Red Herring: A Joe Gunther Novel (Joe Gunther Series, 21)

Mayor is a master of painting a picture with words. A series of apparently unrelated murders the area around of Brattleboro,VT pose a puzzle for the VBI team of Joe Gunther. He examines the evidence of each death with the help of experts,medical examiners,etc. To watch how he eventually connects the deaths is almost a lucky break. His team is, as usual, a mix of personalities seen in most of his books. I first read some books in this series about ten years ago and for some reason forgot about them until reading a review about six weeks ago.  I have been ordering the books I missed to fill in the back story of how the VBI was created and to discover the back story of team members. I highly recommend the series.

This series by Archer Mayor is one of best series. You really should read them from the beginning as the charaters grow and sometimes you need to know why each is important in the stories. I can't wait for the next one to come out which is Paradise City. One story don't bother with is Snow Blind which is his ebook. Unless you knew the back ground for the house it won't make sense. Didn't like it at all. Can't wait to see what will happen with Gail, Sam and Willy!

I've read all the Gunther books and enjoyed both the plot of each one and the character development across the years. Each step along the way seemed realistic and plausible.This last one was a bit of a stretch, but it left me with my mouth hanging open. I did not expect it at all and cant wait to see what happens in their "lives" when the next one is released.As for this particular book's plot, it has some interesting twists and some new forensic technologies (not science fiction, just new and as yet unproven). The mystery unfolds nicely, and shows the hard work detectives have to do rather than employing magic solutions that just show up when needed.

This is Archer Mayor's best book yet. His research into the cutting edge of scientific lab developments and their contribution in expanding the usefulness of crime scene evidence is fascinating. The personalities are well drawn and in wide variety. It is beautifully written, concise, powerful and often poetic. But what really stands out is the emotional impact. You can feel the peace, joy and meaning of people's successful daily lives and then the swift crushing impact of sudden loss which the crime of murder creates. It is a worthwhile read on many levels. I also think it is unforgettable.

Archer Mayor continues to delight his readers with the investigations and personal entanglements of his Vermont police detective, Joe Gunther. None of these books will win a Pulitzer or be studied in High School English classes, but they make a great weekend read to escape from the drudgeries of normal life for a while.

As always with Archer Mayor/Joe Gunther books complicated plots well executed. Am familiar with this area of New England so it always brings back visions of the scenes.

Another Joe Gunther great mystery

I will tell you I have read ALL of the Joe Gunther novels & they ALL are great - I especially like them because I am a transplanted native Vermonter who now lives in California & I recognize the towns and mountains and lakes of which he writes and so I can picture in my mind the action of the books.

I must admit I was shocked and disappointed that Mayor chose to kill off one of the main (and best?) characters at the end of the book. Lyn was an important and likeable character and she's ruthlessly eliminated as if she was a bit player. Mayor is obviously a top notch author. In my opinion, he really doesn't need gratuitous violence to sell books. Judging by some of the other reviewer's comments, I'm not alone:"good book, bummer ending..why kill off the characters!""A real disappointment...The endless tragedies in Gunther's life have crossed into the utterly improbable.""Archer killed the wrong woman...Archer made a huge mistake killing Lyn she was the best for Joe I am done with archer mayor books.""Ending unsatisfactory...I'm not sure why writers today think they have to shock readers at the ending. This was a very good mystery but the conclusion was partly anti climatic and partly over the top."I read a series in the order they were written so I haven't read all the Joe Gunther books. I'm not sufficiently discouraged to stop reading the series but I wish Mayor would stop beating up on Joe.

Loved it