The Sniper's Wife

This is a fine addition to the great mysteries of Archer Mayor. It gives an insight into the troublesome character of Willie Kunkle. It is one of the few that has almost no action taking place in Vermont. It is an excellent book. I recommend it highly.

I've said this before but it's worth repeating: Mayor is a fine writer and I've enjoyed all his books from the first to the latest. If you like police mysteries you'll find he is a craftsman of the first order. If you just like a good story and a well crafted plot, you can't go wrong with Archer. But be advised: The first of his books you read won't be the last! And for those who are Willy's hard core fans, this will be a particular pleasure to read.

Of course, I know Archer Mayor; he is from Vermont and writes detective stories about cities and places I know. But I also know and have worked with Archer's brother. The best part of Archer Mayor's books is that he is such a great writer. He keeps us on the edge of our seats, so to speak. We are not certain just what will happen next. And, in "The Sniper's Wife", we now go to New York City and find new people and places to love. Willy Kunkle, newly promoted to Detective in the Vermont Bureau of Investigation, receives a call none of us want to get. His ex-wife has died and the NYPD Blue is asking him to identify her. He drives to New York City and goes to the morgue first and identifies her, then to her apartment where he goes over everything. He finds not much but a mess the police have left. He finds a few pictures and keepsakes. He cleans the apartment as his ex-wife would want it. He remembers her and why they split. Willy was a drunk and beat his wife once and she left him, as she should. She became a junkie, but had cleaned up her act. He did not believe that his wife committed suicide as described. He believes that this is murder. Willy goes on to meet the NYPD police and reads his ex-wife's record. He starts his investigation, but not without calling on his boss, Joe Gunther and Willy's new girl, Detective Sammie Martin. Thus his friends can deal with the NYPD as he goes about finding who murdered his wife. This is a wonderful story of love and redemption in a different setting of murder and police work. Archer Mayor has given new life to Willy Kunkle and set us free from Joe Gunther for a few pages. This is as exciting a novel as any and so well written. Highly recommended. prisrob

After thirteen Joe Gunther series novels, it is understandable that Archer Mayor might want to do something different. While many authors would ditch the old series and write something totally different, Archer Mayor decided to do something a bit different. Instead, he decided to devote a novel to the complex and enigmatic character often seen in the Joe Gunther series known as Willy Kunkle. For fans of the series, this is a fantastic development as the back-story on the very complex character of Willy Kunkle is finally revealed completely. For those new to the series, this is not a stand-alone book and as such should be read after reading the other novels in the series. While it could be read independently, to do so would ruin a large chunk of the series as these events are commented in this novel. These factors also make this very enjoyable book difficult to review without committing the same folly.Newly installed as a Detective in the recently created Vermont Bureau of Investigation, Willy Kunkle receives a call that drags him back into a past that he thought he had left behind. The New York City police have found his divorce papers in an apartment rented by a woman who apparently died of a drug overdose. The investigators want him to come to New York and identify the body and handle all the usual details.After identifying the body as his ex-wife Mary, Willy begins to nose into the case. Driven by guilt and anger over the past and present day events, Willy treats her death as his own to investigate. He spots inconsistencies with the story he is being given by the local Police and those are reinforced when he physically investigates the crime scene. Then, he begins to backtrack into her life and as he does so, not only must he confront various things from his past but he must also deal with a complex changing case that the local Police should not have been so quick to solve.To say more in greater detail about this novel would simply blow this book as well as most of the series for any reader. This is a fast, intense read that answers a lot of questions about the character as well as providing a complex mystery. There are constant twists and turns that move the book steadily forward and the back-story is nicely woven into the novel. For fans of the series, this novel is a real treat and one that should not be missed.

The NYPD informs Vermont Bureau of Investigation Detective Willy Kunkle that his ex-wife Mary died from an overdose of heroin in Manhattan. Willy drops everything to go to New York City to identify the body. However, instead of agreeing that an accident occurred, Willy concludes someone murdered his former spouse and persuades Detective Ward Ogden of his belief. Willy investigates Mary's Manhattan life by starting with a visit to the old neighborhood where he grew up too. He thinks back on his time working as a cop for NYPD and his estranged relationship with his family while causing havoc with his inquiries. His lover Detective Sammie Martens and his boss Joe Gunther travel down from the Green Mountain State to help in the investigation that seemingly supports Kunkle's belief that Mary was murdered Willy intends to dispatch his own personal brand of justice.THE SNIPER'S WIFE is a powerful police procedural not so much because of the three seemingly separate parallel investigations, but on account of the deep insight into what makes Willy what he is today. The story line places Willy in New York neighborhoods that never grace a novel yet they provide fathoms and intensity to the key protagonist so that the audience feels the beat of the locale grasping what Willy remembers from his days residing there. The murder mystery is well done with the investigations taking the audience from NYC to New Hampshire, but this strong novel belongs to Willy and the Big Apple as Archer Mayor shows his comfort level stretches way beyond the green hills of Vermont into the urban forest of the City.Harriet Klausner