Windows To The World

DESERT WIVES  by Betty Webb

"What do you call a dead, sixty-eight-year-old polygamist?

In the case of my thirteen-year-old client, you call him your fiancee."

Arizona Private Investigator Lena Jones took Rebecca Corbett away from Prophet Solomon Royal because her job was to rescue her from a polygamy compound called Purity and soon the men from the area would be swarming to take back what they saw as their property: a breeding age girl.

Rebecca's mother who had left the compound sometime before has hired Lena  to find the girl because her father a resident of Purity had returned to the compound and taken young Rebecca with him and had brokered a deal in which he would get two 16 year old brides and the head of the polygamists Prophet Solomon would get beautiful Rebecca. It is of no use to call in the police since the reality of the political situation was that the Mormons were and are a powerful force in Arizona and Utah. and despite laws against polygamy and child marriage it was still prevalent in many small enclaves and allowed to exist.

Mormon Temple Arizona

Lena and her partner Jimmy Sisiwan, her partner at Desert Investigations in Scottsdale Arizona have hidden Rebecca among Jimmy’s Pima Indian relatives. Then the leader of the compound Prophet Solomon is found dead and Rebecca’s mother was arrested for the murder of the polygamist. 


Lena goes undercover at the Purity compound masquerading as one of the wives of a sympathetic member of the compound. There were members who while believing in polygamy did not endorse ‘child marriages.’

As Lena learns while undercover, there are troubles afoot in Purity. The new “Prophet” is more moderate, and is totally against underage marriage as well as forced marriage but he has an uphill battle and his life is also threatened and there have been several attempts on it. Lena also notices that there are also many very beautiful people with similar looks and she finds a secret ward of children and babies hidden away.

Many of the male members of the Purity compound have access to arms, and many of the women who seemingly are docile and hardworking are festering below the surface. What is causing this pot to boil?  Why do the authorities turn a blind eye time and again?

As the New York Times pointed out “If Betty Webb had gone undercover and written DESERT WIVES as a piece of investigative journalism, she’d probably be up for a Pulitzer ..”