Trace: A Joe Gunther Novel (Joe Gunther Series #28)
Staff Reviews
When Archer Mayor came to Bennington last year for an author event, he told the audience that his next book would be different. He said that in most crime novels, the investigators just have to manage one crime investigation. “It’s not like that in real life”, he said. Instead, detectives juggle evidence from several cases at once, following leads in different directions. Mayor said he wanted to write a book that more accurately reflected the reality of detective work. His latest book, Trace, attempts to do that.
All our favourite characters – Joe Gunther, Sammie Martens, Willie Kunkel and Lester Spinney - make a comeback, but their circumstances are quite different, with Joe called away to help his mother with her recovery from a spell of Lyme disease. Sammie is left in charge of the office, which tests her relationship with her partner Willy, who, true to form, is off pushing the boundaries of professionalism in his investigation of an attempt to sabotage military equipment. Lester Spinney investigates a cold case, discovering that the fingerprints on a gun used in a double murder were planted. Why, and by whom? Sammie investigates the murder of a young woman newly moved from Albany to Burlington: what was she running from, and why was she followed?
This is Archer Mayor at his best. The characters are rich, the cases realistic, and the telling superb. He just keeps getting better. I read the book in one sitting.
Description
The Vermont Bureau of Investigation (VBI) has been pulled onto three cases at the same time; meanwhile, VBI head Joe Gunther has to take time off to care for his ailing mother.
Those cases are now in the hands of the individual investigators. Sammie Martens is assigned a murder case. The victim is a young woman, the roommate of the daughter of Medical Examiner Beverly Hillstrom. A recent transplant from Albany, New York, Sammie must find out what put a hit man on the trail of this seemingly innocent young woman.
Lester Spinney takes over a famous cold case, a double murder where a state trooper and a motorist were killed in an exchange of gunfire. Or so it has seemed for years. When Lester is told that the motorist’s fingerprints were planted on the gun he’s supposed to have fired, it opens the question—who really killed the state trooper?
Willy Kunkle’s case starts with a child's discovery of three teeth on a railroad track, leading eventually to a case of possible sabotage against critical military equipment.
In cases that lead the team all over Vermont and nearby, Archer Mayor once again shows why his novels featuring Joe Gunther and the VBI team are among the finest crime fiction today.
Praise for Trace: A Joe Gunther Novel (Joe Gunther Series #28)
"Trace is one of the best of a very fine series." —Booklist (starred review)
"Outstanding... Mayor keeps the suspense high as he showcases each of his detectives' special talents... in this welcome addition to the long-running series." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Excellent." —Library Journal
