Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Review: Cross Cut: A Joe Gunther Short Story by Archer Mayor


Cross Cut: A Joe Gunther Short Story by Archer Mayor opens many years ago with Sammie Martens. It is in the 1990s and Sammie is back home after four years of military service, very unhappy, and having a hard time adjusting back to civilian life in Vermont. Things just get harder because her mom’s latest live in boyfriend wanted her out of the house so mom, Helen, kicked her out into the cold in more ways than one.

At least there is at least one place in Brattleboro she can stay if she pays for it. It also fires in her the impetus to start trying to establish her new life. An impetus that, possibly, is going to have to take a back seat when she learns her mom has been arrested for robbing a nearby gas station.

What happened and why, the first meeting between her and Joe Gunther, and many more things are at work in this very enjoyable short story. Cross Cut: A Joe Gunther Short Story is a tale that features all the complexity of the series novels as well as the little things that make the books so very good. It accomplishes a lot from the perspective of Sammie Martens and yet manages to include Joe Gunther and others that readers see again and again in the series. For longtime readers as well as those new to the series, Cross Cut: A Joe Gunther Short Story is a great read.

Highly recommended as is the most recent novel, Bomber’s Moon, which is extensively previewed here with the first three chapters of the book. My review of Bomber’s Moon from October can be read here.



Cross Cut: A Joe Gunther Short Story
Archer Mayor
Minotaur Books (St. Martin’s Publishing Group)
July 2019
ASIN: B07RHHNG2Q
eBook only
76 Pages


While working on my review of Bomber’s Moon, I came across this and purchased it to read and review.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2019

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