Book description
While scouting locations for a film documentary on the Arizona's Apache
Wars, private investigator Lena Jones and Oscar-winning director Warren
Quinn, discover the mutilated body of a young girl. The gruesome manner
of the child's death evokes memories of Lena's own rough childhood.
Clashing with the local law, Lena's investigation uncovers a small town
with a big secret. Los Perdidos is not the Eden it first appears.
Founded by the descendants of pioneers who fought Geronimo, the
townspeople have now armed themselves against the hordes of illegal
immigrants streaming across the Arizona/Mexico border. A significant
population of documented foreign-born residents also lives and works in
Los Perdedos at a modern plant. Lena senses a sinister force at work in
the town-but where? Then two more girls disappear from Los Perdidos, and
as the death toll mounts, Lena is tempted to implement some frontier
justice of her own. When she finally unmasks the killer, she discovers a
chain of horrific crimes responsible for subjugating millions of girls
and women around the globe. In Desert Cut, the still vivid memory of
Geronimo's war mixes with the modern immigration war, the hard life on
the Arizona/Mexico border contrasts with Hollywood's slick production
meetings, and the cruelty of an ancient practice is tempered by a
growing underground railroad fighting to save its young victims.
*Starred* Private investigator Lena Jones (Desert Run, 2006, and Desert
Noir, 2001) is busy helping her boyfriend, movie director Warren Quinn,
with his documentary on Arizona's Apache Wars. While scouting locations
for the film, they discover a young girl's body. Lena feels compelled to
investigate-the victim somehow reminds her of herself and her own
difficult childhood-and soon winds up in a squabble with the sheriff of
Los Perdidos, a small town with a large secret. The town, founded by the
descendants of pioneers who fought Geronimo, now includes many legal
foreign residents who work at a chemical plant as well as illegal
immigrants who cross the Arizona-Mexico border. When two more girls
disappear, Lena senses that there is something sinister in the town.
This is a first-rate plot that mixes the history of Geronimo's war with
contemporary immigration issues and contrasts the harsh conditions of
border life with Hollywood glitz. It also sheds light on the cruelty of
an ancient custom and a growing underground railroad working to save its
victims. It is a compelling story that will appeal to a broad range of
mystery readers-and may bring increased attention to a too-little-known
series. Betty Webb is the author of the acclaimed Lena Jones mystery
series, which includes “Desert Cut” and “Desert Wives.” A former
Californian who once lived on a boat, like the zookeeper protagonist of
“The Anteater of Death,” Betty now lives in landlocked Arizona, where
she volunteers at the Phoenix Zoo. She also teaches Creative Writing at
Phoenix College and is a member of the National Association of Press
Women, Mystery Writers of America, and the Authors Guild.
