Customer Reviews

The Sniper's Wife

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Of course, I know Archer Mayor; he is from Vermont and writes detective stories about cities and places I know. But I also know and have worked with Archer's brother. The best part of Archer Mayor's books is that he is such a great writer. He keeps us on the edge of our seats, so to speak. We are not certain just what will happen next. And, in "The Sniper's Wife", we now go to New York City and find new people and places to love.

Willy Kunkle, newly promoted to Detective in the Vermont Bureau of Investigation, receives a call none of us want to get. His ex-wife has died and the NYPD Blue is asking him to identify her. He drives to New York City and goes to the morgue first and identifies her, then to her apartment where he goes over everything. He finds not much but a mess the police have left. He finds a few pictures and keepsakes. He cleans the apartment as his ex-wife would want it. He remembers her and why they split. Willy was a drunk and beat his wife once and she left him, as she should. She became a junkie, but had cleaned up her act. He did not believe that his wife committed suicide as described. He believes that this is murder.

Willy goes on to meet the NYPD police and reads his ex-wife's record. He starts his investigation, but not without calling on his boss, Joe Gunther and Willy's new girl, Detective Sammie Martin. Thus his friends can deal with the NYPD as he goes about finding who murdered his wife.

This is a wonderful story of love and redemption in a different setting of murder and police work. Archer Mayor has given new life to Willy Kunkle and set us free from Joe Gunther for a few pages. This is as exciting a novel as any and so well written. Highly recommended. prisrob

Archer Mayor's The Sniper's Wife is a gripping thriller and an enjoyable, compelling read. I have never read any of Mayor's novels before, so I cannot compare them to the rest of the Joe Gunther series, but as a newcomer, I thought this novel was excellent. Willy Kunkle is a man haunted by a number of ghosts, and at the outset of the novel, he gets a new ghost--his ex-wife, who is found dead of an apparent heroin overdose in New York City. Kunkle immediately heads to New York from Vermont to identify the body, but is immediately pulled into finding out the true cause of her death. Things don't add up for Kunkle and he embarks on a one man mission to discover what really happened. The novel reads like one of the better Law and Order episodes--you won't be able to put it down. Enjoy.

After thirteen Joe Gunther series novels, it is understandable that Archer Mayor might want to do something different. While many authors would ditch the old series and write something totally different, Archer Mayor decided to do something a bit different. Instead, he decided to devote a novel to the complex and enigmatic character often seen in the Joe Gunther series known as Willy Kunkle. For fans of the series, this is a fantastic development as the back-story on the very complex character of Willy Kunkle is finally revealed completely. For those new to the series, this is not a stand-alone book and as such should be read after reading the other novels in the series. While it could be read independently, to do so would ruin a large chunk of the series as these events are commented in this novel. These factors also make this very enjoyable book difficult to review without committing the same folly.

Newly installed as a Detective in the recently created Vermont Bureau of Investigation, Willy Kunkle receives a call that drags him back into a past that he thought he had left behind. The New York City police have found his divorce papers in an apartment rented by a woman who apparently died of a drug overdose. The investigators want him to come to New York and identify the body and handle all the usual details.

After identifying the body as his ex-wife Mary, Willy begins to nose into the case. Driven by guilt and anger over the past and present day events, Willy treats her death as his own to investigate. He spots inconsistencies with the story he is being given by the local Police and those are reinforced when he physically investigates the crime scene. Then, he begins to backtrack into her life and as he does so, not only must he confront various things from his past but he must also deal with a complex changing case that the local Police should not have been so quick to solve.

To say more in greater detail about this novel would simply blow this book as well as most of the series for any reader. This is a fast, intense read that answers a lot of questions about the character as well as providing a complex mystery. There are constant twists and turns that move the book steadily forward and the back-story is nicely woven into the novel. For fans of the series, this novel is a real treat and one that should not be missed.

Another great Archer Mayor book. However....I do belive he gets a little bit redundant with Willie Kunkle...we all know he's been down and out and keeps blaming himself for his own faults, but Archer doesn't have to remind us of this every time Willie meets somebody new, or gets into a new situation. I don't really belive that Joe could have saved a man that was so down on himself all these years....granted Joe "understands" Willie, but there comes a point....anyway, I also think the NYPD would have pulled the plug on ol' Willie. However I really enjoyed the story and am lookling forward to many more from Archer Mayor....(actually I like Joe Gunther...)

I pre-ordered this book becasuse of the pleasure the other books in this series have given me and because I was looking forward to reading about the enigmatic Willie Kinkle. However instead of developing the character using his strengths, we are treated to a rogue cop stereotype at large in New York City.
Granted Willie Kinkle is a cliche. A former NYPD cop, Viet Nam vet, emotionally damaged, angry, physicially impaired, with a chip on his shoulder. But, in previous books he was a good cop. That is the value Joe Gunther sees in him and why he protects him.
Here Kinkle rides roughshod over his police colleagues and police procedures. He contaminates a crime scene, one the NYPD has overlooked while at the same time he presumes to show that a crime has in fact been committed. He waltzes into a heroin dealer's den unarmed, confronts a retired Mafia don, and engages in other mayhem that in reality should make him the center of an internal affairs investigation.
I enjoyed the "dinosaurs" description. I do hope they exist. Age, experience and institutional memory would be an asset to any police department.
The book is enjoyable reading. It would have been better if Willie had used his police skills and his relationships with his Vermont colleagues to solve the crime and shown to us that he has value as a team player.
Perhaps the best remark in the book about Willie is by one of the "dinosaurs" to Joe Gunther "I'm not sure I'd let him out of Vermont for ten or twenty years". I, for one, am looking forward to returning there.

The NYPD informs Vermont Bureau of Investigation Detective Willy Kunkle that his ex-wife Mary died from an overdose of heroin in Manhattan. Willy drops everything to go to New York City to identify the body. However, instead of agreeing that an accident occurred, Willy concludes someone murdered his former spouse and persuades Detective Ward Ogden of his belief.

Willy investigates Mary's Manhattan life by starting with a visit to the old neighborhood where he grew up too. He thinks back on his time working as a cop for NYPD and his estranged relationship with his family while causing havoc with his inquiries. His lover Detective Sammie Martens and his boss Joe Gunther travel down from the Green Mountain State to help in the investigation that seemingly supports Kunkle's belief that Mary was murdered Willy intends to dispatch his own personal brand of justice.

THE SNIPER'S WIFE is a powerful police procedural not so much because of the three seemingly separate parallel investigations, but on account of the deep insight into what makes Willy what he is today. The story line places Willy in New York neighborhoods that never grace a novel yet they provide fathoms and intensity to the key protagonist so that the audience feels the beat of the locale grasping what Willy remembers from his days residing there. The murder mystery is well done with the investigations taking the audience from NYC to New Hampshire, but this strong novel belongs to Willy and the Big Apple as Archer Mayor shows his comfort level stretches way beyond the green hills of Vermont into the urban forest of the City.

Harriet Klausner

I haven't read anything like this since I read "Super Cops" in the 1970s. I have read nearly all of Archer Mayor's Joe Gunther books but this one just does not rate up there with most of the rest. True, being from Vermont I do have a bias towards Vermont based stories but "Sniper's Wife" just doesn't have it. Willy goes on a crusade, Joe and Sammy come to New York City and are integrated into NYPD with open arms, the all of a sudden everything gets quickly wrapped up. It is exciting for the most part but its almost like Archer was running into his yearly deadline and had to wrap everything up quickly. I am still a Joe Gunther fan and think the book is worth reading but don't expect to come away not disappointed.

This is the thirteenth entry in the Joe Gunther series. Gunther is a little beyond middle aged police chief in Brattleboro, Vermont and in the later books the chief of the fictional Vermont Bureau of Investigation. Just like Joe, this is a very solid series - police procedurals with a little mystery and a little action. Joe is surrounded by a well developed supporting cast in both his professional and personal life. Consistency - without becoming stale or repetitive - is the key with these books. The author has stayed true to form while adding new characters, settings and dynamics and I've yet to be disappointed after I've picked up a Joe Gunther book. The evolution/growth of Joe's position - city chief to state chief - is a perfect example of this. Realizing that Gunther & Team could only investigate a finite number of mysteries in Brattleboro the author simply expanded his universe with Joe's promotion without missing a step.

The Sniper's Wife is another step in expanding the series as Willy Kunkle - one of Joe's subordinates - is the central character. Willy is a Vietnam Vet who carries all that "literary" label's stereotypical baggage - sullen, cynical, bitter, quick to anger and a loner. When he gets word that his ex-wife has been found dead in a Brooklyn apartment, the victim of an apparent suicide/overdose, Willy simply gets in his car and heads south to the Big Apple. After identifying her body Willy begins investigating on his own finding clues that suggest his ex was murdered while running afoul of the local authorities. Enter Joe Gunther and part of the team to save Willy and the day.

This all may not sound too original - and it's not - but the author is able to carry this off in an engaging - and mostly believable - manner. Although not the best book in the series, The Sniper's Wife is still a good read. If you're new to the series I wouldn't start here, pick one of the earlier books. If you're a fan I think you'll enjoy the change of venue.

This is a fine addition to the great mysteries of Archer Mayor. It gives an insight into the troublesome character of Willie Kunkle. It is one of the few that has almost no action taking place in Vermont. It is an excellent book. I recommend it highly.

I've said this before but it's worth repeating: Mayor is a fine writer and I've enjoyed all his books from the first to the latest. If you like police mysteries you'll find he is a craftsman of the first order. If you just like a good story and a well crafted plot, you can't go wrong with Archer. But be advised: The first of his books you read won't be the last! And for those who are Willy's hard core fans, this will be a particular pleasure to read.