Proof Positive

Starred review from July 21, 2014
Over 26 years and 25 books (most recently, 2013’s Three Can Keep a Secret), Joe Gunther has moved from police detective in Brattleboro, Vt., to special agent of the Vermont Bureau of Investigation, and, as he has grown in stature, so has the series. During the Vietnam War, Signal Corps photographer Benjamin Kendall suffered a head wound and PTSD. Now a reclusive hoarder, he has turned his Dummerston farmhouse property into a massive warren of junk. When Kendall’s body is found crushed “under a pile of personal effects,” it looks like an accident, but Kendall’s first cousin (and Gunther’s lover), Beverly Hillstrom, asks Gunther to take a look. Recently, Hillstrom’s college-age daughter, Rachel Reiling, discovered a cache of Kendall’s war photographs while shooting a school project, and they became part of an exhibit at an art gallery that attracted a couple of hit men. A wave of killings ensues. Stopping the killers means nothing unless Gunther can locate the man behind them. Mayor makes full use of Gunther’s excellent supporting cast, including Willy Kunkle, Lester Spinney, and Sammie Martens, in this smoothly plotted and absorbing mystery. Agent: Molly Friedrich, Friedrich Agency.

September 1, 2014

When Beverly Hillstrom, Vermont's chief medical examiner and girlfriend of Vermont Bureau of Investigation detective Joe Gunther, asks him to look into the death of her cousin, Ben, how can he refuse? Ben, a Vietnam War Signal Corps photographer and a hoarder, was found crushed to death under a pile from his collection. The causeof death was inconclusive, according to Beverly's autopsy. When Ben's estranged ex-wife is found tortured and murdered soon after, Joe's senses are on high alert. The crimes coincide with a local exhibit of Ben's photographs, organized by Rachel, Beverly's daughter. Joe surmises that the photos may be central to the killings and that Rachel, too, may be in danger. VERDICT Joe Gunther and company return in full force in this absorbing sequel to Three Can Keep a Secret. For longtime fans of the series, it is compelling to see these characters' personalities and life situations change as they age. New readers, however, will still enjoy this book immensely. There's plenty of mystery and suspense to satisfy fans of police procedurals, detective fiction, and solid mystery writing. [Library marketing.]--Edward Goldberg, Syosset P.L., NY

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from October 1, 2014
Hoarder Ben Kendall survived a near-fatal head wound in Vietnam, but PTSD fed on his soul forever after. So when he is found buried beneath a mountain of random machine parts, his death appears accidental, even to his cousin, Vermont's medical examiner, Beverly Hillstrom, who performs the autopsy. But intuition moves her to ask Joe Gunther, top cop in the Vermont Bureau of Investigation, to look into it, and Joe's own intuition leads to opening an investigation. Soon, a second body is found in the hoard, and Ben's long-divorced ex-wife is discovered tortured and murdered in Philadelphia. Clever, brutal, and determined killers are looking for something in Vermont, and Joe, Willie Kunkel, Sammy Martens, and the rest of VBI must range across Vermont, from Brattleboro to the remote Northeast Kingdom, to stop them. From its palpably brilliant openinga queasy sneak thief casing Ben's bizarre compoundto the uncertain denouement with a U.S. senator who makes our real senators look like pillars of rectitude, Proof Positive is another riveting addition to one of the finest series in crime fiction. A circuitous plot, finely drawn characters, and Mayor's evocative, writerly grace notese.g., a paean to nonBig Box hardware stores and the charms of southern Vermont's towns and villagesmake this a must-read for crime lovers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)