"fresh police procedural"
When he was twenty-three, David Mapstone was a rookie
working in the Maricopa County Sheriff's office while
attending college at night. After four years on the force,
he accepts a position of assistant professor at a
midwestern college but when he fails to attain tenure he
returns to Arizona. He accepts a job with the sheriff's
office as a Historian, receiving a set fee for each cold
case he solved. Nobody could be happier than David is when his old partner
Mike Peralta is elected sheriff of Maricopa County.
However, minutes after Peralta is sworn in, someone shoots
the new sheriff who is rushed to the hospital where he lays
in a coma. David is selected as acting sheriff because he
has no interest in the position permanently. His immediate
concern is the murder of former sheriff Dick Nixon who many
claim was dirty, and an escaped con probably gunning for
David and Peralta. When evidence surfaces that officers,
including Peralta, were on the take in the 1970's, David,
trusting in the honesty of his friend, concludes that
somebody is manipulating events. David investigates the
situation, trying to flush the killer out but almost winds
up another victim. Jon Talton is a superb storyteller who is a fresh new voice
in police procedurals. His hero is likable and realistic,
a person not interested in petty politics or getting ahead
professionally. He's more involved in the past than the
present but in CAMELBACK FALLS he is forced to work on a
current crime because of his friendship. Mr. Talton writes
with a discerning eye and a subtle sense of irony that
readers will appreciate. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted December 11, 2002
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