Title: City of Saints
Author: Andrew Hunt
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Genre: Historical mystery
Year Published: 2012
Reviewed by Theric Jepson
This book came out almost a decade ago and, if I remember correctly, escaped the AML’s notice upon first release. Not until Mette was proudly publishing her LDS-themed, nationally published mystery novel. City of Saints would lead to two sequels, A Killing in Zion and Desolation Flats, but I’m not sure I even heard of them before I was lifting this issue of the cover from Amazon. Why not?
The second of Mette’s novels was the end of my reading them (review). I don’t see me reading more from this series either, but for simpler reason. Though I imagine Hunt improves, this novel (which won the Tony Hillerman Prize!) has a lot of rookie errors I wouldn’t expect from a Macmillian-edited book—a couple weird repetitions, a couple details that get time shifted—little things, but still.
The book’s lead, Deputy Art Oveson, is a worthy creation with some trauma he’s working through and a big Mormon family. Some of the psychological issues which force him to work the case in a more detective-novel-friendly way feel a tad contrived, though they come together nicely in the end.
The story’s based on an actual and once nationally famous Salt Lake murder. You can read more.
Let’s also mention briefly the Mormon content which is pervasive but incidental. Hunt’s public face makes it really difficult to tell if he’s LDS himself. And the 1930s are just alien enough, it can be difficult to tell if something it accurately period or simply wrong. But with few exceptions, I was happy to accept these aspects of 1930 SLC. If any experts have read the novel, I’d love their take.
Finally, no—the reason I’m unlikely to read more is that I simply rarely read more. Certainly, if A Killing in Zion falls into my lap, I’ll give it a shot. But the world is filled with books. I enjoyed this brief journey and I am ready to move on.