The Bomb Shelter (David Mapstone Mysteries, 9) - Hardcover

Talton, Jon

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 146420957X ISBN 13: 9781464209574

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press, 2018

Synopsis

The past never rests easy in Arizona.

Forty years ago, a Phoenix reporter was killed by a car bomb in one of America's most notorious crimes. Three men went to prison-but was there more to the story of Charles Page's assassination? More than three low-level players? Did a kingpin order the hit and get away with it? And what was the real motive? Despite the work of teams of journalists and law and legal professionals, no one yet knows why.

It's a case custom-made for David Mapstone, the historian-turned-sheriff's deputy. And suddenly Mapstone's boss, newly re-elected Sheriff Mike Peralta, promises to reopen the investigation into the only murder of an American journalist, in the US, in modern times. Why?

The promise triggers new murders. The crimes are reenactments of Phoenix's mob-riddled past, where gangsters rubbed elbows with the city's elite amid crosscurrents of corrupt cops, political payoffs, gambling, prostitution, and murder, all shielded by the sunshine image of a resort city. But who is committing them? A former soldier who is an explosives expert and deadly with a knife? A woman with screen-siren looks and extraordinary computer skills? Or someone out of Phoenix's seamy, swinging Seventies with secrets to keep, even though the major power brokers are dead?

Mapstone will need all the help he can get. He enlists a PhD candidate and Black Lives Matter activist to help him comb through sealed archives of the original bombing. Mapstone's wife, Lindsey, a top hacker, rejoins the Sheriff's Office and plays a dangerous cat-and-mouse game with the perp or perps-one that goes from the digital to the real and risky world. Somewhere in the house of mirrors surrounding the Page case they must find the key that connects the past to the present.

In this swiftly paced, compelling new novel by journalist Jon Talton, the ninth in the David Mapstone series, a big city is trying to keep its darkest history off-limits.

About this title

About the Author:

Jon Talton is a fourth-generation Arizonan, the author of 12 novels, and a former columnist for the Arizona Republic. Talton now lives in Seattle, where he is the economics columnist for the Seattle Times and writes the blog Rogue Columnist.

Review:

"As noted in an introduction, the real-life case of Arizona reporter Don Bolles, one of only a few American journalists murdered in the U.S. in modern times, is the inspiration for Talton's lively ninth mystery featuring former history professor turned Phoenix sheriff's deputy David Mapstone (after 2015's High Country Nocturne). After attending an event commemorating the 40th anniversary of the death of reporter Charles Page, blown up by a car bomb in 1978, Sheriff Mike Peralta, Mapstone's boss, receives a threatening text: solve the unsolved Page case or your family will suffer the consequences. Peralta asks Mapstone to investigate, and soon he's on the trail of a series of brutal murders of people who are in some way involved with the decades-old case. Through Mapstone's wryly witty first-person narrative, Talton expresses his genuine love of Phoenix as it once was, as well as his exasperated but tolerant attachment to the city as it is today. Clear writing, an intricate plot, and credible characters make this entry a winner." (Publisher's Weekly)

"The characters are well-drawn, the action is non-stop, the tension is gripping, and the writing is tight and vivid." (Bruce DeSilva Bruce DeSilva, of Bruce DeSilva's Rogue Island, on Deadline Man)

"Talton celebrates investigative reporting and deplores the real-estate development that has damaged Phoenix as he delves into the dirty past and politics of the city. The ninth entry in a justly praised series." (Michele Leber Booklist)

About this edition

• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 146420957X
• ISBN 13: 9781464209574
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 380