In “Hour of the Hunter,” author J.A. Jance introduced her readers to Brandon Walker, who wore his white hat long after retiring as the Pima County sheriff.
“Amor Eterno” was a collection of 11 warm, wonderful stories that explored various meanings of love by longtime Tucsonan Patricia Preciado Martin.
Published in 2011, “The Four Fingers of Death” was a futuristic fantasy set in Tucson and with references to a number of local landmarks — one of them the “Happiness is Submission to God” house that still stands near the university.
Three very different tales, to be sure, but readers of this space were quick to add them after we unveiled our first list of “Top Tales from Tucson” in February.
Today, we offer Part 2, with more suggestions from readers and writers who live here. Do you have a Tucson favorite that is not yet on our list? Send it to bookmarks.arizona@gmail.com . We will update our library again later this year.
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Books in the Walker family aeries of mysteries by J.A. Jance.
“Hour of the Hunter” was Jance’s first Arizona mystery, released in 1991, two years before she launched her ultra-popular Joanna Brady series. “House of the Hunter” was one of six Jance mysteries that have followed Walker, a former Pima County sheriff who lived near Gates Pass and still enjoyed chasing bad guys now and then. This time it is a vengeful psychopath who spent only six years in prison for killing a Tohono O’odham girl. — from Elaine McDonald of Tucson.
“Amor Eterno” told the tale of a magical love potion that was carried from Barrio Viejo to guests at a resort in the Catalina Foothills — and the mayhem that ensued. “I read it at least once a year to remind myself that life is short and that love is always a dark enticement,” said Maribel Alvarez of Tucson.
“The Four Fingers of Death” by Rick Moody was a stunningly creative story that centers around a man who decides to write a sequel to the 1963 horror classic, “The Crawling Hand.” In his sequel, a mission to Mars begins with three spacecraft carrying nine Americans. It ends when one of the capsules crashes back into the Arizona desert — with only a human arm aboard. — Tom Hartzell, Tucson
“The Terranauts” by T.C. Boyle takes us inside the Biosphere north of Tucson, where four men and two women “terranauts” are living under glass. It is 1994, and the mission is both a scientific experiment and a publicity stunt. It becomes a game of survival for the people inside. — Helene Woodhams, Tucson
“A Garden of Aloes” by Gayle Davies Jandrey follows a woman who flees an abusive husband and starts over … in a seedy motor court in Tucson. Together with her two young daughters, Leslie finds solace and eventually family with the people she meets there. — Wynne Browne, author of “The Forgotten Botanist”
“Ain’t That a Mother” by Adiba Nelson is a frank, often-funny memoir by an Afro-Latina mom determined to make the most of a life that now includes a daughter with special needs. Told with heart and humor, this is not your average motherhood story … and Nelson is not your average mom. — Kate Bernheimer, author of “The Girl Who Wouldn’t Brush Her Hair”
“Blue Desert” was Charles Bowden’s third book-length study of life in the American Southwest. Published in 1988, it focused almost entirely on Arizona, and how rapid development was changing the essence of what the state had been. A graduate of Tucson High, Bowden became well-known for his reporting of life along the border, particularly in Ciudad Juarez. — Tim Schaffner, Schaffner Press
“Fracture” is a lively whodunit and where-did-it-go from Tucson’s favorite author-geologist, Susan Cummins Miller. A wealthy developer’s wife is found dead in her million-dollar Tucson home. The husband’s priceless coin collection is now missing. Frankie MacFarlane is on it, and “Fracture” and keeps us guessing (and reading) from first page to last. — Tricia Clapp, Mostly Books
“Girl in Pieces” by Tucsonan Kathleen Glasgow is a wrenching story of a 17-year-old girl who has lost everyone and everything dear to her, and comes to Tucson to start over. — Matt Mendez, author of “The Broke Hearts”
“Marlow’s Revenge” by Dan Stuart features Marlowe Billings, who has returned to Tucson to get clean and save his marriage. Predictably, it’s easier said than done. — Richard Grant, author of “A Race to the Bottom of Crazy”
“Cactus Country” by Zoë Bossiere is a coming-of-age memoir recounting the author’s teenage years in Cactus Country, a trailer park near Vail. It is a story of resilience, identity and gender fluidity from a young person with questions that weren’t easily answered. — Abra McAndrew, Tucson Festival of Books
Footnotes
— Courtney Gustafson, the author of “Poets Square” and curator of the uber-popular Poets Square Cats page on TikTok, will discuss both when she appears at Stacks Book Club this coming Friday, July 18, at 6:30 p.m. Tickets may be purchased by visiting .
— Tess Mayer, director of the Berkeley Public Library in Northern California for the last five years, has been named the new director of the Pima County Public Library. She will begin working here on Sept. 2. Mayer replaces Amber Mathewson, who retired last month.
— Submissions are now being accepted for the annual Free Time Writing Contest for incarcerated writers. Judging will take place in fiction, nonfiction and poetry, and the winning pieces will appear in The Rain Shadow Review. For more information, visit .
The top stories from Sunday's Home+Life section in the ӰAV.