The Price of Malice

Read The Price of Malice Storyline:

Wayne Castine was found brutally murdered and the murderer remains at large. Castine, a suspected child predator, was killed in Brattleboro where he was involved with a tangled network of an extended family living in a local trailer park. Any member of the clan would have had the opportunity to kill him, and, as he was involved with both the mother and her 12 year old daughter, reason to commit the murder. At the same time, Joe Gunther has learned that his girlfriend Lyn Silva’s fisherman father and brother, believed lost at sea off the coast of Maine, might have actually been murdered. Without enough solid information to warrant law enforce ment involvement, Lyn returns to Maine to try and investigate Gunther’s findings. Gunther periodically puts his on-going murder investigation on hold—irritating his colleagues and angering his bosses —to go and help Lyn in Maine. It appears increasingly possible that her father and brother weren’t the good guys that Lyn always believed them to be and that they might have been involved with vicious smugglers who murdered them—and might do the same to Lyn if she keeps pushing. Torn between his conscience and his heart, a murder invest - igation and a personal search for the truth, Gunther finds that betrayal and loyalty are often a matter of viewpoint.**From Publishers WeeklyTwo mysteries preoccupy Joe Gunther in Mayor's engaging 20th novel to feature the Vermont Bureau of Investigation police detective (after 2008's The Catch). When the body of 32-year-old Wayne Castine, stabbed a bunch of times, and maybe shot and beaten, turns up in an amateur prostitute's apartment in Brattleboro, Vt., Gunther and his team investigate. Evidence suggests Castine, who had a relationship with a colorful trailer park family, was a pedophile or even a psychopath. Meanwhile, new information surfaces about Gunther's girlfriend Lyn Silva's father and brother, who vanished in a boat off the New England coast. Silva's investigation into her family members' disappearance distracts Gunther from the homicide inquiry. While some readers may find the shifts between the two cases jarring, Mayor manages to keep the suspense building and the reader guessing until the end. Series fans will appreciate the local cultural insights and the authentic cop lingo. (Oct.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Review“The Joe Gunther series is one of the best around…With its excellent noir touches, terrific plots, and really interesting central character, it ought to appear at the top of most lists.”—Globe and Mail (Toronto)  “Archer Mayor’s Vermont police procedurals are the best thing going.”—The New York Times Book Review“Mayor still shows why he is one of the most respected American writers or procedurals.”—Library Journal“As always, Mayor delivers rich characters, solid police procedural details, and a rich sense of place. A solid addition to a fine series.”—BooklistThe Catch“The Catch [is] as authentic as it gets.”—The New York Times Book Review**“Superior…will leave fans feeling fully satisfied.”—Publishers Weekly“Mayor’s skills are equal to the vigor of his imagination, and we take his word for every twist, every turn, every thunderbolt.”—New Yorker“Elegant, even lyrical prose...a new Joe Gunther is always good news.”—Booklist  “Suspenseful...Mayor’s New England eye mercilessly details what he sees without the ‘calendar nostalgia’ that usually clings to such villages and backwaters...The clever plot expands like a dark whirlpool and reveals the underbelly of Vermont and Maine.”—Providence Journal-Bulletin“As with all Mayor’s novels, the plot remains fresh and timely. Through his in-depth knowledge of police work, forensics and the medical field, combined with his ability to evoke the Vermont landscape, Mayor deftly brings the reader deep inside the story, taking us along the trail of meticulous detective work needed to bring out the truth.”—Brattleboro Reformer…and for Archer Mayor and his other Joe Gunther novels“Mayor is a devil of a plotter.” —Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review“Superb…Mayor spins out parallel story lines and weaves the strands together with deft precision.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) on The Second Mouse“An intricate, first-rate thriller…a riveting plot and exceptional writing.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) on The Sniper’s Wife “The writing is strong, with sharp social observations throughout…Gunther grows on you from novel to novel.”—Washington Post Book World“Mayor keeps getting better with age…Few writers deliver such well-rounded novels of such consistently high quality.”—Arizona Daily Star“From first to last, [Mayor’s] novels are page-turners, and each page resonates with the author’s authority…His storytelling talents and his sheer craftsmanship combine to make his Joe Gunther books hard to put  down.”—Tampa Tribune“Archer Mayor is one of today’s most reliable—and most underappreciated—crime writers. His low-key police procedurals, which utilize their off-the-beaten-track setting to great advantage, are always entertaining, and his protagonist and iconoclastic supporting cast are unfailingly good company.”—San Diego Union-Tribune