Concrete Desert: A David Mapstone Mystery (David Mapstone Mysteries Book 1)

David Mapstone, a recently unemployed history professor, returns to his hometown of Phoenix, Arizona, and finds the city transformed. Once familiar neighborhoods now cater to wealthy retirees and West Coast visitors, though traces of his past remain. Mapstone accepts a temporary position from his old friend Mike Peralta, the Maricopa County Chief Deputy, to review unsolved cases. His work is interrupted when his college sweetheart arrives asking for help: her sister has gone missing. When the missing woman's body is found in the desert, Mapstone discovers the circumstances mirror an unsolved murder from 40 years earlier. His investigation into both cases reveals connections spanning decades, involving clashing cultures, old memories, and the world of wealthy newcomers, their associates, and young women drawn into a lifestyle marked by drugs and violence.