Desert Wind

Lena Jones Mystery #7

by Betty Webb

 

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. 
 

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery Thriller

250 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2012

About the author

As a journalist and literary critic for more than 20 years, Betty -- a resident of Scottsdale, Arizona, where her detective Lena Jones also lives -- has interviewed U. S. presidents, Nobel prize-winners, astronauts who’ve walked on the moon, polygamy runaways, the homeless, and the hopeless.

Now retired from journalism to write full time, she also contributes the Small Press column for Mystery Scene magazine and teaches creative writing at Phoenix College.
In her writing, Betty makes liberal use of her own varied background. She earned her way through art school by working as a folk singer but eventually gave up singing to concentrate on her art career. At various times she has picked cotton, raised chickens which laid blue eggs (Speckled Hamburgs), worked in a zoo, been a go-go dancer and horse breeder, taught Sunday School, founded a literary magazine, helped rebuild a long-abandoned 120-year-old farm house, and back-packed the Highlands of Scotland alone.

In 1982, Betty moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, where her Lena Jones novels are set, but her roots are in Hamilton, Alabama, where most of her extended family still lives. In 2000 she published The Webb Family of Alabama: Survivors of Change, which focused on the descendants of her half-Seneca, half-English great-great-grandfather, William Douglas Webb, who ran away to sea at the age of 16, then after 14 wild years, settled down to farm peacefully in Hamilton. Recent DNA testing, however, has revealed that her seafaring ancestor harbored a big secret: he might not have been a Webb after all, but the descendant of a New Jersey colonist family named Price. Betty is now working to unravel this real-life mystery: did William Douglas Price change his name to Webb. Was he on the run from the law? (As a mystery writer, she kinda hopes he was)

On her mother’s side, Betty can trace her roots back to the Barons of Riddell in medieval Scotland. The Riddells, friends and financial supporters of the poet Robert Burns, did not always enjoy the best of reputations. The opera, Lucia di Lammermore, about a young bride who decapitates her husband on their wedding night, was based upon a real life incident in the Riddell family. But the Riddells maintain that Lucy (her real name) merely scratched her bridegroom, and that he simply overreacted when he screamed out, "Murder!" Anyway, that’s the Riddells' story and they're sticking to it.

"The impact of my unusual family upon my life has been profound," Betty says. "That's why I thought it would be intriguing to create a detective who had no idea of where she came from or who her parents were. Creating the orphaned Lena Jones has helped me appreciate my own ancestral heritage - both the good and the bad." About the recent DNA testing results, she adds, "All this time the Webbs were keeping an even bigger secret than the Riddells -- and they didn’t even know they were! How could I not have become a mystery novelist."
(from http://www.bettywebb-mystery.com/bio....)

Series:
* Lena Jones Mystery
* Gunn Zoo Mystery

Reviews

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've liked these books in this particular series. I've read 3 so far. The author does her research on the topics which her stories touch on. I like that it seems thorough and written in a way that is believable and I also feel like I learn something.

She also has great characters that also seem real. I like that there wasn't a romance in this one. Sometimes they feel like an after-thought. Lena, the MC, went to Utah to find her partner, Jimmy, to help him out with a family problem. I liked that more was learned about him.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suspenseful and horrific in it's subject matter. Scary in a different way that makes you think. Kudos to the author for all the research involved in creating this book, and for a strong female protagonist, Lena Jones, who doesn't back down from her investigation.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Jean]

I recently attended a Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) event and heard Betty Webb discuss her fiction writing on a panel of professionals speaking on how they transitioned from newsroom & news editorial careers into other pursuits. Desert Wind is the first Lena Jones mystery I've read. These appeal to me because I am aware of Betty's extensive investigative journalism expertise. She cites very interesting information and factual events.

[Tory Wagner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Desert Wind by Betty Webb is the 7th in the series about private detective Lena Jones. As with the others in the series, it takes place in Arizona and the descriptions a of this area are beautiful. This time the mystery deals with several environmental disasters, an atomic bomb trial and the opening of a uranium mine, that both cause adverse effects in the population.

[Arizonagirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lena Jones series, book #7. While the town of Walapai Flats, AZ, may be fictitious, the "downwinders" are a horrible reality. These folks were knowingly and unknowingly exposed to radioactive materials during nuclear testing by the government and uranium mining that has led to numerous health consequences. John Wayne also makes an appearance in the story which is also based on fact. While shooting the film The Conqueror, John Wayne was exposed to radiation, which allegedly killed him.

[Betty · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this Lena Jones adventure, she decided to respect her partners Jimmy requested to stay out the situation where his adopted brother is being held as a material witness in the murder of a man who he had a public disagreement. Lena changed her mind when she receives Information that Jimmy has been arrested for intimidating a witness. She arrives in Walapai Flats, Arizona to find him free on bail. Lena will do the investigation after Jimmy's adopted Father hires DI. Lena finds the locals not selling to talk with outsiders. The town is disturbed by the plans to open a uranium mine nearby. The area is upset as there are many deaths from various cancers. The locals blame the deaths in a uranium mine that is now closed. A peaceful rally turns violent and the Police are late in arrival. Will Lena find answers before she loses her life?

February 7 new edition about Lena Jones life will be released DESERT VENGEANCE. I am looking forward to reading it.

[Sonya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a book I would normally read. Heavy on environmental issues.

The mystery and unanswered questions held my attention. With several sub-plots and personal issues that were resolved in addition to the main mystery.
I had trouble jumping back and forth between times periods, but she did make it clear when she did.

The woman detective had foul language, perhaps justified ?? by the information she was trying to reach from the characters who would react to those words.

A change of pace from my normal reads. Will wait for quite awhile before I read another, maybe.

[Marsha Whitfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the first book I have ready by this author. It was a good read, just slow because of all the technical information about nuclear pollution. People are being murdered, others dying of cancers. Lena Jones, private investigator, is trying to solve one murder as other related murders start happening. Then she starts seeing indians in the area suffering and dying from cancers related to old mining. Who is doing this murdering and why. You will be very surprised at the ending.

[Writergirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like all of the Lena Jones mysteries, this was based on a story that Betty Webb did back in her days as a journalist for the paper, putting private investigator Lena Jones smack in the middle of a coverup that spans over sixty years and puts her partner and his family as prime suspects in a murder. This is a great story with some very scary real life consequences right at the center of events.

[Mary Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had found this author through another series. When I saw this I was interested, but I am again trying to get the books as I can, meaning reading out of order. I really enjoyed this story and the research that went into the story.

[Josine van Heek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written mystery interwoven with the history of nuclear bomb testing, uranium mining and Downwinders in the Southwest (USA).

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Southwest murder mystery, Arizona/Utah setting, strong female PI, for the genre fiction readers, this one has a lot of environmental concerns - uranium mining and greedy developers.

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book and series, found them in the Freading library app.

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened. Since I live in southern UT, this book about downwinders and the nuclear testing site struck home.

[Roberta Crownover]

A smart and informative mystery.

[Mary Nuttelman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always informative and thought provoking, the mystery only solved at the very end.

[Cathy Cole · Rating 5 out of 5]

First Line: From his vantage point with the horses on a small hillock, Gabe Boone watched the cameras track the actor across the simmering desert floor toward the skin-draped yurt.

Jimmy Sisiwan-- Lena Jones' partner in Desert Investigations-- is her bedrock. Not only does she rely on his talent and expertise at work, she considers him family. Having been shot in the head and left for dead by her mother and then raised in a series of foster homes, Lena doesn't give her trust or love to anyone easily. So when Jimmy is arrested and jailed in the remote northern Arizona town of Walapai Flats, Lena closes down the Scottsdale business and heads north.

When she gets there, she finds a town divided over the issue of plans for a new uranium mine. Some welcome the desperately needed new jobs. Others find two reasons to be worried: (1) The owner of the new mine previously owned another uranium mine on Navajo land that was so mismanaged, it had to be closed down due to polluted water and soaring rates of cancer. (2) The new mine is ten miles from the Grand Canyon, and all water run-off would drain directly into it. This is one issue that has already turned deadly-- and shows no sign of stopping.

Characters and story are everything in Desert Wind. As part of her investigation, Lena becomes acquainted with Jimmy's adoptive father, a rancher who lives outside town, and many other Walapai Flats inhabitants. The longtime residents are tough nuts to crack, and Lena soon learns why. Through chapters tucked in between the ones with present-day action, we learn that Walapai Flats is still suffering from a sixty-year-old injustice: the United States' testing of nuclear bombs on its own citizens. For decades, these people have had family members die while they're lied to by strangers who smile and carry credentials.

(The United States conducted atmospheric and underground testing of nuclear bombs in Nevada during the 1950s. Low population density, mile upon mile of flat, government-owned land, and an easterly wind blowing away from the populous west coast were factors that decided in the Nevada site's favor.)

Unfortunately, it was no favor for any living thing caught in the path of those easterly winds, and Betty Webb once again proves how brilliantly she can break our hearts and raise our ire against blatant injustice while she spins a tale of mystery. Whenever someone asks me about books that depict the "real Arizona," I start talking Betty Webb and Lena Jones. Yes, these books deal with human rights issues, but the author never once forgets the mystery or the people who populate it. The characters, the land, the human rights topics-- Webb serves up the whole enchilada for a true reading hunger.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

“OK, I'm going to write a book set in the present day where the Duke – John Wayne for those too young to remember – is going to be a supporting character.” Betty Webb sets herself a nice little challenge in “Desert Wind”, the 7th book in the Lena Jones series. AND, in my opinion, she actually succeeds.

John Wayne played Genghis Kahn in “The Conquerer”, which was filmed in Northern Arizona. Webb's contention is that many of the stars, staff, and extras in this movie – including Wayne – died of cancer at a far greater rate than the rest of the population. AND that the presence of fallout from the outdoor nuclear bomb tests conducted by the government in those days played a major hand in those deaths.

How the filming of that movie in the mid 1950s influences more recent actions in the early 2010s is the underlying premise of the book. On the surface, the book is a pleasant murder mystery (if those terms can truly be paired) – a nice easy-to-understand read. Underneath – and not very deeply – Webb warns of the dangers of allowing The Powers That Be to access radioactive materials without adequate protections and safeguards. Further, that the Powers That Be who have a vested interest in the mining of radioactive materials and their subsequent use – whether in war materials, power plants, or whatever – are usually the ones who also set the levels of “adequate safeguards”.

I appreciate Miss Webb's devotion to story, and to characters – AND to espousing a cause without sacrificing either of those other two important aspects of a good novel. This is the 4th Lena Jones novel I've read, and I eagerly await my opportunity to read the remainder.

Aside: I say “read”. In this case, I listened to the Audio CD version of Marguerite Gavin reading Miss Webb's text. I was already familiar with Miss Gavin's work from narration of Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak series, but with this CD, she shows that she is NOT tied to one author, character, or locale. Miss Gavin demonstrates her ability to take a strong female character and turn her into a living being. (AND, while I have no evidence, I suspect that the “female” limitation is actually NOT one that would tie the hands of Miss Gavin – given a strong male lead, I'm sure she could handle THAT narration with ease, as well.)

After some serious internal debate with myself – 5 stars. Miss Webb tells a good story, AND tells a good story UNDER that story. AND leaves me with emotions and memories long after I've finished the actual book (and a subsequent one – I'm a little late with this review). THAT, my friends, IS my definition of 5 star.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lena Jones’s assistant Jimmy Sisiwan takes time off from Desert Investigations to help his brother Ted Olmstead. Ted is a suspect in the murder of a public relations representative for a controversial uranium mine. When Jimmy gets arrested, Lena travels from Scottsdale to Jimmy’s home town of Walapai Flats to help him and his brother.

“Desert Wind” is the latest in Betty Webb’s intelligent Lena Jones series. These books are mysteries that are centered around serious issues. This installment tackles uranium mining and the dangers of radiation. The tie-in to Hollywood history and John Wayne is clever and relates to the murder mystery as well as the issue of uranium mining. The book also includes a realistic sub-plot regarding domestic violence that adds to the overall novel.

I really enjoy this series. Lena is a complex character whose current personality was shaped by her tragic childhood. She shares bits and pieces of her background that will catch new readers up without distracting them from the current storyline. While I can’t always relate to her actions, I respect her intelligence and her skill as an investigator. Lena isn’t afraid to tackle anyone to get the answers she needs to who really murdered Ike Donohue, as well as getting the truth about the issue of uranium mining, which makes for an interesting, action-filled book.

This book started out great, but it did slow down a bit in the middle. While I love watching Lena in action, some of the investigation did seem to drag a bit. I would give this book a 4 ½ stars if possible. While it’s an excellent book, I didn’t enjoy it as much as Desert Wives”, the previous book in the series. However, this installment is still an excellent, well-written book that gives you something to think about while entertaining you at the same time. I see elements of both Tony Hillerman and Sara Paretsky in Betty Webb’s books, but her voice is unique and one whose stories will stick with you long after finishing the book.

I received this book from NetGalley, through the courtesy of Poisoned Pen Press, in exchange for an honest review.

[Kathleen Hagen]

Desert Wind, by Betty Webb, a-minus, narrated by Marguerite Gavin, produced by Blackstone Audio, downloaded from audible.com.

This book is one of the Lena Jones series. Lena is a PI with a partner, with her partner, Jimmy Sisiwan, from the Pima Indian tribe. Lena is a former cop, and Jimmy is an expert in computer hacking. When Lena comes to her office one day and finds Jimmy is not there, and has left no note but leaves an answering machine message that he’ll be gone for a couple weeks, she starts to worry. She ends up tracing him to the town where his father and remaining family live. Jimmy has been estranged from the family for years but now comes home to help when his brother, Theodore, is arrested for murder. Lena shows up to help him with his brother’s case. His brother is soon discharged from jail, but by then there have been a few murders, and they all seem to connect to the closure of a uranium mine, and the possible opening of another. Webb weaves real history into this story-history which I didn’t know about. The Navajo Indians were subjected for almost 40 years to dust from exploded test nuclear bombs, and this exposure, while the government says it is not dangerous, has resulted in the deaths through three generations of countless Indians from cancer. There is even some suggestion that John Wayne’s eventual lung cancer was caused in part by being present at a filming site which was subjected to this nuclear dust. It’s a very good book, My first Lena Jones book but not my last.

[Gloria Feit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes, a novel’s ending spoils what preceded it. In this case, a well-thought-out plot concludes with a muddied confession to three murders. It begins when PI Lena Jones’ partner, Jimmy Sisiwan, disappears from Desert Investigations and Scottsdale and re-appears when he is arrested in the small Arizona town here his adopted family operates a dude ranch. It seems his “brother” is being held as a “material witness” in the murder of a PR flak for a uranium mine which is about to open nearby. Apparently Jimmy was attempting to “interview” witnesses and his efforts were “interpreted” as coercion. So, Lena to the rescue.

Earlier, Jimmy’s sister-in-law was found shot to death. She was a kingpin in a group known as Victims of Uranium Mining, obviously those opposed to the opening of the mine, who were successful in obtaining a delay. As the story continues we learn a lot about the effects of bad mining practices on mine workers and of the atomic bomb tests in Nevada in the decades following World War II on local population and across the nation.

The novel presents a well-drawn murder mystery, with interesting characters and a subject that is of vital importance. Some of it is a little gimmicky, but that really doesn’t detract from the importance of the subject.

Recommended.

[Cluessister Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like a book that has me still thinking about it two days later. Betty Webb’s Desert Wind is one of those. She also manages to get John Wayne into the first scene, so I was hooked from the beginning. The Duke has a recurring role in the story as a ghost, and his movie portrayal of Genghis Khan provides a key plot point.

Webb’s reporter background clearly shows. She reveals surprising and disturbing research about uranium mining and the ongoing effects of nuclear bomb testing in Arizona in the 1950s. If you think you know something about these topics you may be challenged by what she presented, as much as I was.

The fiction is as compelling as the facts – a twisty plot with distinctive characters.
This was my first Lena Jones mystery. She's a PI from Scottsdale who gets involved when her partner, Jimmy Sisiwan, is picked up for murder on the Indian reservation where he grew up.

Webb’s varied background seasons her writing – from work as a folk singer and commercial artist and go-go dancer to work picking cotton, raising chickens and working in a zoo. It gives her the ability to add the details that make her characters believable and distinctive as she weaves her story back and forth from the mid-century to current times.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

The seventh of a series, Webb's Lena Jones is a damaged, gutsy, complex and likable heroine whose own dark secrets are revealed bit by bit as the books progress.

These books are based upon backgrounds of true injustice, and are meticulously researched. This book is based upon the heedless and cold-blooded way the U.S. government continued over many years to perform nuclear testing in the American Southwest, and the on-going sickness and death as a result. There was a tremendous government cover-up with official liars telling everyone the radiation was harmless, and then making it nearly impossible to receive any compensation when lying was no longer possible.

All this and more, yet Webb still writes compelling fiction, never boring the reader with background history. Her books have all taught me about history and events in this country that I was unaware of, and the stories stay with me.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lena Jones is an Arizona private investigator whose cases just happen to spotlight issues such as polygamy and its effects not just on those "married" but the extra boys in the cult. As a character she is multifaceted and always a pleasure to read about. As an issue-driven series, Betty Webb's journalism background makes them informative, yet not didactic. This series is on my "read as soon as possible after release" list.

In Desert Wind, Betty spotlights the Downwinders, those downwind of the above ground nuclear testing of the 1940's - 60's and the subsequent high rates of cancer, sterility, and birth defects. Along side of this is the wasteful insanity of building water intensive resorts in the desert.

Read it for the issues (and the bibliography in the back.) Read it for the story and the characters. Either way you won't lose.

[Lynn Lerch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Betty Webb has another winner! Lena Jones comes to work to discover her partner isn't a work and has taken off to the unknown. She tracks him down to a town on the Arizona border where his adopted family runs a dude ranch. Betty jumps from 1956 to the present time to tell this story. Did you know that the Atomic Energy Committee told Americans in the 50's that the neuclar bomb testing in Nevada was safe? John Wayne tha movie "The Conquerer" where he and the cast,crew, and animals got cancer and most died from it. This a very good exposure of our government's cover-up of this. It makes one wonder what is being covered up today. Betty Webb has a full list of books and articles she used in her research.

[Arletta Dawdy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Betty Webb's work is always an intriguing and pertinent read. DESERT WIND is not an exception as she tackles the subject of uranium poisoning of people, land, animals, and water in the context of governmental and private business denial and obfuscation. Webb's characters ring true as we see her protagonist Lena Jones continue to grow in activism, crime solving and self-understanding and acceptance. Jimmie Sisiwan is the perfect counter-balance to Lena. Much has been written and said of Webb's journalistic background and there can be no doubt that it shows in her extensive research skills. But her novel writing comes alive with strong emotions, great action and deftly portrayed characters. I'll look forward to her next in this series and her zoo series, too.

[Pinal County Library District · Rating 5 out of 5]

Betty Webb is a local Arizona author who writes mysteries that tackle thorny problems involving locals. Her most recent Lena Jones mystery, Desert Wind, deals with the mining of uranium near the Grand Canyon, and the plight of the “Downwinders”, those people and their families who lived and worked downwind from the nuclear bomb testing that went on in Nevada during the 1950s through the 1960s.

All of her Lena Jones mysteries are based on stories that she covered as a reporter in Arizona and she often alerts us to subjects that are pertinent to our lives today.

[Sue Squire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay... I started on the 7th of a series. I like the book well enough to find the other 6 and get the low-down on Lena and Jimmy's PI lives and all the other info from their personal lives. I love the location of the book. I lived in AZ for 25 years and recognized the areas they were in. By the middle of this book you think you know who-done-it but with 1/2 the book left you know there is gonna be a twist or two.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

As usual with her Lena Jones books, Betty Webb has done extensive research to back up her story, this time about uranium mining and A-bomb testing in Nevada and northern Arizona. The story is gripping with an interesting side story relating to John Wayne and the making of the movie The Conqueror made in the mid-50s in southern Utah near the site of the tests.

Good job as usual, and some very interesting characters from "Walapai Flats," Lena's partner Jimmy's home town.