Author: Jon Talton

Title: South Phoenix Rules

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

Arizona's flag consists of alternating rays of red and gold shooting forth from a center star. The state capital, Phoenix, is known as the "Valley of the Sun." But the overwhelming brightness of this great city is as mythical as the fire bird it is named after. Phoenix also has a dark side.

Author Jon Talton knows Phoenix. Before he became famous for his newspaper journalism and fiction writing, Talton was an ambulance medic in Phoenix's inner city. He knows the blood and guts, the death and dying, and what happens in the dark shadows cast on the other side of the east-west arterial Baseline Road. Talton narrates his stories from this concrete desert with History professor David Mapstone. The latest, South Phoenix Rules, is the sixth book of the David Mapstone Mysteries.

The series begins with Mapstone moving back to Phoenix where he had grown up. He finds a job in the Sheriff's office and uses his research skills and knowledge of the area to help solve age-old, local mysteries. There always tends to be dried bones and fresh bodies in the areas of Phoenix that Mapstone frequents.

The mystery in South Phoenix Rules comes to life right after Mapstone resigns as a sheriff's deputy.  His wife Lindsey, also a police officer, in on assignment in Washington DC—their marriage is falling apart and the distance between them is much greater than the physical 2,300 miles. Still in the picture is Lindsey's sister, Robin, who lives in the bedroom above the garage in her sister and brother-in-law's home. The bloody package delivered to Robin's doorstep sets the stage for a thrilling tale of murder and mystery that keeps Mapstone reaching back to the past, dodging bullets in the present, and hoping beyond hope for a brighter tomorrow with his estranged wife.

Talton has a flair for noir fiction, creating a worldview from his character's eyes that is emotionally haunting and gritty. There are bad guys and goodish guys, but no real heroes, as everyone is portrayed with their many imperfections on display. It is hard to root for anything or anyone, let alone survival. It can be depressing reading this genre of fiction, knowing that much of what Talton writes about, minus some of the dramatic flair, is the reality of many people's lives that live south of the tracks in cities all over America.

As you can expect there is sex, violence, and mayhem in Talton's novels, so they are not books for the faint or pure in heart. If, however, noir novels are of interest, this series, and especially Talton's diligent writing, is very rewarding. Readers may want to consider starting with the beginning novels and working their way to South Phoenix Rules as there are important aspects of the character's relationships with each other that Talton doesn't take the time to re-establish in each book.

*This Review First Published 2/11/2011