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Art Oveson #2
A Killing in Zion
After a high-profile case thrusts deputy Art Oveson into the spotlight, Salt Lake City's mayor taps him to head the city's Anti-Polygamy Squad. As a Mormon ashamed that his own ancestors played a part in the church's polygamist past, Art's eager to do his part to remove the extremists still practicing plural marriage. But after one of the polygamist patriarchs is murdered and a shell-shocked young woman found at the scene of the crime, Art finds himself drawn further into this society of extremists than he ever expected.
Historian and Hillerman award-winner, Andrew Hunt returns to 1930s Salt Lake City in a mystery that shows a city and religion struggling to grow and shake off a notorious history that has not yet become a thing of the past.
Historian and Hillerman award-winner, Andrew Hunt returns to 1930s Salt Lake City in a mystery that shows a city and religion struggling to grow and shake off a notorious history that has not yet become a thing of the past.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published September 8, 2015
10 people are currently reading
65 people want to read
About the author
Andrew Hunt
5 books9 followersAndrew Hunt is a Professor of United States History at the University of Waterloo in Canada. He was raised in California and Utah and is the father of two. Hunt also writes a blog which is a “celebration of animal rights and vegan living”.
Andrew Hunt also publishes non-fiction under Andrew E. Hunt
Librarian's note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Andrew Hunt also publishes non-fiction under Andrew E. Hunt
Librarian's note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
June 29, 2023
I was not a big fan of the first Art Oveson book, City of Saints. The mystery was not particularly gripping and the hero a tad bland. This second in the series is a vast improvement and I enjoyed it quite a bit more.
In the blazing summer of 1934, Art is named to revive the Salt Lake City Anti-Polygamy Squad to root out "plural marriage zealots." Soon a local prophet of polygamy is murdered. Art must find the identity of the frightened young girl found at the scene of the crime. As he investigates he learns a variety of other secrets and must solve the crime before his career and life are destroyed.
My greatest complaint with City of Saints was that Art was not that unique or compelling a character. That dragged down the rest of the story. Here, his world already set up, we get a much fuller glimpse of Depression-era Utah. I enjoyed it as my understanding of that area is much weaker than of other parts of the American West. The unique role of the Mormon Church plays a fascinating role in the narrative too. Art's supporting cast feels much stronger here as well. These elements combine to create a much more interesting story and compelling character. This series may be worth keeping up with.
In the blazing summer of 1934, Art is named to revive the Salt Lake City Anti-Polygamy Squad to root out "plural marriage zealots." Soon a local prophet of polygamy is murdered. Art must find the identity of the frightened young girl found at the scene of the crime. As he investigates he learns a variety of other secrets and must solve the crime before his career and life are destroyed.
My greatest complaint with City of Saints was that Art was not that unique or compelling a character. That dragged down the rest of the story. Here, his world already set up, we get a much fuller glimpse of Depression-era Utah. I enjoyed it as my understanding of that area is much weaker than of other parts of the American West. The unique role of the Mormon Church plays a fascinating role in the narrative too. Art's supporting cast feels much stronger here as well. These elements combine to create a much more interesting story and compelling character. This series may be worth keeping up with.
June 30, 2017
In this 2nd in the series, detective Art Oveson is chosen to head an Anti-Polygamy squad in Salt Lake City. As the investigation proceeds, he and his squad find that the elders who have formed a Fundamentalist polygamist cult have used their religion not only to acquire numerous young girls as wives (many as young as 12 years old), but also as a front to launder money, a homesteading scam, and other multiple crimes, including murder of those who dare to challenge them. They have also squirreled away at least a million dollars, if not more. As a Mormon himself, Art hates the polygamists and the way they damage the image of Mormonism. Set in 1934, the author captures the political, historical, and cultural issues of the era, for the most part. And he includes a few descriptions of the magnificent landscape of southern Utah.
February 13, 2021
This is better than A City of Saints, the first in the series. It's set in 1934 Salt Lake City where Lt Oveson is now head of the anti-polygamy squad. A leader of the polygamists is murdered and a mute young woman is discovered at the scene. Oveson and his squad, under political and police pressure and up against some fanatical opponents, pursue their targets across the state. Anachronisms such as photocopiers, LPs and time given digitally distract while stubborn Oveson is hard to like, but the secondary characters and his family help in what is quite an absorbing read despite the flaws.
April 7, 2019
While I wasn't over-the-top enthusiastic about the 1st book in this series, I thought I would give it one more try as often a series' first book is just getting all the characters introduced etc., so I thought it worth reading one more. I had the same reaction to this book; characters, the plot, the writing - just 'meh' for me. Clearly just not the book for me right now.
June 6, 2019
A group of polygamists aren't simply people who support having more than one wife but are much more on the criminal side. Set in the 1930s in Salt Lake City and vicinity, Art Oveson again tries to solve a problem and bring it to the attention of his superiors on the police force. He has to battle political motives and religious concerns to take down a ruthless group of murderers.
June 7, 2020
The second in the Detective Lt. Art Oveson series.
Art is a devout Norman in 1930s Salt Lake City.
He's been made Head of The Anti-Polygamy Squad.
Soon a local polygamist "Prophet" is murdered and a scared young girl is found at the scene.
Art sets out to solve the mystery.
A good story and a good period piece.
Art is a devout Norman in 1930s Salt Lake City.
He's been made Head of The Anti-Polygamy Squad.
Soon a local polygamist "Prophet" is murdered and a scared young girl is found at the scene.
Art sets out to solve the mystery.
A good story and a good period piece.
January 4, 2018
This moved along rather slowly developing the story. Much unnecessary detail at times. Nevertheless, interesting story line and great closing of the mystery. Would be nice to have footnotes or something to find out how much research was done or to learn more about the polygamists.
September 23, 2018
skipped large sections; the Salt Lake City details kept me going longer than had it been set most anywhere else / little flow; awkward wording sometimes / LDS details don't fit in well
December 20, 2015
This book was the second in a series, but, although I hadn't read the first book, I had no trouble catching onto the characters and set up. This is always a plus in a mystery series.
Hunt has set this series in Salt Lake City in the 1930s, specifically for this book in the summer of 1934, and he clearly revels in his historical research. He describes streets and buildings I know or have heard about (Sweet's Candy Company, anyone?) and appears to pay meticulous attention to details -- except when he doesn't.
In this particular story, Hunt uses the murder of Rulon Allred by a polygamist rival as an inspiration for his fictional crime set decades earlier. He changes the real polygamist towns of Hilldale and Colorado City (collectively known as Short Creek) to Dixie City, but that's OK; it's fiction after all. However, he's got the polygamists wearing pioneer clothes decades too early; a brief glance at the round-up photos even from the 1950s show that they didn't start their back-to-Brigham look until later.
Also, Hunt has a few other anachronisms which seem to arise from using only books for research and not talking to real people: 1) Family Home Evening. Uh, that was a David O. MacKay Mormon thing which took hold in the late 1960s and early 70s. Hunt's a good 30 years too early. 2) His cop protagonist keeps noting how the nearby wildfires have polluted the air in the Salt Lake Valley. However, what Hunt doesn't seem to be aware of is that this would have made the summer skies look like the winter skies. In the 1930s, Salt Lake residents used mostly coal in their furnaces, and the result was winter air thick enough to slice -- air that made our current temperature inversions look sparkling clean in comparison. Hunt's protagonist would surely have thought of this, but Hunt doesn't seem to know about it. 3) The protagonist's wife teaches school at East High. She's married, has two kids at home, and is pregnant, and she's teaching school in 1934. Probably not. Obviously, Hunt wants to make his cop protagonist into a man with modern appeal, a man who thinks of his wife as a partner instead of as a lesser human whose job it was to keep him happy. While I admire this sentiment, I believe Hunt has pushed it too far past believability. He seems to have forgotten that 1934 was during the Depression. I knew a woman (now deceased) who taught school in the Salt Lake Valley in 1934; she had to hide her marriage and lie to her employer in order to keep her job, as it was district policy to fire married women so a man could have the job. (It was assumed that a married woman would be taken care of by her husband.) When this woman got pregnant, she had to quit because she could no longer hide her lie. Thus, I have a hard time believing that this pregnant school teacher whose husband has a good job would be allowed to continue her profession in 1934.
Then there's the problem of travel. The protagonist and his buddy zip out past Utah Lake to an abandoned army fort without one thought of where they would buy gas. They also travel south to the fictional Dixie City -- which is somewhere past St. George, Utah -- without a single tire blow-out and without even worrying about the car's overheating in scorching weather. This is ridiculous. People who lived in southern Utah at the time used to tie wet burlap to the grills of their cars to help keep the engines and radiators cool. Heck, I used to drive a 1966 VW Beetle, and it would just shut down in weather over 100 degrees. Yet Hunt's characters have no car problems at all. They don't even worry about paying for gas in the height of the Depression. This bothered me.
Other than that, the book is pretty good. The protagonist is a bit of a Mary Sue, but the criminal underworld of the polygamist clans was great.
I'd definitely recommend this book to mystery lovers and those who enjoy historical fiction.
Hunt has set this series in Salt Lake City in the 1930s, specifically for this book in the summer of 1934, and he clearly revels in his historical research. He describes streets and buildings I know or have heard about (Sweet's Candy Company, anyone?) and appears to pay meticulous attention to details -- except when he doesn't.
In this particular story, Hunt uses the murder of Rulon Allred by a polygamist rival as an inspiration for his fictional crime set decades earlier. He changes the real polygamist towns of Hilldale and Colorado City (collectively known as Short Creek) to Dixie City, but that's OK; it's fiction after all. However, he's got the polygamists wearing pioneer clothes decades too early; a brief glance at the round-up photos even from the 1950s show that they didn't start their back-to-Brigham look until later.
Also, Hunt has a few other anachronisms which seem to arise from using only books for research and not talking to real people: 1) Family Home Evening. Uh, that was a David O. MacKay Mormon thing which took hold in the late 1960s and early 70s. Hunt's a good 30 years too early. 2) His cop protagonist keeps noting how the nearby wildfires have polluted the air in the Salt Lake Valley. However, what Hunt doesn't seem to be aware of is that this would have made the summer skies look like the winter skies. In the 1930s, Salt Lake residents used mostly coal in their furnaces, and the result was winter air thick enough to slice -- air that made our current temperature inversions look sparkling clean in comparison. Hunt's protagonist would surely have thought of this, but Hunt doesn't seem to know about it. 3) The protagonist's wife teaches school at East High. She's married, has two kids at home, and is pregnant, and she's teaching school in 1934. Probably not. Obviously, Hunt wants to make his cop protagonist into a man with modern appeal, a man who thinks of his wife as a partner instead of as a lesser human whose job it was to keep him happy. While I admire this sentiment, I believe Hunt has pushed it too far past believability. He seems to have forgotten that 1934 was during the Depression. I knew a woman (now deceased) who taught school in the Salt Lake Valley in 1934; she had to hide her marriage and lie to her employer in order to keep her job, as it was district policy to fire married women so a man could have the job. (It was assumed that a married woman would be taken care of by her husband.) When this woman got pregnant, she had to quit because she could no longer hide her lie. Thus, I have a hard time believing that this pregnant school teacher whose husband has a good job would be allowed to continue her profession in 1934.
Then there's the problem of travel. The protagonist and his buddy zip out past Utah Lake to an abandoned army fort without one thought of where they would buy gas. They also travel south to the fictional Dixie City -- which is somewhere past St. George, Utah -- without a single tire blow-out and without even worrying about the car's overheating in scorching weather. This is ridiculous. People who lived in southern Utah at the time used to tie wet burlap to the grills of their cars to help keep the engines and radiators cool. Heck, I used to drive a 1966 VW Beetle, and it would just shut down in weather over 100 degrees. Yet Hunt's characters have no car problems at all. They don't even worry about paying for gas in the height of the Depression. This bothered me.
Other than that, the book is pretty good. The protagonist is a bit of a Mary Sue, but the criminal underworld of the polygamist clans was great.
I'd definitely recommend this book to mystery lovers and those who enjoy historical fiction.
February 11, 2017
As a transplant to Utah I thought I'd give a Utah author a try. I live in a section of the state where Polygamy is in your face so I'm definitely familiar with it. Unfortunately I felt like I was reading a dime store crime novel...
April 11, 2016
The setting of this book is what sets it apart more than anything else. I was enjoying it up until the final "climax", which descended into a sort of 'deus ex machina' miracle set piece. Had not this hardly believable conclusion been less contrived then a 4* rating might be in order. The writing itself is quite good .
December 7, 2015
I really enjoyed this despite the subject matter of polygamy. The setting is fascinating, in that it is the 1930's and the the main character is a Morman in Salt Lake City. Good plot, I had no idea where this was going and I did not figure out "whodunnit".
I'll read more by this author.
I'll read more by this author.
January 10, 2016
interesting- an era/place no one else is exploring. I think the first Oveson book was better (more personality). This is well written but I found myself tired at page 313- too many words (aka it would have benefited from a little more tightening.) All in all, though, a worthy read.
November 22, 2015
story of Latter Day Saints divided and struggling in 1940s Utah. Law enforcement officers have a strong commitment to family.
February 23, 2016
A fun read if enjoy fast pace mysteries.
October 24, 2016
4.5 stars.
April 25, 2017
An excellent mystery series set in Salt Lake City in the 30s and 40s. Wonderful character development and intriguing plots.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews