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Summary
Summary
VBI (Vermont Bureau of Investigation) head Joe Gunther and his team are called in to investigate a series of violent deaths that appear unrelated until telltale clues reveal a linkage between them and that all of the deaths are, in fact, murders. However, apart from a single drop of unexplained blood left at each crime scene, there are no obvious connections between the victims or the cases. The police are faced with more questions than answers including what do the mysterious deposits of blood mean, coming as they do from three additional unknown people. In their search for the elusive truth, the VBI must plumb the depths of every suspect's past, every victim's most intimate details, and examine each piece of evidence down to the smallest detail--an examination which includes a trip to the Brookhaven National Lab on Long Island and an exploration of cutting edge forensic technology.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
A single drop of unexplained blood at each of three murder scenes perplexes Joe Gunther in Mayor's engrossing 21st novel to feature the Vermont Bureau of Investigation police detective (after 2009's The Price of Malice). The three victims-two middle-aged women and a young man who had a bright future-led apparently unblemished lives in rural Vermont. Gunther and his team take a detour to the Brookhaven National Lab on Long Island for lessons in cutting-edge forensics. Meanwhile, the gubernatorial race of Gail Zigman, Gunther's former girlfriend, spotlights the politics surrounding how the VBI was established and affects his current relationship with bar owner Lyn Silva. As usual, Mayor skillfully combines a gripping police procedural with a view of smalltown life balanced by bits of humor applied at just the right time. The suspense builds toward an ending that reveals a surprising motive and a chillingly realistic villain. Author tour. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Joe Gunther (The Price of Malice, 2009, etc.) pursues a vindictive killer and pays heavily for catching him.Three people meet sudden deaths: two middle-aged women and a 19-year-old boy. A car wreck kills one; another dies horribly in the aftermath of a home invasion and rape; the third is an apparent suicide. None of them knew each other, or so it seems, yet soon enough the deaths turn out to be connected by three blood spots. Carefully placed on each lifeless body, they amount to a message, a catch-me-if-you-can taunt from a brilliant sociopath to a slew-footed police force apparently not up to the challenge. And for a while at least, Joe and his team at the Vermont Bureau of Investigation, lured into a frustrating cat-and-mouse game, do feel overmatched. Hubris, however, can lead brilliant bad guys into dumb mistakes. Seen through the smart scopes of a highly sophisticated forensics lab, those galling blood spots speak volumes. Meanwhile, Joe's former lover, beautiful, politically ambitious Gail Zigman"the most talked about woman in the state"is racing hell-for-leather to the governor's mansion. Will Joe's chase impinge on Gail's race? Yes, and explosively.Compassionate by nature, self-schooled to be tough when he needs to be, the sage of Brattleboro is as usual a pleasure to spend time with.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* In Vermont, there are 10 to 12 murders per year. Most are ordinary crimes with obvious suspects: spouses or family members. But when three bodies turn up, and investigation shows them to be murders disguised as something else, Joe Gunther's Vermont Bureau of Investigation is under the figurative gun to find a clever serial killer. The victims seem sober, stolid Vermonters, but each body displays a single drop of blood, and the blood isn't the victims' or the killer's. Gunther turns to cutting-edge science unavailable to forensics investigators, but the solution must come from old-fashioned police work. This is the twenty-first Joe Gunther novel. Faithful fans have aged along with the shrewd and decent Gunther, and his team of detectives has passed from being inexperienced youths to seasoned investigators. Gunther has learned to laugh at Detective Willy Kunkel's enduring misanthropies even as he parries the demands of state politicians and aggressive journalists. Readers have been schooled in the state's societal changes over the last two-plus decades, and they've come to love Mayor's elegant tributes to Vermont's weather extremes and beauty. If this sounds like a valediction to one of the best police procedural series going, it's because Red Herring ends with Gunther pondering retirement. Mayor's faithful following will simply have to hope he returns.--Gaughan, Thomas Copyright 2010 Booklist
Library Journal Review
A rape homicide, a suicide, and a fatal traffic accident initially appear to be unrelated tragedies, but single drops of blood at each crime scene identify a serial killer at work. Amid a Vermont winter, Joe Gunther and his team use a combination of solid investigation and cutting-edge science to race to a solution. Mayor's (www.archermayor.com) 21st entry in this series, following The Price of Malice (2009), delivers a baffling mystery, well-defined characters, a shocking conclusion, and elegant prose. Unfortunately, actor/Audie Award nominee William Dufris's performance, while adequate, fails to exploit the novel's extraordinary atmosphere and suspense. Still, a treat for any mystery fan. [The Minotaur: St. Martin's hc received a starred review, LJ 9/1/10.-Ed.]-Janet Martin, Southern Pines P.L., NC (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.