The only author I know of (besides myself) that has used the metro Phoenix area as a home base for his novels is Jon Talton, who used to be an editorial columnist for the Arizona Republic. He has a series of David Mapstone mysteries that take place here and he does a pretty good job of conveying not only what it is like now but some of the history that contributed to making it that way.
Jon Talton's website
A large portion of my own book (Boomerang) is set in the East Valley Phoenix suburbs during our lovely summer monsoon season, when it is really hot and pretty darned humid and you just never know when a big ol' thunderstorm might decide to rip up a mobilehome park or three and put a few other neighborhoods in the dark. Local readers have given it positive comments for its portrait of the look and feel of the place at this time of year.