Paradise
City: A Joe Gunther Novel is the latest in the
series billed as featuring Joe Gunther, but is more and more about his team at
the Vermont Bureau of Investigation. Their latest case begins at what is left
of a multimillion dollar home on Tucker Peak. Thanks to moneyed interests,
local politics, and other factors, the local commander of the Vermont State Police
wants no part of the case and gladly gives the case to the Vermont Bureau of
Investigation. That means Joe Gunther and his eccentric team of Sammie, Willy,
and Lester have the case.
A case that also will eventually prove to have links
across state lines and result in murder, stolen goods, and more. It gradually
becomes clear that the stolen goods are being funneled to a sophisticated and
clever fencing operation in Northampton, Massachusetts. The fencing setup is “Paradise City” for some
and deadly for others. The result is a complicated case with a couple of surprises
in a read that shifts back and forth in point of view via all the
characters--good and bad.
As part of that shifting in point of view, a secondary
storyline involves Willy, Sammie, and their new baby Emma. Simplifying greatly,
Willy’s world is no longer the button down controlled world with everything in
its place that it used to be. Love, a
relationship, and a new baby change things and loner Willy is having a tough
time dealing with it. In the hands of a less talented author, this storyline
would easily have been very clichéd, but Archer Mayor makes it work and work very
well.
Paradise City: A Joe Gunther Novel
is a much more positive novel than the last one Tag Man. While Willy and
Sammie have their own angst, Joe has moved on a little bit forward past the
most recent personal crisis and accompanying depression. These days, while he
still has the pain of loss, he is back in the world and life again. Family in
terms of friends through work remains a key part of this complicated series and
is a theme constantly at work here. So too is a complex mystery that throws in
a few twists along the way to make this good read really interesting.
Paradise City: A Joe Gunther Novel
Archer
Mayor
Minotaur
Books (St. Martins Publishing Group)
October
2012
ISBN#
978-0-312-68195-1
Hardback
(also available as e-book)
320
Pages
$25.99
Material was supplied
by the good folks of the Plano, Texas Public Library System.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2012
Author of the e-book short story collection Mind
Slices available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords in a
variety of formats. Contributor to the Carpathian
Shadows, Volume II anthology available in print and e-book.
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