I was a little nervous going into this. It's part of a long running series and there are three distinct mysteries going on which could potentially make for a very confusing read. Fortunately, after a few minutes I felt completely up to speed with who was who and what was going on. There's a simplicity in the writing style that is really refreshing. It doesn't get into the weeds with atmospheric descriptions or off topic subjects but instead sticks to the mysteries in a clean manner that kept me engaged. All of the different detectives are flawed but not so much it seems impossible that they function on a day to day basis. There's enough character development where real issues are dealt with from PTSD to relationship struggles but not so much that the story feels in the weeds or angsty. This was a solid police procedural with good mysteries and interesting characters. This is definitely a series to try if you enjoy police procedural style mysteries and a series I will be reading more from.

Minotaur Books and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of Trace. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

When I requested to read Trace, I had no idea that this book was part of a long standing series about Joe Gunther, head of the Vermont Bureau of Investigation. If I was not going to start at the beginning, this novel was a good place to begin because Joe is largely absent. The action is delivered by three cases, brought to VBI's attention at the same time. Will the rest of the team be able to step up and successfully bring these cases to a conclusion while their boss is tending to his ill mother?

Trace was a convoluted mess, with three investigations in various stages of completion. Although this may be authentic to law enforcement's daily workload, it does not make for good reading. I cannot say that I miss the presence of Joe Gunther here, as this is the first book in the series that I have read, but it also does not compel me to go back and read the others. With so much happening, I simply found my attention waning. I started this book twice before making it all the way through, which to me is a sign. Trace is not a book I would recommend to other readers, for the reasons I listed above.

I confess that this is my first Joe Gunther novel, and the series is 28 books in, so there’s a lot of rich history that I’ve missed in the series. That said, Archer Mayor makes it shockingly easy to get comfortable in Joe’s world without a ton of exposition loading down the narrative. At 28 books in, that’s no easy feat. You know these characters have a ton of history, but it’s like settling in with family—rife with conflict but infused with an unmistakable undercurrent of warmth.

Joe is the head of the Vermont Bureau of Investigation—they’re specialists called in by other departments when they need help. “They were to assist and fade away, leaving the limelight to others.” He’s got a crack team reporting to him too. He’ll need them to be on the ball because his mother is ill and he must accompany her to a care facility until she gets better. It could be weeks, or it could be months. Samantha Martens is in charge while he’s gone, and she’s a little unsure of herself—especially since her fellow cop and difficult significant other, Willy Kunkle, is surely going to chafe having to answer to her.


Although not married, Willy Kunkle and Samantha Martens shared a child, Emma; a house, once Willy’s own; and a propensity for exchanging mostly friendly, if often barbed, one-liners. They’d been fellow detectives downstairs, before VBI was created, and had forged a Mutt-and-Jeff image of contrasting styles that had therefore left most onlookers stunned by their romantic coupling.

“Nah. That’s okay,” Willy muttered, still pretending to forage around in his desk.

Lester stayed silent. Like so many others, he often took Willy’s hard, abrasive outer shell for granted, forgetting the man’s baggage of combat-born PTSD, past alcoholism, and instinctive paranoia—not to mention a crippled left arm, the result of a bullet he’d received on the job years earlier. An intuitive, natural-born cop, Willy could be judgmental, dismissive, and unmannered at one moment, while being thoughtful, sensitive, and generous at the next.

God only knew what Lester had poked with his playful announcement, if anything, but he wasn’t about to worsen the situation by saying more.

Fortunately, he didn’t have to. The door to the office opened to reveal Sammie Martens, fresh from having dropped Emma off at preschool.

“Hey,” she said, taking them both in warily.

“Hey, yourself,” Willy answered neutrally. “Long time, no see.”

She didn’t respond right away, instead registering Lester’s embarrassment before saying, “You heard.”

“I did.”

She held up her iPhone. “Just got it when I was delivering Emma. Kind of a kick in the butt.”

“Woulda been nice if he’d told us face-to-face,” Lester said, moving to safer ground.

“Doesn’t matter,” Willy announced. “It was a family crisis. You do what you gotta do.” He looked at Sammie directly. “You’ll be great. It’s not like you don’t act like the boss half the time anyhow.”

Lester laughed, he hoped supportively, but it only caused Willy to darken slightly and reach into his pocket, saying, “I gotta get this.”

He pulled two stacked cell phones out of his pocket, one of which he deftly tucked away again before lifting the other to his ear and heading back out to the corridor for privacy.

Sammie gazed down at Spinney and shook her head. “That went well,” she said.

So, poor Sammie is off to a running start, and she gets to go home to Willy at the end of the day too! Meanwhile, Lester is asked to look into what seems to have been a straightforward shooting. A man was pulled over, and a shootout resulted in the death of both the driver and the cop that pulled him over. Seems open and shut. But there’s something strange with the fingerprints, so Les sets out to do some digging, finding out that the investigating officers didn’t really dig that much at all.

Meanwhile, Jayla Robinson is desperate. Jared Wylie, the man that she thought was her knight in shining armor, is anything but, and she’s desperate to get away.

Things had not been going well over the past few months. For reasons unexplained to her, Wylie had shape-shifted from being the sophisticated, savvy monitor of Albany’s politically charged government corridors to something less definable and much more ominous. A purported lobbyist, yes, and a lawyer from what she’d gotten off the framed documents lining his office. But Jared was clearly something more. Something malevolent.

Brutal confirmation of this unease had come a couple of months ago. By convention or cliché, he should have been drunk at the time, in order to rationalize his excess. But he’d been sober and angry and very, very cold. Stimulated by what, she hadn’t known, he’d come at her out of the blue, torn her clothes, thrown her about, hurting her in the process, and finally raped her on the kitchen floor. What had followed was almost boringly predictable—the apologies, the excuses, the promises of better behavior. Unimpressed, she’d called 911.

Only to then receive an unexpected education.

In response to her action, knowing he couldn’t stop the police from appearing at their front door, Jared had made it crystal clear what would happen if she went beyond calling the cops and actually told them what had happened.

When another inevitable confrontation happens, Jayla fights back and gains the upper hand, fleeing while she has a chance. She decides to take a bus to Burlington, Vermont. By chance, she meets Rachel, who is the daughter of Joe’s love interest, Vermont’s medical examiner, Beverly Hillstrom. Rachel, seeing that Jayla (who reverts back to her real name Charlotte) has nothing but the clothes on her back, invites her to stay with her, and a friendship is born. But Jared isn’t about to give up Jayla without a fight.

Meanwhile, Willy is asked to look into a strange find by a young girl: a few bloody teeth and a bit of electronics that's more than suspicious. But has there actually been a crime? Don’t worry, Willy is willing to use his own brand of cowboy policing to get things done, and for him, rules don’t always apply.

For readers new to the series, this may not be the best starting place if they want to get to know Joe since he’s largely out of the picture, but like I said, it’s very easy to get caught up in the goings-on of the VBI. Mayor takes everything good about police procedurals—intricate cases, the politics of policing, and interesting bad guys (or girls)—and insulates those elements with a team that’s a family in every way that counts. They truly respect and rely on each other, and Mayor takes the time to flesh out each character, giving them rich and interesting backstories. That a few of these cases take very surprising turns isn’t, well, surprising, given the care that Mayor gives his characters and the ins and outs of how the VBI works. This is a fully immersive, fascinating read that will surely please fans of the series and win some new ones in the process.

A reliably excellent series continues.

This is a complex book with a lot going on in it, but at times I almost thought there was too much happening to be contained in a single novel. It was hard to keep straight what was happening to whom at certain points.

Still, even with a little confusion on my part from time to time, this was a fantastic book. There are layers of mysteries to be solved in this novel and the characters are intelligent and well written. They feel like real people with problems and concerns both during working hours and whilst they are away. I warmed to this story quickly, wanting answers to the questions it raised early on and finding myself unable to set the book down after I got to the halfway point.

If you enjoy reading crime fiction and stories that seem plausible and will keep you excited to read the next page, this is a good book to go with.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher, provided through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

I love this series.

There is a lot going on in this book. Joe's Mother gets Lyme disease and he needs to take her to a special clinic in St. Louis. In his absence, Sam is put in charge of the bureau, something that Willy takes some getting used to.
Willy is shown 3 broken teeth found by the railroad tracks which leads into an investigation that involves Homeland Security. Lester is shown some conflicting information about a closed case where a police office and the person he pulled over both found dead.
Both of these are intriguing mysteries but the strongest part in my opinion is Sam and Willy and their internal dialogues over their relationship and raising their daughter.
These books are always well written and after 28 of them, we really know these characters and their lives and loves.

I had no idea this was the 28th book in this series. While I enjoyed it as a stand alone, I do not feel compelled to invest in the rest of the series.

Three separate mysteries handled by the VBI while the Boss, Joe Gunther, is away tending to his sick mother. Each mystery has its strengths and weaknesses but the book is structured like intertwined short stories rather than one larger book. This was my introduction to the series and I feel I missed the essential elements of it, namely the main character in action. For lovers of the series, this will provide character continuity and insight into the team. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

A good read. A solid, well written book that is definitely entertaining. Lots of action with three cases to follow. I enjoyed reading this book.

Complex and interesting! Archer Mayor has not lost his ability to keep his readers engaged!

Archer Mayor makes you feel as though you are on a ride along with the investigation team. Well plotted, fast paced and great myster!

Where in the world is Joe Gunther? This is, as I understand it, the 28th book in the series featuring the commander of the Vermont Bureau of Investigation. Admittedly, it's my first, and although I'll say it stands alone quite well, I had to wonder what happened to the star of the show. In fact, until at least the 60% mark, his limited appearances are for the most part by phone or video meeting; he's off to a private hospital to stay with his ailing mother to give his brother, Leo, a care-giving break. He does return to the fold toward the end, but even then, he isn't a major player.

Of course, maybe that's the norm for these books; but his absence really surprised me. And because I really liked what little I saw of him (he's got a cat named Gilbert, for gosh sake), I would have enjoyed getting to know him better. All the other police-related characters, in fact, are exceptionally well developed (and for the record, also very likable).

Do not assume, though, that the story suffers in any other way. Actually, there are three story lines (more on that later), and each is intriguing enough to have made a short book in and of itself. There are quite a few characters to keep straight - no doubt they'd be familiar to readers of prior books - but once I got used to who's who, I was fully invested and wished I'd been able to keep reading straight through to the end (of course, life intervened, including the knuckle-biting finish to this year's "America's Got Talent" TV show in which the best contestant, IMHO, really did win, so it took me three days to finish).

Three cases land in the VBI's lap just as Gunther takes his leave, leaving investigator Sammie Martens to run the department. She personally handles the murder of a young woman, who just came to town and is rooming with the daughter of Beverly Hillstrom, the state medical examiner and Gunther's main squeeze. It looks to be a professional hit, and it's clear the woman had run and was trying to hide. But from what and whom?

Another colleage, Willy Kunkle, is puzzled when a child brings in three bloody teeth found at the edge of a local railroad track. Known as a bit of a department misfit (he's also Sammie's live-in companion with whom he shares a young daughter), he sinks his own teeth into the situation and finds a burned-out piece of electronics equipment at the site that in turn leads to the suspicion of sabotage involving U.S. military equipment.

Last but hardly least, colleague Lester Spinney is approached about an old traffic-stop case in which a state trooper and another man were believed to have killed each other. It's a closed case, but by a quirk of fate, it's been discovered that the motorist's fingerprints apparently were planted on the gun he used to kill the officer. Clearly, most everyone involved in the original case - including the police - aren't thrilled to have it reopened, but Spinney is convinced that the evidence was tainted and is determined to find out what really happened no matter where or on whom the chips fall.

Bit by bit, the investigative processes are revealed as each chapter offers highlights of each case. By the end, everything is resolved (no, I'm not going to explain further), and the department pretty much returns to normal operation. All's right with their world and they're ready for the next book (as am I, albeit with the hope I'll see more of Gunther). For now, I'll just recommend this book and say thanks very much to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Having not read all the other twenty something books in this series, I found myself at a disadvantage. The writing and the characters are solid, I just think the books need to be read in order

This book was not a good fit for me. Please keep me in mind for future books. There have been others from you that I have thoroughly enjoyed.

I love reading books based in Vermont.. my home state! Plus I do believe this author is close to where I like in Mount Snow so I feel even closer to it! Now, “Trace” by Archer Mayor is part of the Joe Gunther series, but it is not necessary to have read the other books to enjoy this one. In fact, this was my first Joe Gunther book, and I had no problem with it even though there is 27 other books that I have not read.

Mayor’s descriptions place his readers right into the scenes. The characters are well-developed and multi-faceted. We see their triumphs and their faults as they deal with the trials of everyday life. They struggle with childcare, self-doubt, hectic schedules, and relatives in ill health, not to mention pressure of law enforcement jobs. We come to know them and support them regardless of their human flaws, even as they manipulate evidence for the greater good.

Trace, the 28th in the Joe Gunther series can easily work as a standalone. (really!) In this novel, we get just a snippet of Joe, and even that much makes him an empathetic character. You're gonna like him; he's a good man.

This entry showcases his three close team investigators of the Vermont Bureau of Investigation (VBI). Sammie Martens looks into the murder of a young woman recently of Albany, New York. Lester Spinney hooks into a three-year-old cold case involving a state trooper in what looked to be a traffic stop. Willy Kunkle's case starts with three bloody teeth brought in from a railroad track (note the book cover), where an additional piece of equipment is discovered burned. The device meant for military installation suggests sabotage. The author has no problem separating each character's manner of dialogue, which, in view of the specific individual, seems very natural. His descriptions of Vermont give a soft glimpse into a lesser-known state, provide easily visualized scenes, and carefully crafted clues. This is maybe not so much a whodunit as how.

Mr. Mayor's meticulous details add depth to the investigations and explain tidbits of forensic interest. His characters are real people, problems of their own, but selflessly dedicated to solving their individual case files. I found Willy the most perplexing, his family situation perfect! He is a bull terrier, however, and once he latches on, he'll likely solve the riddle--it's a question of how (there's always one, huh?)--and that might warrant looking the other way, just briefly. Sammie Martins, working the murder of the young woman, exhibits feminine compassion to the family while carefully following procedures and collecting respect from connecting agencies. Lester Spinney digs at his cold case when he discovers fingerprints that do not jive. What initially looked a slam-dunk case--shootout between traffic stop and cop, isn't so transparent after all.

Mr. Mayor pulls all cases together in a satisfying climax of triumph.
I was offered this ebook download from Minotaur Books/St. Martins Press and NetGalley for a read and review. I can heartily recommend this book and the series as a thoughtful, intelligent mystery thriller, police procedural.

First Sentence: Jayla Robinson looked out across Albany’s Lancaster Street at the three matching brownstones opposite.

Joe Gunther, head of the Vermont Bureau of Investigation, needs to take his elderly mother to a hospital in the Midwest leaving his team with three very different cases; the medical examiner’s daughter’s roommate being murdered in their apartment, a closed double murder where it is now found isn’t as cut-and-dried as it originally appeared, and the discover of three teeth and a burned-out battery found on a railroad track.

Mayor’s books contain a true ensemble cast of very individual characters. By removing Gunther from center stage for most of the book, the other characters have a chance to shine. Mayor’s descriptions tell us much more about each character than just their appearance, or even background.

That we also learn about their personalities plays a major role in the growth in the relationship of two characters. While one may not normally be a fan of a relationship focus in a mystery, it really does work here with growth and realization. He doesn’t stint on the secondary characters, either. The relationship Joe has with his brother Leo is very easy and realistic.

One thing about police procedurals is the fascinating things one learns. In this case it is regarding planted fingerprints and about trains, as well as how the VBI—the Bureau of Criminal Investigations in the real world--interacts with other agencies. But Mayor is also very good about the small details. Not only are they not boring, but often it’s the sort of thing where one things—“Oh, I’d forgotten about that.” A lot of the methodologies and technologies employed are very clever.

“Trace” contains three cases each of which is interesting and stands on its own with details and suspense building at a nice pace. It also ends with a nice homage to the vast majority of good, honest, hard-working police officers who really do work to protect and serve.

TRACE (Pol Proc-VBI Team-Vermont-Contemp) – G+
Mayor, Archer – 28th in series
Minotaur Books, Sept 2017

“Trace” by Archer Mayor is part of the Joe Gunther series, but it is not necessary to have read the other books to enjoy this one. In fact, this is my first Joe Gunther book, and I enjoyed it so much that now I will have to read the other twenty-seven. “Trace” consists of three separate stories with unusual connections. The three criminal cases vary from one extreme to the other, all three are perplexing, and each has police struggling to solve the cases.
Jayla Charlotte Ann was the mistress of a “scary white man with a short fuse and an inexplicably large income.” In an attempt to escape his abuse, she bought a bus ticket to Burlington, Vermont. Upon stepping off the bus, she was hit by a car!
Dr. Tina Sackman worked in the crime lab in Waterbury, Vermont. While putting together a graduate-level lecture on fingerprints, DNA, and forensic science, she stumbled on a gap in an “ironclad” closed double murder case involving a Vermont Trooper and the motorist he had pulled over.
Abigail Elizabeth Murray was a “precocious, stubborn, and willfully independent” ten-year old who lived in Windsor, Vermont. She liked exploring and especially watching the people who got off the Amtrak trains. “Who were they? What were they up to? What had they seen?” She also looked for treasures on the track, and found something that she was compelled to turn over to Windsor Police – three broken, bloodstained teeth.
Mayor’s skill as a writer is evident as he weaves people in and out of these separate but yet interconnected situations. He drops little crumbs of each storyline at the start and then adds specifics piece by piece as the book moves along. Those little details matter, and have readers eagerly turning page after page, wondering what happens next, and trying to fit all the pieces together.
Mayor’s authentic descriptions place readers right into the scenes. The village “from the river toward Main Street, high on the bluff, had dark old conduits designed for industrial runoff, abandoned ancient buildings filled with mysterious offerings, acres of concrete slab littered with piled treasure, and a railroad track that marked its boundary. “
The characters are well developed and multi-faceted. We see their triumphs and their faults as they deal with the trials of everyday life. They struggle with childcare, self-doubt, hectic schedules, and relatives in ill health, not to mention pressure of law enforcement jobs. We come to know them and support them regardless of their human flaws, even as they manipulate evidence for the greater good.
I received a copy of “Trace” from St. Martin’s Press, Archer Mayor, and NetGalley to read and review, and I very much enjoyed reading it. Mayor created characters that we want to know, and then he brought the story to those characters. I highly recommend “Trace.”

I somehow totally missed that this is the 28th book in a series that I haven't read. And while the blurb sounds interesting and I was looking forward to reading it, I was lost a lot within the first 10-15% of the book and it was driving me so crazy I couldn't finish.

This was my first time reading Archer Mayor. While it was not a bad read I was disappointed to find the main character was mostly absent from the book. I know I'm late to the game reading this series so it's partially my fault for not knowing these characters etc. but I would have liked to have seen the main character in it more, but, all that said, the writing was strong and the character development and plotting was spot on too. I'll go back and start from the beginning in this series. Thanks Netgalley for the read.