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Desert Run: A Lena Jones Mystery Audiobook
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(3.10) - 87 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Things are never easy for Scottsdale private eye Lena Jones. Her partner in Desert Investigations, Jimmy Sisiwan, is leaving for a moneyed wife and a job at Southwest Microsystems, and her old captain at the Scottsdale Police Department is off to his home in Brooklyn. Meanwhile, she's doing security for Warren Quinn, director of a documentary film about the American World War II camp for German POWs at Arizona's Papago Park, from which some prisoners once escaped.
One surviving escapee, Käpitan zur See Erik Ernst, a man now in his nineties and confined to a wheelchair after a boating accident, has just been murdered. What's more, the man's Ethiopian caregiver begs Lena to clear him as a suspect in the murder.
Lena, experienced in probing the past for answers to the central mystery of her own life—who is she?—learns that after their daring Christmas Eve escape Ernst and two other POWs had hid out in Arizona's rugged Superstition Mountains. Nearby on Christmas night, a farm family, the Bollingers, had been slaughtered. A jury didn't convict the only survivor, the teenage son, despite some suggestive evidence. What might Chess Bollinger know about Ernst—and vice versa? And how much can Lena trust filmmaker Warren Quinn, either as a client, a witness, or a lover?
In this complex, stunning case based on real Arizona history, Betty Webb spins another evocative, haunting story in her Lena Jones mystery series.
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"Very interesting. While working with a film crew doing a documentary about a German POW camp based in Scottsdale during WWII, one of the consultants - a former POW - is murdered. The story jumps between present day and 1944, when a group of POW's escaped."
— Sue (4 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“This thought-provoking novel is a gem. It is a perfect chance to make the acquaintance of an author poised on the national consciousness of mystery fans.”
— Denver Post -
“At the start of Webb’s multifaceted, fast-paced fourth Lena Jones mystery, the scrappy workaholic PI is supervising security for filmmaker Warren Quinn, who’s shooting a documentary about the escape of German POWs from a prison camp in Scottsdale, Arizona, in 1944…Webb combines evocative descriptions of place with fine historical research in a plot packed with twists.”
— Publishers Weekly -
“A complex, stunning case based on real Arizona history, journalist Betty Webb, author of Desert Noir, Desert Wives, and Desert Run, spins an evocative, haunting story.”
— Library Journal -
“Webb bases her latest Lena Jones adventure on a real episode in Arizona history…As in the preceding episodes in the series, Webb effectively evokes the beauty of the Arizona desert.”
— Booklist
Desert Run Listener Reviews
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" Murder Mystery set in present day Arizona with factual account of German POW escape in 1944 from a Scottsdale camp that plays into the present day string of murders. Booked wrapped up in the last 30 pages with lots of drivel in between. "
— John, 12/8/2013 -
" This fascinating story is based on a real life mystery. A liitle congested with multiple storylines, but an entertaining read nonetheless. "
— Victoria, 9/22/2013 -
" A nice book that combines history with fiction. "
— Bernie, 8/24/2013 -
" I like southwest stories, I like Arizona, I like who dunnit's, and I especially liked this one. Some history interspersed with a good story kept my interest up. "
— Charles, 8/6/2013 -
" Good mystery, some tie-in to historical fact. Predecessor to Desert Cut, watch out for that one. "
— Tom, 4/22/2013 -
" Set in Arizona, lots of native culture. Lena investigates murder of aged Nazi around filming of documentatry about the Germans' escape from a WWII Arizona prison camp. GOOD "
— Lindalee, 3/11/2013 -
" Good mystery story. I'll read more by her. "
— Sue, 2/14/2013 -
" I guess I just really like books where the mystery has roots in the past; this one has its genesis in World War II and the POW camps in the US. So far it's my favorite of Betty Webb's books, but I still need to read Desert Cut. "
— Nikki, 2/10/2013 -
" She's a great author taking bits of history and mixing it in with a good mystery. I love her main character too "
— Lms, 1/24/2013 -
" Audiobook version. This one was a bit of a stretch for me; based in real AZ history but WWII history, not my favorite. Good installment in the Lena Jones series. "
— Daphne, 9/13/2012
About Betty Webb
Betty Webb worked as a journalist and often bases her mystery novels on stories she covered as a reporter. Currently a creative writing teacher at Phoenix College, she is a member of the National Federation of Press Women, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and the Society of Southwestern Authors.
About Marguerite Gavin
Marguerite Gavin is a seasoned theater veteran, a five-time nominee for the prestigious Audie Award, and the winner of numerous AudioFile Earphones and Publishers Weekly awards. She has been an actor, director, and audiobook narrator for her entire professional career. With over four hundred titles to her credit, her narration spans nearly every genre, from nonfiction to mystery, science fiction, fantasy, romance, and children’s fiction. AudioFile magazine says, “Marguerite Gavin…has a sonorous voice, rich and full of emotion.”