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Lena Jones Mystery #1
Desert Noir
At the age of four, Lena Jones was found lying unconscious by the side of an Arizona Highway, a bullet robbing her of any memories. Now a private detective and scarred survivor of a dozen foster homes, Lena has vowed to find the truth about her childhood.
But Lena’s quest is interrupted when her friend, art dealer Clarice Kobe, is beaten to death in her Western Heart Art Gallery on Scottsdale’s Main Street. Lena and her Pima Indian partner Jimmy Sisiwan first suspect Clarice’s abusive husband, but their investigation soon reveals that domestic violence was far from the only problem in the dead woman’s life.
For all her money and beauty, Clarice had far more enemies than friends. Among them are a fiery Apache artist whose graphic work she once banned from her gallery and the daughter of an elderly Hispanic woman whose death was directly attributable to the gallery owner’s greed. And Clarice’s land developer parents are oddly untroubled by their daughter’s murder.
Lena’s search for the killer brings violence back into her own life but does it bring her closer to solving her own personal mystery?
But Lena’s quest is interrupted when her friend, art dealer Clarice Kobe, is beaten to death in her Western Heart Art Gallery on Scottsdale’s Main Street. Lena and her Pima Indian partner Jimmy Sisiwan first suspect Clarice’s abusive husband, but their investigation soon reveals that domestic violence was far from the only problem in the dead woman’s life.
For all her money and beauty, Clarice had far more enemies than friends. Among them are a fiery Apache artist whose graphic work she once banned from her gallery and the daughter of an elderly Hispanic woman whose death was directly attributable to the gallery owner’s greed. And Clarice’s land developer parents are oddly untroubled by their daughter’s murder.
Lena’s search for the killer brings violence back into her own life but does it bring her closer to solving her own personal mystery?
242 pages, Paperback
First published June 4, 2001
81 people are currently reading
609 people want to read
About the author
Betty Webb
24 books202 followersAs 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
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
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 101 reviews
March 22, 2010
I really liked this atmospheric, fast-paced Southwestern mystery. The Phoenix-Scottsdale region of Arizona comes alive here, as do the characters, especially our heroine, private investigator 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, an acquaintance of Lena's who runs an art gallery, is viciously murdered, there are lots 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. It's the first book in what looks like a fascinating series.
After Clarice, an acquaintance of Lena's who runs an art gallery, is viciously murdered, there are lots 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. It's the first book in what looks like a fascinating series.
February 16, 2019
I chose to read this book/series because I lived in Arizona for years. I was hooked from the very beginning and happy dancing because I felt I'd found a fantastic series to read! I loved reading about Scottsdale and I was fascinated by Lena and her history. However, after reaching the halfway mark I chose to give the book up. Too many horrible, unlikeable characters for me. By the middle of the book, there was only one character I liked: Jimmy. (Too bad he wasn't the main character...) I hate to say it but life is just too short to read books I don't love. 😕
January 24, 2018
This book does indeed include noir elements as the title might suggest.
Anyone who has ever lived in the Phoenix area will recognize much of the setting. Longtime residents will appreciate the author's commentary on the changes to their hometown. The Phoenix area has changed over the years from a "big town" with clean air, wide vistas, and low crime to a sprawling metropolis with smog and the usual big city problems. The author's own heartbreak over these unflattering changes is evident through her main character, Lena.
Lena Jones is a likeable wiseass investigator who tries not to think about her tragic childhood in the foster care system. She has patchy memories of her own parents and life with them before becoming a ward of the state. She begins the book as an atheist, but a strange mystical experience in the desert as she struggles to survive leads her to believe there is something more than what is on the everyday surface of life. She's not sure what it is or what to call it, but it serves to help her avoid a consuming hatred and bitterness when faced with the evil actions of others. She is able to see the sad and tragic souls buried beneath ugly and criminal behavior and it is this that allows her to do her job compassionately.
As a first novel, I found the plot well crafted and the characters affective (yes, I do mean affective); the author makes you feel something, sometimes strongly, for each of her characters. I was a bit disappointed in the rather high number of "typos" the publisher failed to correct before printing.
A well done regional mystery. I'll be back for more from this author.
Anyone who has ever lived in the Phoenix area will recognize much of the setting. Longtime residents will appreciate the author's commentary on the changes to their hometown. The Phoenix area has changed over the years from a "big town" with clean air, wide vistas, and low crime to a sprawling metropolis with smog and the usual big city problems. The author's own heartbreak over these unflattering changes is evident through her main character, Lena.
Lena Jones is a likeable wiseass investigator who tries not to think about her tragic childhood in the foster care system. She has patchy memories of her own parents and life with them before becoming a ward of the state. She begins the book as an atheist, but a strange mystical experience in the desert as she struggles to survive leads her to believe there is something more than what is on the everyday surface of life. She's not sure what it is or what to call it, but it serves to help her avoid a consuming hatred and bitterness when faced with the evil actions of others. She is able to see the sad and tragic souls buried beneath ugly and criminal behavior and it is this that allows her to do her job compassionately.
As a first novel, I found the plot well crafted and the characters affective (yes, I do mean affective); the author makes you feel something, sometimes strongly, for each of her characters. I was a bit disappointed in the rather high number of "typos" the publisher failed to correct before printing.
A well done regional mystery. I'll be back for more from this author.
March 18, 2019
Desert Noir is the 1st book about P.I Lena Jones out of a 10 book series. Lena worked in a Violent Crimes Division until she was hit by a bullet. She was given a desk duty job that she couldn't endure so she left the department and started a P.I. business. Her past boss keeps trying to get her to return to his department.
Lena is also on a quest to find out about her identity. At four years old, she was brought to a hospital by a good samaritan who saw a woman shoot the little girl. She now has a long scar on her forehead and is trying to find out who she is. She was passed from foster home to foster home and didn't develop real friendships.
A business neighbor is brutally murdered and at first Lena is hired to find the murderer. She reluctantly takes the position as the murder victim's husband is suspected of committing the crime. He is a woman batterer or abuser. She was hired by the husband's lawyer to prove he didn't commit the crime. She is soon released from that position of which she is grateful. She decides to solve the crime to find out who murdered her business neighbor/friend murder. The book continues as a police procedural.
What I like best about the book was the location. It took place in Scottsdale Arizona. As a reader, I could tell that the author loves the area and the desert around Scottsdale. It was very descriptive of the location. Also, Lena Jones is one tough cookie. She has had a very difficult past. She is a problem solver and quite can be quite inventive in getting herself out of trouble. It was a quick fast enjoyable read.
Lena is also on a quest to find out about her identity. At four years old, she was brought to a hospital by a good samaritan who saw a woman shoot the little girl. She now has a long scar on her forehead and is trying to find out who she is. She was passed from foster home to foster home and didn't develop real friendships.
A business neighbor is brutally murdered and at first Lena is hired to find the murderer. She reluctantly takes the position as the murder victim's husband is suspected of committing the crime. He is a woman batterer or abuser. She was hired by the husband's lawyer to prove he didn't commit the crime. She is soon released from that position of which she is grateful. She decides to solve the crime to find out who murdered her business neighbor/friend murder. The book continues as a police procedural.
What I like best about the book was the location. It took place in Scottsdale Arizona. As a reader, I could tell that the author loves the area and the desert around Scottsdale. It was very descriptive of the location. Also, Lena Jones is one tough cookie. She has had a very difficult past. She is a problem solver and quite can be quite inventive in getting herself out of trouble. It was a quick fast enjoyable read.
November 21, 2017
Desert Noir written by Betty Webb is the first in a series featuring Lena Jones a former police detective turned private investigator. Lena decides to investigate the murder of a friend, Clarice Kobe, and she is drawn into a world of violence, incest and politics. Webb characters are vividly drawn and Lena, while flawed, is a heroine the reader can cheer for.
February 27, 2015
RATING: 3.75
Lena Jones gave up being a cop after being shot in the hip. That doesn't mean that her life has been spent knitting afghans. She's joined forces with a young man named Jimmy Sisiwan to form an agency known as Desert Investigations in Scottsdale, Arizona. Jimmy is a Pima Indian who was raised by a Mormon family in Utah. He's returned to his roots and sports shoulder-length black hair and Pima tribal tattoos on his face. Their specialty is computer security. They are hired to see if they can break into the computer systems of their clients. Jimmy is a genius at this type of work. Lena isn't. She's more into the standard PI stuff.
Lena soon finds herself with a job that she doesn't want. Her friend, Clarice Kobe, who is the owner of the Western Heart art gallery, is found beaten to death. The immediate suspect is her estranged husband, a jerk by the name of Jay Kobe, who is arrested after the police find his blood-stained shoes in the garbage. Jay hires Lena, which she is not delighted about since she finds him about one millimeter above pond scum. Unfortunately, he may not be guilty. At the time of the murder he was in bed with his girlfriend and drunker than the proverbial skunk.
In addition to searching for Clarice's killer, Lena is very involved in trying to uncover the mystery of her own past. At the age of 4, she was abandoned at a hospital with a bullet wound to the head. The incident haunts her, since she has no memory of it. Was she a victim of child abuse or the lone survivor of a family tragedy? It is important to Lena to establish her identity. She ended up living in a series of foster homes and is emotionally scarred as a result. She struggles to connect with others, not willing to admit to having any feelings for anyone, even her boyfriend of 4 years.
In trying to find out who killed Clarice, Lena finds that her friend was not all that she seemed. She came from a totally dysfunctional family. Her sister is a drug addict, her brother a ne'er-do-well. Her mother is an alcoholic who doesn't love any of her children. And her father-well, does it help to know that Clarice had filed a civil suit against him because of an incestuous relationship? The entire Hyath family are a bit unbelievable since they are all so damaged. Could one of her own family have killed her? Or perhaps it was the Apache artist that she had a screaming fight with after she rejected his art.
There is another level of death going on in this book beyond the killing of Clarice. Scottsdale is being destroyed by an influx of residents. Construction of new homes is moving the city's borders into the desert. As a result, the environment is desecrated. Coyotes who are starving because they've lost their hunting grounds are showing up in the city instead, making them subject to being killed by scared residents. There is also another kind of destruction at work, the destruction of hundreds of years of native American and Hispanic culture. Adobe homes that have housed the population for many years are leveled and replaced by the latest urban behemoths.
Desert Noir is Webb's first book and shows promise of good things to come. One of the best parts of the book was the denouement, where Lena and the killer are stranded in the desert with no protection from the heat and no water for 3 days. Lena exhibits great resourcefulness, a trait that I would have liked to seen applied more to the resolution of the murder. Lena Jones was certainly an interesting and complex character, but she seemed trapped in a standard PI mode. The pacing of the narrative was a bit off, and the investigation could have moved forward more quickly.
Webb does a wonderful job of placing the reader in the setting, and her love of the area's people and history are evident. Lena Jones is someone I definitely look forward to meeting again.
Lena Jones gave up being a cop after being shot in the hip. That doesn't mean that her life has been spent knitting afghans. She's joined forces with a young man named Jimmy Sisiwan to form an agency known as Desert Investigations in Scottsdale, Arizona. Jimmy is a Pima Indian who was raised by a Mormon family in Utah. He's returned to his roots and sports shoulder-length black hair and Pima tribal tattoos on his face. Their specialty is computer security. They are hired to see if they can break into the computer systems of their clients. Jimmy is a genius at this type of work. Lena isn't. She's more into the standard PI stuff.
Lena soon finds herself with a job that she doesn't want. Her friend, Clarice Kobe, who is the owner of the Western Heart art gallery, is found beaten to death. The immediate suspect is her estranged husband, a jerk by the name of Jay Kobe, who is arrested after the police find his blood-stained shoes in the garbage. Jay hires Lena, which she is not delighted about since she finds him about one millimeter above pond scum. Unfortunately, he may not be guilty. At the time of the murder he was in bed with his girlfriend and drunker than the proverbial skunk.
In addition to searching for Clarice's killer, Lena is very involved in trying to uncover the mystery of her own past. At the age of 4, she was abandoned at a hospital with a bullet wound to the head. The incident haunts her, since she has no memory of it. Was she a victim of child abuse or the lone survivor of a family tragedy? It is important to Lena to establish her identity. She ended up living in a series of foster homes and is emotionally scarred as a result. She struggles to connect with others, not willing to admit to having any feelings for anyone, even her boyfriend of 4 years.
In trying to find out who killed Clarice, Lena finds that her friend was not all that she seemed. She came from a totally dysfunctional family. Her sister is a drug addict, her brother a ne'er-do-well. Her mother is an alcoholic who doesn't love any of her children. And her father-well, does it help to know that Clarice had filed a civil suit against him because of an incestuous relationship? The entire Hyath family are a bit unbelievable since they are all so damaged. Could one of her own family have killed her? Or perhaps it was the Apache artist that she had a screaming fight with after she rejected his art.
There is another level of death going on in this book beyond the killing of Clarice. Scottsdale is being destroyed by an influx of residents. Construction of new homes is moving the city's borders into the desert. As a result, the environment is desecrated. Coyotes who are starving because they've lost their hunting grounds are showing up in the city instead, making them subject to being killed by scared residents. There is also another kind of destruction at work, the destruction of hundreds of years of native American and Hispanic culture. Adobe homes that have housed the population for many years are leveled and replaced by the latest urban behemoths.
Desert Noir is Webb's first book and shows promise of good things to come. One of the best parts of the book was the denouement, where Lena and the killer are stranded in the desert with no protection from the heat and no water for 3 days. Lena exhibits great resourcefulness, a trait that I would have liked to seen applied more to the resolution of the murder. Lena Jones was certainly an interesting and complex character, but she seemed trapped in a standard PI mode. The pacing of the narrative was a bit off, and the investigation could have moved forward more quickly.
Webb does a wonderful job of placing the reader in the setting, and her love of the area's people and history are evident. Lena Jones is someone I definitely look forward to meeting again.
February 7, 2015
Betty Webb is an Arizona author who has published two prize winning mystery series - Lena Jones and the Gunn Zoo series. This is the first book I read of hers and the first in the series.
I had the feeling throughout the story that I had missed the first book even though this is where her story started. Lena Jones is a private detective who has left the police force due to an injury. Her good friend is murdered and Lena uses her police and private detective skills to solve the mystery. She is aided by her business partner Jimmy Sisiwan a Pima Indian and computer geek she sets out on the trail of the killer.
Was it her abusive ex-husband, a competitor in the art gallery world of Scottsdale, Arizona, a tourist or someone else with a vendetta?
I enjoyed the side story the author incorporated into the main murder mystery about Lena's past. I appreciated that we learned about Lena in small doses - by her taste in music, the things in her apartment, what she eats and so on. The author does a great job of showing us who Lena is without spelling it out for the reader. We are allowed the time to absorb her character.
I'm not sure I liked the odd twists in the story but they did lead me in a different direction than I expected. The climax incorporated some wonderful elements of danger and kept me on the edge of my seat.
I will read the next book in the series to see where Lena goes on her next journey.
I had the feeling throughout the story that I had missed the first book even though this is where her story started. Lena Jones is a private detective who has left the police force due to an injury. Her good friend is murdered and Lena uses her police and private detective skills to solve the mystery. She is aided by her business partner Jimmy Sisiwan a Pima Indian and computer geek she sets out on the trail of the killer.
Was it her abusive ex-husband, a competitor in the art gallery world of Scottsdale, Arizona, a tourist or someone else with a vendetta?
I enjoyed the side story the author incorporated into the main murder mystery about Lena's past. I appreciated that we learned about Lena in small doses - by her taste in music, the things in her apartment, what she eats and so on. The author does a great job of showing us who Lena is without spelling it out for the reader. We are allowed the time to absorb her character.
I'm not sure I liked the odd twists in the story but they did lead me in a different direction than I expected. The climax incorporated some wonderful elements of danger and kept me on the edge of my seat.
I will read the next book in the series to see where Lena goes on her next journey.
November 18, 2017
*Desert Noir* is the first in Arizona writer Betty Webb’s Lena Jones series. Lena is a private investigator with an office in the arts district of Scottsdale, Arizona. She’s tough and pushy and somewhat impulsive, but we learn she also has a vulnerable side. Lena grew up in the foster care system, and her personal life mystery is trying to figure out why her mother shot her in the head and tried to kill her. Lena has a thing for a cowboy named Dusty, but can’t admit it to herself much less to him because she fears love and commitment.
Lena is drawn into a murder case when a casual friend who owns an art gallery nearby is murdered. The book is suspenseful, and it has a lot of interesting characters. The gallery owner turns out to be part of the family from hell. There are some artists on the scene, too, and they add their bit to the story line. Lena has a Native American office assistant named Jimmy. He’s a competent, reliable, and friendly bright spot in her work life. One of the memorable scenes in the book is Lena seeing her jeep for the first time after it got a paint job from some of Jimmy’s Native American friends. Toward the end of the book, the Sonoran Desert is the character that determines whether she and the murderer will live or die. I found this story intriguing and suspenseful. Webb writes a great mystery.
Lena is drawn into a murder case when a casual friend who owns an art gallery nearby is murdered. The book is suspenseful, and it has a lot of interesting characters. The gallery owner turns out to be part of the family from hell. There are some artists on the scene, too, and they add their bit to the story line. Lena has a Native American office assistant named Jimmy. He’s a competent, reliable, and friendly bright spot in her work life. One of the memorable scenes in the book is Lena seeing her jeep for the first time after it got a paint job from some of Jimmy’s Native American friends. Toward the end of the book, the Sonoran Desert is the character that determines whether she and the murderer will live or die. I found this story intriguing and suspenseful. Webb writes a great mystery.
October 3, 2012
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.
December 18, 2015
I grew up in Arizona, and I loved seeing the desert and its people brought so richly and accurately to life. And it's an excellent mystery as well =)
August 2, 2017
Interesting novel....with a lot of historic facts about Phoenix and Scottsdale area. The Lena Jones mystery kept me interested and looking forward to reading more of Betty Webb's books.
February 23, 2025
I enjoyed meeting Private Investigator Lena Jones who recently resigned from the Scottsdale Police Force in Arizona due to an injury. When an art gallery owner is murdered close to their offices, Lena is asked to clear her abusive former husband when he is arrested. Against her will, Lena soon finds that there were quite a few people who did not like the gallery owner. In the process, Lena will also learn something important about her own history.
September 24, 2018
Somewhat disappointing. A solid beginning slowly falls apart as book drones on. Protagonist Lena Jones is never really defined. At just over 250 pages this one runs a few chapters too long. Two Stars out of a possible five stars.
January 13, 2021
If you like mysteries located in Arizona, this is a wonderful book. The character development is wonderful and descriptions of the Arizona desert and the Scottsdale area make you feel that you are actually there. Desert Noir
February 6, 2018
Lena Jones is a complicated, damaged woman who became a private eye rather than take a desk job in the police department after being shot. She is tough and gutsy, relentless in pursuing the clues to her neighbor Clarice's murder. She is also haunted by her own past and trying to discover who her parents were and how she ended up in foster care. This a little too hard-boiled to be called a cozy, but if you are looking for a good mystery to try and solve before the protagonist does, this might be for you.
February 11, 2018
Fun to read about the Valle of the Sun. Reminds me a little of Jon Talton.
July 29, 2014
Noir Redux
Noir Redux
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.
Noir Redux
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.
September 30, 2008
A good mystery. I especially liked the rich setting in Arizona --Indian, Hispanic, Anglo cultures colliding in the Scottsdale area and the desert beauty and harshness. The main character, Lena Jones, is a recently retired police detective (and treats us to a bit too much coarse police mouthiness)who is hired to discover the murderer of the posh art dealer who owns the studio next to Lena's own agency. I liked the description on the flyleaf of the main character: "a detective as wounded as her clients, a woman battling her own demons while trying to rescue others from theirs." We are treated with lots of consciousness-raising issues--battered women, land developers ravaging the Sonoran Desert, bigotry--the book is certainly not without causes. And one of the nicest characters is Lena's partner, a computer whiz who is a Pima Indian raised by Mormons.
August 23, 2009
This was my first Betty Webb and I will certainly seek more books by this author. I rated it about midway in my ratings, partly because it took awhile to get absorbed into the story line and to really feel any affinity for the characters. I am unsure whether it was me or the writing. I want to try one more by this author before I decide.
The protagonist is private investigator Lena Jones who is an ex-cop. She was shot in the head at the age of four by her mother, supposedly. She grew up in foster homes. She is investigating the beating death of a rich art gallery owner. It appears the art gallery owner, Clarice Kobe might have been beaten by her ex- husband Jay who has a history of brutalizing the women he is attached to. But as Lena investigates she uncovers a dark side to Clarice's life and personality and also to Lena's history.
The protagonist is private investigator Lena Jones who is an ex-cop. She was shot in the head at the age of four by her mother, supposedly. She grew up in foster homes. She is investigating the beating death of a rich art gallery owner. It appears the art gallery owner, Clarice Kobe might have been beaten by her ex- husband Jay who has a history of brutalizing the women he is attached to. But as Lena investigates she uncovers a dark side to Clarice's life and personality and also to Lena's history.
August 2, 2009
First book in the Lena Jones Mysteries and it is a very good book. Lena is a former cop, now a private investigator. Her partner in her business is a Pima Indian (Arizona), her significant other is a worker on a Dude ranch and her former boss is trying to get her to come back to work for him, in an office since the bullet that shattered her hip prevents her from field work.
When a gallery owner across the street from her office is killed, Lena is first hired to prove the almost-ex-husband didn't do it, then works on her own to discover the culprit. With a nasty family, at all levels, a puzzle about Lena's own past and some great history and background on Scottsdale/Phoenix Arizona, this is a page turner from beginning to end. I can't wait to get to the next book in the series.
When a gallery owner across the street from her office is killed, Lena is first hired to prove the almost-ex-husband didn't do it, then works on her own to discover the culprit. With a nasty family, at all levels, a puzzle about Lena's own past and some great history and background on Scottsdale/Phoenix Arizona, this is a page turner from beginning to end. I can't wait to get to the next book in the series.
January 11, 2009
This is the first in a series, and at first I didn't think I was going to get that much into it, but ened up enjoying it and reading through pretty quickly. Besides solving a murder investigation, Lena Jones has the mysteries about her own life to try to unravel. As a child moving throught the foster care system, she learned not to attach to anyone, but doesn't know anything about her own family. There are also those descriptions of the desert landscape, around Scottsdale Arizona, where the book takes place.
December 13, 2014
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.
February 7, 2016
Typical novel about murder and money in the Valley of the Sun. Lots of good facts about the growth of Scottsdale and the Pima Indians. Lena Jones is the private detective in Scottsdale art gallery district. She is an ex-cop who was injured on the job and is now working for the private sector. She has an assistant, Jimmy Sisiwan, who is a Pima Indian, raised by a Mormon family in Utah. Lena is now investigating the death of her friend who was beaten to death in her art gallery.
I enjoyed the facts about the city and its growth.
I enjoyed the facts about the city and its growth.
February 15, 2020
This is the first in the Lena Jones series. In my experience, first of many are seldom at the same level as subsequent books, but this is an exception. I did not read this one first, and I am surprised at how little redundancy occurs in the series.
Author Betty Webb's training is in investigative reporting in Scottsdale, AZ, and each of these books is inspired by stories she covered in that capacity. This makes for very good reading. I am so pleased to find her plots and characters plausible, as well as doing justice to a setting I know and enjoy.
Author Betty Webb's training is in investigative reporting in Scottsdale, AZ, and each of these books is inspired by stories she covered in that capacity. This makes for very good reading. I am so pleased to find her plots and characters plausible, as well as doing justice to a setting I know and enjoy.
February 23, 2013
The book was a quick read and I enjoyed the humor tied into the plot. Lena Jones, the main character, reminded me of Kinsey Milhone in Sue Grafton's alphabet mystery series. The book was published several years ago and there hasn't been a follow up which disappoints me because I could really get hooked on a series with this character in it. I thought the ending was different and not formulaic with a predictable criminal taking the fall.
January 4, 2012
Really pretty good. I was interested because the Gunn Zoo books are pretty cute and all, but these have very good reviews, and I was curious about the difference. It's definitely a mystery novel that adheres pretty closely to format, but it's got a good mystery, a great setting, an intriguing backstory for the protagonist, and a lot of interesting insights about race relations, urbanization, desert survival, and treatment of Native Americans in Arizona.
February 23, 2012
A mediocre mystery set in Scottsdale, Arizona. The main character is a former cop turned private investigator who is investigating the murder of a neighbor and friend. She is also investigating her own past: she was delivered to the ER at the age of 4 after being shot in the head. The book reads like an older book (it's 10 years old), but I'm curious to see how the character develops, so I'll likely read the next one at least.
March 22, 2015
One of the things I enjoyed the most about this book was it takes place here in the Scottsdale/Phoenix area and as such, I recognize everywhere Lena goes! Lena is a wonderful character with flaws and pain as well as an ability to feel joy. Wonderful plot twists and characters you can hate. I was fascinated with the mother who reminded me in many ways of mine...
Great read and look forward to the next in the series! Kudos to Betty Webb!
Great read and look forward to the next in the series! Kudos to Betty Webb!
October 25, 2015
Lena's friend in a neighboring art gallery is killed in a violent manner that reflects abuse. Ex policeman, Lena pursues the killer in an investigation that leads her to the Phoenix desert and the relationships in a prominent Phoenix family.
March 13, 2017
I liked the book well enough while I was reading it. I always enjoy books set in the desert Southwest. But when I got to the end, I realized that I didn't like any of the characters. I don't know that I will read more in the series.
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