From Publishers Weekly
Webb's sobering sixth mystery to feature PI Lena Jones further explores the abuses of polygamy first exposed in 2003's Desert Wives. Late one night, while staking out a Scottsdale, Ariz., storage yard in the hope of catching vandals, Lena hears suspicious sounds just outside the yard. She soon discovers the still warm body of a dead woman wearing a long calico dress—an obvious sister-wife (i.e., a woman who shared her man with numerous other women). With the nearest polygamist compound a five-hour drive away toward Utah, how did the victim wind up in Scottsdale? Lena, who suffered a troubled childhood as an orphan, gets on a trail that leads her to lost boys, surplus male teens expelled by the older men who run the polygamist cults. Clear-cut characterizations help a complicated plot flow smoothly. As Webb points out in a note, polygamy still spawns many social ills, despite the recent, well-publicized conviction of Mormon fundamentalist prophet Warren Jeffs. (Dec.)
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Review
Webb's writing is superb, and her portrayal of the Scottsdale, AZ area is compelling. --Library Journal, Best Genre Fiction 2009
[A] fast-paced sixth series entry that will appeal to readers who enjoy gritty Southwestern mysteries. No one writes quite like she does. --Library Journal
Clear-cut characterizations help a complicated plot flow smoothly. --Publishers Weekly --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.