Art Oveson Mystery
3 primary works
Book 1
To the outside observer, Salt Lake City seems to be the squeaky-clean "City of Saints" - its nickname since Mormon pioneers first arrived. Its wide roads, huge Mormon temple topped by a horn-blowing angel, and orderly neighbourhoods give it the appearance of the ideal American city. But looks can be deceiving. When beautiful socialite Helen Kent Pfalzgraf turns up dead, Salt Lake County Deputy Art Oveson - a twenty-something husband, dad, and devout Mormon just getting his start - finds himself thrust into the role of detective. With his partner, a foul-mouthed, vice-ridden former strike-breaker, he begins to pursue Pfalzgraf's murderer - or murderers. Their search takes them into the dark underbelly of Salt Lake City, a place rife with blackmail, corruption and murder. Throw in a cowardly sheriff seeking re-election, a prominent local physician with a host of skeletons in his closet, and swirling rumours of an affair between the murder victim and an elusive Hollywood star, and you've got "City of Saints", a mystery based on a true yet largely forgotten murder that once captivated the nation but still remains unsolved eighty years later.
Book 2
Book 3
"As war clouds loom overseas, auto racers from around the world gather at the Bonneville Salt Flats east of Salt Lake City, intent on breaking the land speed record. When Nigel Underhill, a wealthy English motorist, is found dead and his brother Clive disappears, Art Oveson of the Salt Lake City Missing Persons' Bureau is called to investigate. The Underhill family has hired a former Scotland Yard detective to assist in the search, and he and Oveson begin to follow a trail that leads from the Utah desert to the stately homes of London. As the two detectives draw closer to their suspect, Art finds that the murderer has set his sights on a target much closer to home than he had thought possible"--