The latest in the long running
series finds Vermont Bureau of Investigations agent Joe Gunther and his team working
a case that hits close to home. Susan Raffner had been a close ally of the
governor Gail Zigman. Now Susan has been brutally murdered and the governor is devastated.
Someone killed her, cut the word “Dyke” into her chest and then hung her body
above the interstate on a rocky cliff face along the Connecticut river. The
same steel mesh that protected all below from falling rocks from the cliff face
was used to hang her body to advertise the murder.
The murder of Susan Raffner rocks
the political establishment. Was the murder a political statement, a personal vendetta,
or something else? Not only was she a state senator she was a close ally of
Vermont Governor Gail Zigman. A close ally that had secrets of her own that gradually
come to life as they always do in a murder investigation. A firebrand that
often was very public in her causes of which there were many, her history, and Susan’s
relationship with the governor are just one of many twists in a complex case at
work in The Company She Kept.
While billed as Joe Gunther Novel this
read, like many in recent years, is less about Joe and much more about the
team. Sammie, Willy, and Lester are a family and as they investigate the case
and suspects, much is made of their individual daily lives as well as their
past history. The result is a read where, for significant portions of the book,
it seems like the case is on a backburner as the focus shifts to events with
individual team members. This results in a slow moving read for portions of the
book before things suddenly ratchet up to the abrupt conclusion. An ending
that, despite some commentary in some reviews, does tie up all the loose ends
as the book abruptly concludes.
For those who prefer their reads to focus
mainly on the case or main premise of the story, they may be disappointed. Police
procedures take a backseat to a lot of personal inner ruminations by way of various
characters as the case gradually develops. For those of us who appreciate the
complexity of characters that feel like family, The Company She Kept is
another in solidly good read in the long running series.
The Company She Kept: A Joe Gunther
Novel
Archer Mayor
Minotaur Books (St. Martin’s
Publishing Group)
September 2015
ISBN# 978-1-250-06467-7
Hardback (e-book and audio formats
available)
305 Pages
$25.99
Material
supplied by the good folks of the Plano Public Library System.
Kevin
R. Tipple ©2015
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