Archer Mayor's Blog

Crosscut by Archer Mayor

Now available: A Joe Gunther prequel.

A short story (ebook only) about Sammie, how she became a police officer, and yes, how she met Joe.

Click below to order

Buy on Amazon 

 

(Well, okay, in a manner of speaking.)

After 33 books and lots of non-stop confabulations concerning Joe, Willy, and the gang—and who was doing what to whom—I needed a break.

So I’m taking one.

In the meantime…
Motorcycling, woodworking, and yes, sadly pursuing more cases for the medical examiner than ever. (In a life where I’ve tried to be more part of the solution than not, I believe very deeply in this job.)

A TV Series!!!!
Back on topic, and best of all on the “Joe” front, there is a serious TV production group pursuing the series. Its working title is Gunther, and the crew is building up steam. They got a little sidelined by the recent Hollywood strikes but are now back at it in full force.

A shameless plug, while we’re at it:
If you know anyone who hasn’t read the books, they make excellent gifts for holidays or birthdays or vacations (I can think of a couple of those coming right up!) We have one traveling man who always has an audio tape of Joe’s adventures to keep him company in the car—an annual gift from an attentive family member.

Woodworking
Side-by-side with my daughter, we made a library wall, complete with Murphy bed for when she has guests! Remember those? (The BEDS, not the guests!)

And a cherry coffee table, in what they call a starburst pattern, among various other projects…

…including a wooden toy truck, which Margot needed to demonstrate the complexities of pulling a trailer full of racing shells.I guess you could say that I’m getting my design-oriented brain as focused on woodworking as it used to be on book plots.

Recent travels: went to Colby College’s Seminar of Forensic Science again last summer, to present a fascinating cold case homicide: 50 years old and still without a solution!
Yet. (Still a work in progress!)
I’m planning to return there this year with another historical case of forensic science conflicting with circumstantial evidence.

Long story short, I may be just taking a break so that Joe can pause to enjoy a little Spam & Velveeta, with a Coke on the side, but I remain “on the case.”

Stay tuned!
(And stay safe)
All the best,
Archer

We have compiled trivia questions from various Joe books, to create The Joe Gunther Trivia Challenge. See how much you recall about Joe!

Here are the questions: (answers at bottom)

What is Joe’s cat’s name?BingoShoelessGilbertFrankWhich book has gingko trees as a clue?Disposable ManFall GuyOpen SeasonSecond MouseWhat is Gail’s last name?ShusterZigmanSmythKennedyWhat did Dan Kravitz do in every home he broke into?Took jewelryleave a Post-it Noteeats somethingsnoops on the computerJoe’s brother’s name?BernieSamLeoWillyWhich arm of Willy’s is hurt?LeftRightNeitherJoe’s brother’s profession?PolicemanFiremanButcherFarmerHow did Willy’s arm get hurt?SkiingHe was shot.Ice skatingRock climbing fallWhat is Joe’s Mom’s name?BettySueLenoreNo one knows! She is only referred to as Mom or Mrs. GuntherWho is Lester married to?Betsy, a teacherSue, a nurse.Fran, a speech therapistLeslie, a restaurant ownerHow many children does Gail have?onefourtwo, twins
d. none.Name of the school in Bomber’s Moon?Vermont AcademyMontpelier Central SchoolBarre HallThorndike AcademyGail’s first job in Vermont?WaitressSchool teacherHouse painterRealtorWhat is Gail’s dog’s name?ButchSpotPretzel
d. She doesn’t have a dog.Where does Beverly live?MontpelierShelburne,BurlingtonWindsor VTIn Paradise City, in what city does the crime take place?PhiladelphiaMontrealBostonSpringfield, MAWhat is Joe’s boss’s name?Bernie WhiteBill AllardSam PritchardBill MillerAnd for good measure: What are Joe’s favorite foods?SpamFilet MignonVelveetaCabot CheeseVienna sausagesHere are the answers:What is Joe’s cat’s name?BingoShoelessGilbertFrankWhich book has gingko trees as a clue?Disposable ManFall GuyOpen SeasonSecond MouseWhat is Gail’s last name?ShusterZigmanSmythKennedyWhat did Dan Kravitz do in every home he broke into?Took jewelryleave a Post-it Noteeats somethingsnoops on the computerJoe’s brother’s name?BernieSamLeoWillyWhich arm of Willy’s is hurt?LeftRightNeitherJoe’s brother’s profession?PolicemanFiremanButcherFarmerHow did Willy’s arm get hurt?SkiingHe was shot.Ice skatingRock climbing fallWhat is Joe’s Mom’s name?BettySueLenoreNo one knows! She is only referred to as Mom or Mrs. GuntherWho is Lester married to?Betsy, a teacherSue, a nurse.Fran, a speech therapistLeslie, a restaurant ownerHow many children does Gail have?onefourtwo, twinsnone.Name of the school in Bomber’s Moon?Vermont AcademyMontpelier Central SchoolBarre HallThorndike AcademyGail’s first job in Vermont?WaitressSchool teacherHouse painterRealtorWhat is Gail’s dog’s name?ButchSpotPretzelShe doesn’t have a dog.Where does Beverly live?MontpelierShelburneBurlingtonWindsor VTIn Paradise City, in what city does the crime take place?PhiladelphiaMontrealBostonSpringfield, MAWhat is Joe’s boss’s name?Bernie WhiteBill AllardSam PritchardBill MillerAnd for good measure: What are Joe’s favorite foods?SpamFilet MignonVelveetaCabot CheeseVienna sausages

Fall Guy by Archer Mayor



Reviews
Archer Mayor. Minotaur

The discovery of a body in the trunk of a stolen car propels bestseller Archer’s expertly plotted 33rd Joe Gunther novel (after 2021’s Marked Man). Aided by other members of the Vermont Bureau of Investigation, Joe soon identifies the victim as a petty thief who’s stolen from targets all over Vermont and New Hampshire. A number of suspicious items found at the crime scene, including discarded cell phones, lead to the arrest of a child pornographer and a link to a child’s unsolved disappearance. Gunther and his team work across state lines as part of a task force, and Archer’s skill at researching and writing about police procedure is on full display as the case grows more complex and disturbing. As always, the author takes an unsparing view of life in northern New England, capturing the region’s beauty and economic disparity, while spinning a heart-pounding tale in which each character, clue, and subplot comes together with purpose. Even this far into the series, the supporting characters surrounding Gunther continue to grow and surprise. New and returning readers alike will be richly rewarded.

Review Issue Date: July 15, 2022 Online Publish Date: June 22, 2022

A murdered burglar in a stolen car leads Joe Gunther’s Vermont Bureau of Investigation team into some truly nasty places. Despite the absence of any identification, the corpse is quickly identified as that of Don Kalfus, and the Mercedes in whose trunk he’s been found belongs to Lemuel Shaw, a New Hampshire native who returned home to live the good life after making his bundle in New York. Since a phone found on Kalfus contains images of child pornography and Angie Neal, the girl who answers the door when Joe’s task force goes looking for Lisa Rowell, the phone’s owner, is clearly the model for one of the images, the leading question immediately becomes who’s most invested in producing and consuming this smut. It’s not Lisa Rowell, who’s nothing but a fictional avatar for Kalfus. Could it be Melissa Monfet, Angie’s mother, or Trevor Buttner, her ex-con live-in? Or could it be Lemuel Shaw, whose Mercedes was stolen not from his bucolic estate but from outside the strip club he frequented—a club from which he’d been ejected that night after arguing with bouncer Don Thompson, another pseudonym for Don Kalfus? As Joe and his teammates cross back and forth between Vermont and New Hampshire finding more and more rocks to turn over, canny readers are likely to assume they know where this all is headed. But as a series of brutal revelations stacked up like wartime corpses in the last few chapters indicate, things are much worse than they anticipated. A meticulous, professional procedural whose climax packs a wallop.

S

Marked Man by Archer Mayor

Bestseller Mayor expertly juggles four plotlines, which may or may not be related, in his superb 32nd mystery featuring Vermont Bureau of Investigation agent Joe Gunther (after 2020’s The Orphan’s Guilt). A year after the death of affluent food supplier Nathan Lyon from natural causes while under hospice care, a medical student dissecting his corpse determines that Lyon was strangled, prompting Gunther to launch a murder inquiry. The eccentric Lyon had most of his family, and thus most of those with an obvious motive to kill him, living together in a huge home that also housed several stores. As Gunther tries to find clues so long after the murder, a second member of the Lyon clan dies, this time from an apparently accidental fall. Meanwhile, PI Sally Kravitz is retained by the wife of one of Lyon’s sons, who suspects an employee is stealing from her fancy food business. Finally, two Mafia hit men are trying to identify who ordered the killing that one of them admitted committing and did time for, but now claims not to have committed, in an attempt to find out who he took the fall for. Mayor matches vivid characters with clever plot twists. This is a perfect jumping-on point for newcomers. Agent: Molly Friedrich, Friedrich Agency. (Sept.)

Click below to buy
Buy on Amazon   Buy on Barnes & Noble   Buy on Indie Bound

New cover, same gripper plot.

The Plot

Joe Gunther and the VBI team are investigating a murder and an arson case―both potentially related to a small but lethal outbreak of Ebola at a local hospital.

When the body of a young woman is found near a trail at a popular ski mountain, the case falls to Joe Gunther and his team at the Vermont Bureau of Investigation (VBI). They quickly have a suspect, Mick Durocher, and a confession, but not everyone on the team is convinced of Mick’s truthfulness. Despite his ready admission, investigators quickly sense there might be more going on than is immediately apparent.

At the same time, a large local business is being targeted with escalating acts of violence―a warehouse fire, a boobyrigged truck, an industrial gas leak murderously unleashed. The odd and common denominator? Mick Durocher, the self-confessed murderer, was once employed by the same company.

These two puzzling cases―only tenuously connected―are further complicated by the sidelining of a key member of VBI. Willy Kunkle is undergoing surgery at the same hospital saddled with the unlikely―and suspiciously timed―outbreak of Ebola.

Joe and his team pursue these cases, uncovering motives that might link them, while proving that trust betrayed can be a toxic virus, transforming love into savage loathing. Indeed, behind the mayhem and murder, Joe must uncover a tragic family history before another victim dies.

Click below to buy

Buy on Amazon   Buy on Barnes & Noble   Buy on Indie Bound

The Plot

28 year-old Peter Rust is dead of a childhood brain injury, and John, his older brother and fellow orphan, who dedicated himself to his care, goes missing without a trace. What happened? And was that old injury from an accident? Natural causes? Or murder? How to reconstruct the past and identify the suspects? Three decades become a near-impossible barrier to overcome.

Joe Gunther of the Vermont Bureau of Investigation is assigned this very cold case, and his skills tested to the limit. Uneasily forced to team up with private eye Sally Kravitz and reporter Rachel Reiling, the VBI uncovers an ancient tale of avarice, betrayal, and vengeance

that swirled around the growing Rust boys, finally dictating their fate. Worse still, the people their late parents consorted with—forgotten, relentless, but now jolted to action by this probing for answers—emerge with a destructive passion.

And what of John Rust? Does he hold the key to it all? Is he guilty of murder? Is he even still alive? Time is short, and the death toll begins to climb…

With in-person signings being postponed, we have created a snazzy adhesive bookplate for you. Archer is happy to sign and personalize as you wish. Just send requests to Margot@archermayor.com with any personalized inscription, how many you’d like, and your mailing address.

St. Martin’s Press is downpricing the eBook Trace (Book #28) to $2.99 starting July 1, 2020. Amazon will be promoting it as one of their Kindle Monthly Deals for the month of July. Good timing for housebound folks looking for a good read!

The Plot

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.