|
[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
Do you have one of those lists of writers you don't read because some day you know you'll be desperate for a new book, and you're saving that particular writer? For my mom, it's Dick Francis. One of those writers for me has been Archer Mayor, a writer I've heard about, and was saving against the day that I'm frantic for a new book. The Joe Gunther series by Mayor is hardly new, but this was my first time reading about this smart and well-drawn cop. He's been assigned to head a new agency, the Vermont Bureau of Investigation - something that I still didn't get, no matter how well it was explained to me - and his first case is a doozy. A body is discovered on Mt. Mansfield. At first, it's thought that the dead man is simply a lost hiker, someone who went off the trail; in fact, he's a Canadian who died back in 1947, but apparently he didn't die where he is found. Gunther and his hand-picked team travel all over Vermont and spend a lot of time up in Canada, trying to figure out who the dead man is, why he was killed and who dumped him in Vermont. One of his cops is Willy Kunkle, an anti-social ex-alcoholic whom Gunther feels still has it, despite Kunkle's attempts to turn people away. It shows a feeling side of Gunther, but he's not a patsy. He iswilling to go out on a limb however, and that makes him likable. The story here is complex, involving a major Canadian crime family, deaths and intrigues going back fifty or more years, to World War Two, and how it affected individuals and whole families. There are some truly dumb stunts involved - to get a cop to quit investigating something, it's wise not to try shooting at him - and in fact, Gunther himself is too trusting for my taste. He puts himself in danger more than once, something it seems a savvy veteran police officer would not do. But Gunther is appealing for other reasons; he is in a relationship and it's not a simple one. the woman he lives with is younger, wealthier and politically ambitious. He knows this isn't easy, but is still savvy enough to ask "are we all right?" about their relationship, when Gail is troubled. And to listen to the answer. I had thought I wasn't that interested in police procedurals, because they are often too cut-and-dried for me (although there are exceptions like the always excellent Eleanor Taylor Bland, and Steve Havill's wonderful Bill Gastner), but the Northeast setting is very effective, the relationships are well-drawn and Gunther is worth spending time with. The "hook" of the title needs to come in earlier for it to really matter to the story - big deal. The book is a little too "guy" for me - most of the relationships are between men and it is a very male-dominated tale, which lowers the interest level a bit, but it's good writing, and that matters the most. -- http://www.drizzle.com/~roscoe - Stu & Andi's "The Roscoe Page" http://www.drizzle.com/~roscoe/tshirts.html - Original cartoon silk-screened t-shirts - some Sherlockian, Wodehousian & others still available. Check out the new 'Roscoe Store' pages at CafePress! We now have an assortment of imprinted items with original Stu Shiffman art: http://www.cafeshops.com/cp/store.aspx?s=roscoestore -
Reviewed by Andi Shechter, October 2000
[ Top ]
QUICK SEARCH:
Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]
| 
