I loved Jon Talton’s standalone, City of Dark Corners. Before you jump to get it at your local library or bookstore, though, you need to know it’s set in Phoenix and the Valley of the Sun in 1933. I lived in the Valley for 8 1/2 years, and I recognize the streets and the real people who are characters in the book, people from Phoenix’ history. A young Barry Goldwater; a bootlegger who had a strange hold one respectable figures, Kemper Marley (suspected in the 1970s of involvement in the bombing death of a reporter); a gambler connected to the Chicago mob named Gus Greenbaum; these are all real people enmeshed in this story. It’s gritty and atmospheric. Talton is known for his outstanding depictions of Phoenix in his novels.

Citizens are tired of Hoovervilles and charitable handouts by 1933. The Great Depression has hit Phoenix, and the country, hard. That means Gene Hammons is frequently employed. A veteran of the Great War, he was released from his job as a homicide detective in Phoenix because he refused to go along with the party line in the case of Winnie Judd, the so-called “Trunk Murderess”. Now, he makes a living looking for missing people. There are plenty of people who just disappear in 1933.

Gene is not close to his brother, Don, a homicide detective who uses cocaine. But, Don pays him to consult on a case because Gene was the detective who solved the University Park Strangler case. This time, a blonde’s dismembered body has been found, in four parts, out by the railroad tracks. While the railroad bull says she must have fallen from the train, Gene disagrees, saying the body was arranged. But, there’s one problem. Don finds Gene’s business card in the victim’s purse, and Gene never saw her before.

While the Chamber of Commerce has the clout to tell the police to bury the case, they have no control over Gene Hammons. He and his girlfriend, Victoria Vasquez, a police photographer, search for the victim’s identity. But, someone is either trying to throw Gene to the wolves, or they want to cover their own tracks. As Gene and Victoria investigate, their connections are attacked or killed, one by one. When Victoria is followed and Gene’s loses clues in a fire, he begins to worry about Victoria’s safety.

Talton’s City of Dark Corners is a complex, intriguing story set in a gritty city. Early Phoenix was a rough-and-tumble city. The police were not always honest, and payoffs were common. Money often went to politicians, gamblers, and power players. Talton captures Phoenix’ past in a memorable, atmospheric novel.

Jon Talton’s website is http://www.jontalton.com/

City of Dark Corners by Jon Talton. Sourcebooks/Poisoned Pen Press, 2021. ISBN 9781464213250 (paperback), 256p.

FTC Full Disclosure – I received a .PDF to review for a journal.