4.5 stars. ( )

A group of polygamists aren't simply people who support having more than one wife but are much more on the criminal side. Set in the 1930s in Salt Lake City and vicinity, Art Oveson again tries to solve a problem and bring it to the attention of his superiors on the police force. He has to battle political motives and religious concerns to take down a ruthless group of murderers. 201 ( )

In this 2nd in the series, detective Art Oveson is chosen to head an Anti-Polygamy squad in Salt Lake City. As the investigation proceeds, he and his squad find that the elders who have formed a Fundamentalist polygamist cult have used their religion not only to acquire numerous young girls as wives (many as young as 12 years old), but also as a front to launder money, a homesteading scam, and other multiple crimes, including murder of those who dare to challenge them. They have also squirreled away at least a million dollars, if not more. As a Mormon himself, Art hates the polygamists and the way they damage the image of Mormonism. Set in 1934, the author captures the political, historical, and cultural issues of the era, for the most part. And he includes a few descriptions of the magnificent landscape of southern Utah. ( )