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An Art Oveson Mystery
by Andrew Hunt
Prize–winning author and historian Andrew Hunt transports us to 1930s Salt Lake City in an engrossing, detailed mystery that shows what goes on behind the scenes in the supposedly clean-cut Mormon capital.
In the summer of 1938, as war clouds loom overseas, auto racers from around the world gather at the Bonneville Salt Flats west of Salt Lake City, intent on breaking the land-speed record. But when Clive Underhill, a wealthy English motorist, mysteriously disappears, and his younger brother, Nigel, is found dead, Art Oveson of the Salt Lake City Missing Persons Bureau is called to investigate.
Suddenly, Art's best friend and former partner, Roscoe Lund, becomes the number-one suspect in Nigel's murder, prompting Art to follow a murky trail involving homegrown fascists, bigoted ex-cops, a string of homicides, and a German auto racer with a mysterious past. And, through it all, FBI Agent Frank Oveson tries to prevent his "kid brother" Art from discovering dark truths that may threaten his life.
"Starred Review. The richness of the characters, including secondary ones, and the imaginative plot make this the best yet in the series." - Publishers Weekly
"Starred Review. This knockout of a novel finds Mormon police detective Art Oveson where we left him at the end of last year's fine A Killing in Zion - in 1930s Salt Lake City. But this novel is so powerful it can be taken as a stand-alone." - Booklist
"Once the murder is connected to the Nazis, everyone becomes a potential suspect - except, of course, Hunt's improbably virtuous hero, whom readers are likely to either love or loathe." - Kirkus
This information about Desolation Flats was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo: Kent Ava
Andrew Hunt is a professor of history in Waterloo, Ontario. His areas of study include post-1945 U.S. History, the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, and the American West. He has written reviews for The Globe and Mail and The National Post; two works of nonfiction, The Turning and David Dellinger; and is coauthor of The 1980s. His first novel in the Art Oveson series, City of Saints, was the winner of the Hillerman Prize in 2011. He grew up in Salt Lake City and currently lives in Canada.
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