Archer Mayor

Lieutenant Joe Gunther is in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom investigating a minor embezzling case. It's a pleasant distraction and a chance to reconnect with old friends, but when a house fire reveals itself to be arson, compounded by murder, Gunther can't help but investigate. He quickly finds himself enmeshed in a web of animosity between put-upon townspeople, the state police, angry parents, and members of a reclusive sect. Murder follows murder,...

"In Archer Mayor's Marked Man, the death of a local millionaire becomes suspicious when Joe Gunther learns that he was not who he claimed. A year ago, local philanthropist and millionaire Nathan Lyon died a natural death in his sprawling mansion, a 150,000 square foot converted mill, surrounded by his loving, attentive family. Or so it seemed at the time. Now Joe Gunther and his Vermont Bureau of Investigation team has discovered that almost nothing...

An overworked sheriff and a string of condo burglaries at a luxurious ski resort have Lieutenant Joe Gunther and the newly minted Vermont Bureau of Investigation digging deep for clues. But it doesn't take long for Joe to find the most likely thief missing and his girlfriend dead. As the complications mount, from drug dealing to environmental terrorism to attempted murder, Joe and his team go undercover to infiltrate the closed society of a one-company...

"During the height of a particularly brutal Vermont winter, one morning a woman's body is found hanging high above the interstate. The woman, found with the word "dyke" carved on her chest is quickly determined to be the victim of a brutal murder. Thatalone is enough to bring in Joe Gunther and his VBI (Vermont Bureau of Investigation) team. But when the victim is identified not only as a state senator, bus as an intimate friend of the governor's,...

Joe Gunther must balance the official investigation into the murder of Wayne Castine, a suspected child predator, with a private probe into the possible murder of his girlfriend Lyn Silva's father and brother, who were originally believed lost at sea.

When a local quarry yields a garroted body with bad dental work and toes tattooed in Cyrillic, Joe Gunther figures it's a Russian Mafia killing, rare as that might be in Vermont. But it's so very ... tidy. So very ... professional. Then the CIA calls, inviting Gunther down to Washington for some friendly 'assistance' with his case. Suddenly he's caught up in a shadowy game of cross and double-cross-manipulated by cynical, cold warriors who don't seem...

A small girl brings Joe Gunther a bird's nest-made partially of human hair. In the search to match a body-and an identity-to the hair's owner, Joe comes across an unexplained death, a grisly murder, and a sudden disappearance. All seem to be entangled in a puzzling web of municipal corruption, blackmail, and industrial espionage. A shell-shocked World War II veteran nicknamed the Ragman may hold the key to it all-but only if Joe can get him to talk...

Called to the scene of a young woman's supposed suicide, Joe Gunther becomes suspicious about the death, but his investigation is hampered by the local medical examiner and by a trio of dangerous criminals on a crime spree.

Crosscut is the very first short story from Archer Mayor's much-loved Joe Gunther series. Going into the previously unexplored history of VBI Detective Sammie Martens, Archer Mayor reveals the story of how Sammie first met Joe Gunther and Willie Kunkel. Sammie Martens, raised by a single mother in a chaotic household, returns home after leaving the Army only to have her mother's current boyfriend kick her out of the house. When her mother is arrested...

Investigating the death of a Vietnam veteran whose PTSD culminated in a hoarding disorder, Joe Gunther learns that the victim's collection of combat photos contains information that a sinister adversary desperately wanted to keep hidden.