The Catch: A Joe Gunther Novel (Joe Gunther Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Archer Mayor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 30, 2008 | Series: Joe Gunther Mysteries

Joe Gunther, a Vermont cop for most of his adult life and now the head of the VBI (Vermont Bureau of Investigation) gets the call that every law enforcement person hates and every friend and family member of a policeman fears -- a cop has been shot and killed.  A deputy sheriff was shot to death during a routine traffic stop on a dark country road.  From what can been seen on the cruiser's tape recorder of the killers, it is believed that they were a couple of Boston-based drug runners who had been stopped by the deputy on their way from Canada down to Boston. 

 

Which is what brings Gunther and his team to the investigation - an attempt to shut down the major drug running operation.  Specially that of one Alan Budney, disaffected son of a lobsterman, now a drug kingpin, who uses the closed, clannish lobster fishing community and his extended family in particular, to move drugs along the New England coast.

 

The most recent book - and last from Grand Central - Chat, has spent four week on the extended Booksense bestseller list and, as always, has been on the NEBA bestseller list since publication.  He is the winner of the 2004 New England Booksellers Association Award for Best Fiction.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

At the start of Mayor's fine 19th Joe Gunther novel (after 2007's Chat), Vermont deputy sheriff Brian Sleuter gets shot in the temple while making a routine traffic stop near the Canadian border. The video camera on Sleuter's cruiser taped the murder, so it appears to be a simple case, but Mayor never makes things simple. Since the pair that Sleuter stopped have a drug history, Joe Gunther, head of the Vermont Bureau of Investigation, coordinates with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Boston. In a smash-bang arrest attempt, one suspect is killed, the other escapes. Joe follows him to Maine, where a drug distributor was recently murdered, drawing Joe and his staff into a fight for control of the New England drug trade and a vengeful family feud. The plot meanders and relies on coincidence more than usual in this superior regional series, but a surprise resolution to the cop killing and an unexpected final catch, one of many in the story, will leave fans feeling fully satisfied. 30-city author tour. (Oct.)
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From Booklist

In (relatively) placid Vermont, a cop killing is a once-in-a-decade crime, and in the nineteenth installment of Mayor’s superb series, Joe Gunther, the top cop in the Vermont Bureau of Investigation, has one on his hands. At the same time, in picturesque Rockland, Maine, a drug kingpin is gunned down. A changing of the criminal guard appears to be under way, and Joe finds himself in a task force with feds and Maine police who specialize in drug crimes. There’s a link between Joe’s murder suspect and the drug dealing in Maine, but Joe wonders if he is fully serving Vermont’s interests. Throughout this series, Mayor has focused on societal concerns. This time it’s the illegal use of prescription drugs that knows no borders. One result is that most of the book takes place in Maine, and that might disappoint some of Mayor’s ardent fans. His elegant, even lyrical prose about his home state is less evident here than in previous novels. Even so, a new Joe Gunther is always good news. --Thomas Gaughan

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (September 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312381913
• ISBN-13: 978-0312381912
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,073,165 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Archer Mayor is the author of the highly acclaimed, Vermont-based series featuring detective Joe Gunther, which the Chicago Tribune describes as "the best police procedurals being written in America." He is also the 2004 winner of the New England Independent Booksellers Association Award for Best Fiction--the first time a writer of crime literature has been so honored.

Before turning his hand to fiction, Mayor wrote history books, the most notable of which concerned the lumber and oil business in Louisiana from the 1870s to the 1970s. This book was published by the University of Georgia Press back in 1988 and very well received; it has been republished as a trade paperback in 2009.

Mayor--who was brought up in the US, Canada and France--was variously employed as a scholarly editor, a researcher for TIME-LIFE Books, a political advance-man, a theater photographer, a newspaper writer/editor, a lab technician for Paris-Match Magazine in Paris, France, and a medical illustrator. In addition to writing novels and occasional articles, Mayor gives talks and workshops all around the country, including the Bread Loaf Young Writers conference in Middlebury, Vermont, and the Colby College seminar on forensic sciences in Waterville, Maine. In addition, Archer is a death investigator for Vermont's Chief Medical Examiner, a Deputy Sheriff for Windham County, VT, an investigator for the Windham County State's Attorney's office, the publisher of his own backlist, a travel writer for AAA, and he travels the Northeast giving speeches and conducting workshops. He also has 25 years experience as a volunteer firefighter/EMT.

Mayor's critically-acclaimed series of police novels features Lt. Joe Gunther of the Brattleboro, Vermont police department. The books, which have been appearing about once a year since 1988, have been published in five languages (if you count British,) and routinely gather high praise from such sources as the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the New Yorker, and many others, often appearing on their "ten best" yearly lists.

Whereas many writers base their books on only interviews and scholarly research, Mayor's novels are based on actual experience in the field. The result adds a depth, detail and veracity to his characters and their tribulations that has led the New York Times to call him "the boss man on procedures".

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great addition to a great crime series., December 7, 2008

By 

Gordon Marshall - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Catch: A Joe Gunther Novel (Joe Gunther Mysteries) (Hardcover)

The Joe Gunther crime detective series continues to evolve in a new direction, yet still remains true to its Vermont small state, small town sensibilities. This well written crime procedural captures the different landscapes which mark all of the three upper New England states, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and how those landscapes shape the different cultures in each state. Glad too that Joe Gunther has a new woman in his life who promises to be an interesting addition as the series continues.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Down East Lowlifes, December 22, 2008

By 

J. Moran (Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Catch: A Joe Gunther Novel (Joe Gunther Mysteries) (Hardcover)

A very ambitious and hard-driving Vermont state trooper is murdered during a routine traffic stop. The whole thing seems to be caught on the cruiser's video. Vermont copdom mobilizes to catch the killer, including Joe Gunther's elite Vermont Bureau of Investigation. Everyone charges into the investigation; but Joe, no fool and averse to communal embarrassment, quietly has a couple of his people checking on what kind of a cop and person the victim was.

The trail leads to Maine where it seems to connect to the murder of a local drug leader, whose demise leads to equal and violent opportunity for would-be replacements. A multiagency task force is formed, and Joe's team tags along. Everyone on the task force is sympathetic about the trooper's death but inevitably the focus is more and more on the drug issues. Joe and his people keep on, following leads and making a few of their own. Joe's instincts and knowledge of people lead to some smart decisions and the case makes progress.

The writing is brisk and clear, the characters interesting, with no stereotypes in sight. Yet this is not absolutely top drawer Archer Mayor. There are a lot of loose ends, a couple of which seem to have been inserted for the sake of a subsequent book. In addition the solution to the cop killing seems to come totally from left field, maybe even from outside the ball park entirely. Still, the writing is good and the interaction among the characters interesting. It is a good read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Reviewing: "The Catch: A Joe Gunther Novel" by Archer Mayor, March 17, 2009

By 

Kevin Tipple (Plano, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Catch: A Joe Gunther Novel (Joe Gunther Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Recently Archer Mayor was a very informative guest on a Sunday night chat hosted at The Writer's Chatroom. Along with learning that his previous publisher had put the first twelve Joe Gunther series books out of print so Mr. Mayor had to form his own publishing company to get them back out on the market, I learned that that I hadn't read this one when it came out last year. A number of other readers were on hold for it at the local library, so it took awhile before finally arriving. As always, it was worth wait.

Deputy Sheriff Brian Sleuter pulls over a speeding car on an isolated stretch of Vermont road cognizant of the always present danger from such a stop. Despite taking the usual precautions and following procedure, within minutes, he is gunned down while sitting inside his patrol car. Called into investigate the murder and apprehend the person or persons responsible, Joe Gunther and the fellow members of the Vermont Bureau of Investigation have a solid lead. Thanks to the dash camera footage, they can see the moments prior to the officer's shocking death.

Over in Maine, Alan Brudey is the son of a Maine Lobsterman who has no desire to follow in dear old Dad's footsteps. Having just killed Mathew Mroz in a plan to take control of the local drug flow he has no intention of working the water chasing the dwindling supply of lobsters. He plans to work the people instead who need drugs and supply them and build a business in the time honored way of all small businessmen. The product is different, but the business process is the same and he has plans for exponential growth.

Before long both storylines merge as Joe Gunther's hunt for the killer and his accomplice take the team to Maine. In a story that constantly shifts back and forth between storylines, there is little time for character development and instead is all about the chase of the suspects. This deep in the series, one doesn't expect any character development and one doesn't get any. One does expect more complexity in terms of plot and character interaction in an Archer mayor novel and unfortunately that also is not contained here.

This is a straight up fast moving mystery where you know Joe Gunther and his group will catch the bad guys. The only question is how and where. The result, while certainly not his best ever in the series, is another strong one. While it dims in comparison to many of his other novels, it certainly is much better than a lot of books out there by other authors who get much more of the media attention.

Kevin R. Tipple (copyright) 2009