A possible murder leads to a low-life gang of criminals and an attempt to bring in more drugs to Vermont. Not the best of the Joe Gunther police procedurals, but ok. ( )

law-enforcement, procedural, Vermont, death-investigation***

I've been wanting to read a Joe Gunther story for some time, so when I found this one on sale on audio I did. In the beginning I got a little lost in the divisions of policing (State Police vs State Bureau of Investigation), but the two investigators seemed to get along so I didn't fuss over it. Joe didn't really have a good handle on either case, but he kept on with the due diligence very faithfully until he got the job done. This one seems a bit depressed, like he needs a vacation but doesn't know how. I'm going to try one or two more and see if they are more upbeat because I did like the plot and twists.
"The SECOND mouse gets the cheese"
Tom Taylorson has a pleasant narration. ( )

On the edge of town Joe Gunther, from the Vermont Bureau of Investigation, encounters the lifeless body of Michelle Fisher. Her corpse offers him no clues about who she was or how she died. Snapshots and postcards show a woman who laughed hard and lived harder, while diaries reveal a rootless life marred by depression and drink. Suicide seems a reasonable conclusion, but Gunther suspects foul play.

This was a police procedural that switched back and forth between Gunther’s investigation and the criminals’ lives. Gunther is likeable, smart and low-key and has a way of getting people to talk, although at times it seemed a little too easy. All the characters were well-developed but my preference would’ve been more time with the investigation and less on the criminals. Still, I enjoyed the story and would try another in this series. ( )

Archer Mayor's Joe Gunther series is one of those steady series that you look forward to every year or two, as Mayor completes another episode. Having said that, I'm still catching up. I think I have 5 more to go, to be up to date. There are 22 books in the series, so that's a pretty steep investment of time.

Second Mouse starts out with a dead body that apparently died of natural causes. Joe Gunther, head of the Vermont Bureau of Investigation hears the call on his police radio and, being in the neighborhood, stops by. VBI only takes major cases, but he was curious.

Of course the case leaves some questions/doubts in his mind and it eventually falls into his domain. The book is basically two cases that merge into one. Michelle Fisher is the dead body. Her live in boyfriend, Archie, died several months before and his father is trying to evict from the house she and Archie rented from him.

Mel, Ellis and Nancy are three petty thieves. Mel is the brains, Ellis is his cohort and Nancy is his wife. They've got a record a mile long. Mel is always full of new schemes, always involving the other two. This time it's a drug deal.

One of the things that makes a mystery good is identifying with the characters, becoming part of the family, so to speak and Joe Gunther seems like family. I've watched him grow, get a girlfriend (and now lose her), change jobs, deal with his brother and parents, the whole bit. Joe's not philosopical like Moe Prager (Reed Farrel Coleman). He's more like Steve Carella from Ed McBain's 87th Precinct series; kinda like a close friend.

If you're looking for a new mystery, a new venue (Vermont) and a new friend, start with Open Season (written in 1988) and keep going. That's my suggestion. ( )