The Catch: A Joe Gunther Novel (Joe Gunther Series)

Mystery, colorful characters and a candid view of Vermont is again served up in Mayor's THE CATCH. One of my favorite New England authors, the writer both entertains and educates in a straight forward style that makes for another excellent read.

This is my first Joe Gunther book and I will be reading more.I especially enjoyed the pacing of the book and the interweaving of different perspectives. This is the type of book in which I figured I knew just what was going on from page one, and then become increasingy surprised as I realize aong with Joe Gunther that's there's more going on than I first suspected. And I really like how the author slowly leads us to what I consider one of the most interesting confrontation scenes I've come across for a long time. Highly recommended and if you haven't met Joe Gunther yet, I sure encourage you to do so.

The Joe Gunther crime detective series continues to evolve in a new direction, yet still remains true to its Vermont small state, small town sensibilities. This well written crime procedural captures the different landscapes which mark all of the three upper New England states, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and how those landscapes shape the different cultures in each state. Glad too that Joe Gunther has a new woman in his life who promises to be an interesting addition as the series continues.

As always, Joe Gunther is a superb character. Archer Mayor is the best! I live in New England and it's always fun to read about places I'm familiar with and Archer doesn't disappoint. I look forward to each and every one of his Joe Gunther novels. I've been known to sit and read one of these novels in one sitting...they are true page turners.

Vermont Bureau of Investigation (VBI) Joe Gunther receives the call that he loathes hearing; a cop was killed in the line of duty. Apparently on a dark rustic road, deputy sheriff Brian Sleuter was making a routine traffic stop when he was killed. The tape of the incident captured by his cruiser shows two Boston drug runners on their way south from Canada. Gunther and his VBI team in conjunction with US Immigration authorities take charge of the cop murder because of the major drug running connection. His target is the son of a lobsterman, Alan Budney. With the lobster industry in disarray, he has been able to use their anger to run drugs. Now a cop murder is added to his gang's accomplishments. Filled with excellent twists and red herrings (make that red lobsters), the latest Gunther regional police procedural is a superb entry in a strong New England series. The story line is fast-paced from the moment Joe receives the call all cops fear and never slows down even as the plot meanders more than the Winooski River. THE CATCH is another winning Joe Gunther VBI investigation. Harriet Klausner