem. Yet, when an author hits one of these two themes in every chapter it is over the top for me. Maybe it was not EVERY chapter, it it sure felt like it. On a positive note, she is a good writer, the dialogue and descriptions were good, and even the quirks of the main character were accurate considering the childhood she had experienced. It left me wanting to read another book about the main character if the author would tone down the a use/overdevelopment preachiness.

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.

Reading this book brings to mind Raymond Chandler and Ross MacDonald and their portrayal of the corrupt rich with crimes stretching back for decades. Whereas they used Southern California and it's changing nature (usually for the worst in the minds of the authors) as a backdrop, Ms. Webb does the same with Arizona and is equally compelling. Her protagonist, Lena Jones, has an interesting back story: she was shot at four and left at a hospital. Who were her parents? Who shot her? Who took her to the hospital? These are questions that understandably bedevil the detective. Embedded in all of this is a good, fast moving mystery. There are flaws. Her computer genius partner, Jimmy, serves only as an explanation for information she could not have gotten. Her singularly uninteresting boyfriend, Dusty, should hit the road. But these are minor reservations about a strong start to a new crime series.

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.

With roaming coyotes, autumn stained desert vistas, and a tough but vulnerable female P.I. who was raised in a series of foster care homes, Desert Noir had me hooked before I'd finished the opening page. The idiosyncratic beauty of Arizona's landscapes, peoples, cacti and wildlife permeates this first of the series mystery set in the Scottsdale art scene. Lena Jones and her Pima Indian business partner investigate crimes from computer hacking to murder, so when the owner of the gallery next store is beaten to death it's only natural for them to get involved. I love discovering a great series that already has a lot of books, and can't wait to start reading Desert Wives where Lena poses as a polygamist wife to infiltrate a fundamentalist Mormon compound.

she wrote a column about this series and I have read two of them and they are excellent in the vein of Tony Hillerman and J>A> Jance.

The first book in the Lena Jones series. Lena is a PI who retired as a police officer after being shot. Her history is interesting and little more is brought in each book. Her partner, Pima indian is a computer nerd. While investigating her friend's death she locates, the woman who took to her to the hospital after she had been shot. Lena was 4 years at the time. She has been asked to help wife abuser accused of his wife's murder. She starts to investigate and someone is trying to kill her. Lena searches to finds answers before they are successful.

I am so glad to have discovered this series. This a great read. Beautifully written and evocative of our beautiful southwest. I look forward to reading everything by this author.