Joe Gunther and his VBI team inherited a murder from the local police in Bellows Falls. It involved drugs, seemed oddly planned and oddly spontaneous. Witnesses were misleading or eliminated. And then there is the unrelated case of Alex Hale, burglar extraordinaire, who stumbled onto a find that put him in the river after being shot in the head. Rachel Reiling, photographer and reporter for the Reasoner and Sally Kravitz, private eye, start pulling on various strings that leads to multiple murders being solved and an innocent man being spared harm. An interesting setup marred in part by a semi-rushed ending. But still a solid entry in the series.

Another terrific addition to the Joe Gunther series.As usual a terrific thriller kept me turning the pages .Eacch book in this series continues to draw me in to the story the characters.#netgalley #st.Martinsbooks

This is a solid addition to the Joe Gunther series. It seems a while since the last book and I easily fell into this new mystery. I wouldn’t say this is his strongest storyline. it felt like a rather abrupt ending. I would have enjoyed a bit more at the end of the story. Overall a solid procedural.

First Sentence: It was cold, dark, and slightly breezy, causing a few dry snowflakes to scurry the length of Sally Kravitz's windshield.

PI Sally Kravitz works within the law, as opposed to her father, a thief known as "Tag Man." Rachel Reiling is a reporter working at the Brattleboro Reformer, hoping for her first big story. Now, thanks to Joe Gunther, head of the Vermont Bureau of Investigation, the two women are working together to connect two murders to a prestigious prep school.

While this is a new entry in the Vermont Bureau of Investigation/Joe Gunther series, Mayor provides a good sense of each of his characters beginning with a nicely done introduction of Joe, but also a strong sense of place as well. It's refreshing to have two female characters take a significant role. Also enjoyable is that they are not members of the police, and that they are quite different from one another, yet find a way to work well together.

One may find oneself smiling at how well it is done. Interesting 3D crime scene technology brings the story into today's technology. There are times where the scene would change which reminded me of the classic two-note indicator on the old police show "Dragnet" and could make the story feel a bit disjointed.

There are lighter moments—"Idle chat in Vermont was always punctuated by discussions of mud season, mosquito plagues, heat waves, dry spells, snowstorms, black ice, and countless other attributes of a muscular, quirky seasonal parade of weather-related iconography." Mayor does treat one to a lovely use of language—"Biased as he was against other people's learning curves, obdurateness, or rank stupidity, he distrusted his own predisposition to dismiss people prematurely."

The book is a delightfully intricate Venn diagram of circles neatly intersecting circles. It's not manipulative, but one becomes more intrigued as the pattern emerges. The characters are interesting especially as not everyone is as they seem, and a new friendship evolves which one hopes to see continue.

"Bomber's Moon" is a very good book, brilliantly plotted. Even the ending was a perfect reflection of the characters.

BOMBER'S MOON (PolProc-Joe Gunther-Vermont-Contemp) – VG
Mayor, Archer – 30th in series
Minotaur Books – Sept 2019

“Bomber’s Moon” by Archer Mayor is part of the Joe Gunther series. Mayor quickly brings both old and readers up to date on the characters in a few sentences. Readers, both regular readers and ones new to the series, know who people are, what they have been doing, and immediately become immersed in their lives.
The story spotlights Brattleboro, Vermont, the state’s seventh-largest community and a self-described haven for transplanted tree-hugging trust-funders, a town which back in 2008, voted to have the police force arrest the president and vice president of the United States.
The main players in addition to Joe Gunther, Vermont Bureau of Investigation; include Sally Kravitz, private investigator; Alex B Robbin Hale, professional thief; and Rachael Reiling, reporter for the Brattleboro Reformer; and all are described in such detail that readers know them well -- their backgrounds, connections to the past, scruples, talents, and philosophies of life. Descriptions are colorful and poetic.
The plot develops in a spontaneous and informal narrative; readers see and hear everything as events unfold. Conversations are casual and friendly. Mayor realistically portrays life in small towns where people know each other, lives intersect, and criminals hide in plain sight. Secondary stories are folded seamlessly into the main storyline.
Geography contributes to the realism, and readers can use Google maps to view the Brattleboro train station parking or the city of Windsor and even take a virtual stroll down Arch Street, observe the graffiti covered buildings, and watch the road turn to gravel by the railroad tracks. Even the title “Bomber’s Moon” is linked to the natural features of the area when on cloudless nights the moon combines with fallen snow to lend a pale blue boldness to the night; the term being a carryover from WW II, before night vision, as pilots relied on the moon to provide illumination for targets in the monochromatic targets of enemy territory.
“Bomber’s Moon” is beautifully written and enthralling to read. Mayor spins a solid and compelling story with plenty of suspense. I was given a review copy of “Bomber’s Moon” by Archer Mayor, St. Martin’s Press, and Minotaur Books. I have enjoyed every book in the series, and “Bomber’s Moon” is yet another example of Mayor’s story-telling expertise. New readers will want to go back and read the series from the start, and regular readers will anxiously await the next installment.

"Bomber's Moon" is the 30th (!) in Archer Mayor's outstanding police procedural series starring Joe Gunther and his Vermont Bureau of Investigation (VBI) subordinates. Joe's romantic interest for some time has been medical examiner Beverly Hillstrom.

In addition to the usual suspects, Beverly's daughter Rachel Reiling (now a journalist) and PI Sally Kravitz (well trained by her break-in artist father) have had growing roles in past episodes and star in this one. Rachel's editor steers her to seek out Sally in search of a good story.

Their investigation converges with the VBI's on Thorndike Academy, where they solve a very cold case as well as recent ones. As always, I look forward to Mayor's next volume in this great series.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for my honest review

My introduction to the Joe Gunther series was last year, with book #29. I didn’t have too many difficulties keeping up with everything and everyone, so I ready to continue into the series with book #30! BOMBER’S MOON was another solid police procedural. I do think that it would be beneficial to read some of the previous books in the series to fully understand the dynamics and relationships, BUT it isn’t necessary. You’ll still be able to follow along with the mystery with no issue.

We focus less on Joe Gunther and his colleagues, and more on two young women that are working together to solve a case. A private investigator and an investigative journalist team up to solve a murder as Gunther and his team are trying to solve the same case. The relationship between Sally and Rachel is great – they created an unlikely pairing but they grew stronger together as they became entangled with a prestigious prep school and their dark secrets.

Overall, a solid police procedural that brought us new characters to the series. If you’re a long-time fan of the Joe Gunther series, then you’ll enjoy this breath of fresh air the author brings. I can’t wait to see where the next book brings us and if we get more of these newly introduced characters.

OMG. How did I get to be this age never having read any of the Joe Gunther books by Archer Mayor? This is the thirtieth book in the series, for pete’s sake! I have really been missing out, and if you have never read any of them, so have you. This excellent book no doubt lives up to its predecessors, something I am going to verify as soon as possible.

Joe Gunther is the head of the VBI, the Vermont Bureau of Investigation. He and his team step in to help local police agencies with tough cases, as well as dealing with their own difficult cases. In this case, a man has been killed in a small Vermont city and the VBI is called in. There is another thread going on at the same time; a clever thief is operating in Vermont and comes to the attention of the VBI. I don’t like spoilers so I won’t say any more about the plot, except to say that it is convoluted and keeps the reader’s interest.

One of the great pleasures of a long-running series is familiarity with the characters. The secondary characters here are well-drawn and clearly defined. For those of us who have not read any of the preceding books there are enough explanations to understand their relationships and what is going on, but not so much that it is overdone. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting them and am looking forward to a further acquaintance.

“Bomber’s Moon” is a very good book, which I enjoyed very much. The chief pleasure was watching Joe and his team figure out what was going on, and deal with it. Mayor’s prose is lovely and clear, with no wasted words. I highly recommend this book, even while I am facepalming myself for coming into this series so late.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. The opinions are my own.

The pleasure of an Archer Mayor novel is in both the characters and the complicated procedural mystery that goes sideways and up and down before it is solved. Joe Gunther and his merry band of detectives comprise unique characters (like Willie) who have an uncanny ability to solve crimes that are not obvious from the crime they set out to solve. In this case, the murder of a drug dealer and the murder of a break and entering expert may or may not be linked through the Thorndike Academy. Rachel, the daughter of Joe's love interest, is an aspiring photojournalist on the trail of an interesting story involving a very creative thief so Joe hooks her up with Sarah, a private detective who is the daughter of the consummate breaking and entering man. I admit to guessing (and only guessing) part of this but not how it all fit together. Lest I forget, Vermont is almost a character as well, as Mayor has an excellent way of brining in small touches that place this squarely in that state. It sees impossible that there are 30 books in this series- it feels as fresh as it did when I read the first one all those years ago. If you haven't read them this will be fine as a standalone (you get enough back story and the mystery/procedural parts stand on their own). Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. Mayor fans will find this a terrific installment; new readers will have the joy of a new series to explore.

Under the cover of night, an intrepid private investigator follows her prey and captures her money shot before calling authorities. Meanwhile, a creative thief breaks into a vehicle, finds the home address of the owner, and steals a computer, uncovering a secret that’s been kept hidden for decades. But when he attempts to collect on his newfound information, things quickly go sour.

Joe Gunther and his Vermont Bureau of Investigation team are at the scene of a murder in the small town of Bellows Falls. A petty thief/drug dealer has been found stabbed to death, last heard arguing with his buddy, Brandon. But Brandon says he didn’t do it – and Joe believes him – but who would want a two bot drug dealer dead…and why?

Rachel Reiling, daughter of Joe Gunther’s current love interest Beverly, has taken on a role as reporter for the local newspaper and is on the scene taking pictures. As her boss’s best hope for helping to bring the paper back into the mainstream, she is tasked with finding a story worthy of publication. He’s also put her in touch with Sally Kravitz, a local PI, in hopes that they will find a way to work together.

Sally has accepted a job to evaluate the Thorndike Academy, a renowned prep school. One of its Board members hopes to contribute a large sum for further development of the school and its grounds, but he feels as if something is amiss and asks for her assistance. Sally goes in as a temp worker in an effort to discover the truth.

All are seemingly random acts, but as the investigations into each crime unfold, they all seem to have a single connection…Thorndike Academy. But, as Sally & Rachel dig to find answers, someone wants a long buried past secret to stay hidden…

I have only read a couple of titles in this series, thus far, and I’ve very much enjoyed each of them with this one being no exception. I love Joe Gunther’s character, although It seems as if Joe took a bit of a back seat to the girls in this novel, so I’m hoping that means that we’ll see a lot more of Sally & Rachel – perhaps a series of their own??!! I have to say that I discovered this series solely due to Netgalley (Thank you, NetGalley & St. Martin’s press!!!) and hope to find the time to read the series in its entirety soon! Great books!!

I was fortunate to receive this book as an Advance Reader Copy from Netgalley, in exchange for an objective review. This review will also publish to my blog, tropicaldelusions.blog, a few days before publication.

A new Archer Mayor .mystery is as welcome and timely as fall, and southern Vermont is a familiar and colorful place to set it in. Series hero Joe Gunther is as comfortable as an extra sweater,as observant as a good police has to be, and his usual colleagues, from Willie to Sammie, are smarter than most small-town cops have to be to keep up with him. A couple of people get themselves killed, a few secrets are unearthed from the tocky soil, and a storied elite prep school almost comes to grief.; you don't read Mayo for convoluted plotting , edge of your seat thrills, or breakneck pacing; you read him for his acute sense of place, his way with words, and his command of the craft of good story-telling.

The Joe Gunther series has always been a favorite of mine. Joe and his colleagues are like old friends. I enjoyed that we’re seeing a younger generation appearing, like the Tag Man’s daughter, Sally, now a PI, and Rachel, Beverly's daughter, who’s now an investigative reporter. In fact, these two women have a bigger role in the story than some of Joe’s team.

This is a series best read in order to be able to understand the sometimes complicated relationships.

Despite this book being #30, the series still has a freshness to it. The characters are complex and fully formed. The stories are always multi-faceted and intriguing. It wasn’t so much a question of whodunit for me as why and how will Joe and company put it all together. This is a great series for those that like straight forward police procedural.

My thanks to netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this book.

Spoiler - I really liked that Mayor didn’t fall into the trap of needing a Big Bang of an ending.

This is number 30 of the Joe Gunther series. Though I haven’t read any of the previous works, I think it can be read as a standalone. Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as I’d hoped. (I read this book while I was sick, which may have affected my view of the story. So keep that in mind.)

The highlight of the book was the relationship between Rachel, a new investigative reporter, and Sally, a private investigator with an unusual upbringing. Neither woman trusts easily. Both have been deeply wounded, yet desire to be helpful and are willing to take risks when necessary.

Throughout the book, it’s obvious that both need a friend. A thief who plot ingenious crimes brings the women together. It’s great to see them team up and hunt for answers. From a prep school storage vault to a library’s archive to the front seat of Sally’s old Subaru, the women are key to solving the crimes.

Sally’s been a loner for most of her life. But the lives of the other characters are tangled up with each other. Rachel and Joe Gunther have respect for one another’s professions and are willing to help each other out: him, by giving her first dibs on breaking news, and her, by giving him any relevant information her investigation yields.

That’s not all: Gunther is dating/semi-living-with Rachel’s divorced mother, Beverly, the state’s medical examiner. Two of Gunther’s coworkers, Sam and Willie, are romantic partners, and Sam respects Beverly enough to ask her advice on her daughter’s schooling. The tangling of lives is inevitable in a small town setting and mimics real life. (It also subtly points to a theme in the central crime.)

Multiple crimes happen. Burglary. Murder. Drugs. At points, it’s difficult to see how any of them might be related. (But this is fiction, so they have to be related, right?) Mayor weaves a tangled web of deceit, theft, sex, and murder; multiple people with different motivations are at work. It’s not until closer to the end that we see which strands come together and which are extraneous to the story.

Some of the crimes hit hot button topics, such as the MeToo movement and cybersecurity.

Another interesting (and fun) aspect of the book are the allusions to fiction. At several points, someone (usually Sally) mentions the differences between fictional investigations and real-life investigations:
1. Drivers don’t quickly pick out the cars tailing them. People are oblivious to the world.
2. The NSA isn’t all-knowing. Humans mess things up too much.
3. Action doesn’t always happen at the “ideal” moment when setting, timing, and plot line up best for dramatic purposes. Simply because it’s late night, snowing, and someone just stepped out of a bar, doesn’t mean that character will be robbed, kidnapped, or otherwise witness violence.

These thoughts simultaneously position this story on the side of reality, while drawing attention to its fictional nature. My inner English major geeks out about these sorts of things.

The downside? For me, it was Gunther and his team. It took me a long time to warm up to Gunther, though I eventually did. It wasn’t that I disliked any of the other team members or found their characterization lacking. I just never quite rooted for them, either. Long time series readers might feel differently.

I found Sally and Rachel to be far more interesting. I wonder if Mayor invested so much effort into writing their relationship and developing both characters that his usual cast (Gunther, Sam, etc.) took a hit as a result. Just a thought.

Overall, though, this was a good book. While it didn’t make me a fan of the series, it was a good mystery.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's/Minotaur for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

(Note: This review will be posted on my blog on September 13, 2019 and on Amazon on publication day.)

I've read the entire series, and this is the best one yet. As usual, it begins with several seemingly different things happening, and gradually, they all get tied together.

First we meet Alex, who seeing a couple getting on the train in Winsor after parking a very expensive car, comes back later at night to break into the car. Then, instead of driving off in the car, he steals the registration and a garage door opener from the glove compartment. Then, he finds the house, uses the garage opener to go in, and steals all the electronics. He really hits pay dirt when he breaks into the computer! Another time, he steals a woman's pocket book in the market, pretends to be someone at the market who has found her pocket book, robs the house while she drives back to the market and uses her phone to get the bank password from her husband.

Then, back in Brattleboro, a small time drug trafficker is knifed in his apartment. Later, an old man who spends his time looking out his window with binoculars dies. Meanwhile, Rachel, Beverly Hillstrom's daughter, is now working for the Brattleboro Informer, and Katz, her boss is ready to support her writing special articles. He tells her to see Sally Kravitz. Although they are both wary at first, PI Sally and Rachel soon hit it off, and work together. Although Gunther and his crew are doing their part in solving three murders, funny activities at a prestigious prep school, as well as debunking a character assassination, the real stars of this mystery are Rachel and Sally.

I love this series. That said, I felt this one started a little slow but as I got into it, I really enjoyed.

Catching up with all the characters on a regular basis is such a good feeling. In this one, we meet a young thief. After breaking into a vehicle which leads to a house burglary, the young thief ends of up dead. It's also the story of 2 young women who become friends. One is Joe's girlfriends daughter who is becoming an investigative reporter, the other is a private detective. What they are seeking blends in with the case that Joe and his crew are investigating....which you knew it was. It all centers around a murder and a private school and how they are connected.

A satisfying ending and another new character added to the mix.

Three loosely connected murders. A drug dealer, a smart thief and the goings on at a prestigious prep school. Even though this is in the Joe Gunther series (usually excellent, intelligent mysteries) Gunther plays a minor role. A young reporter and a PI form an alliance to find the puzzle pieces and fit them together. Sally and Rachel are able to go places where the police cannot. Sally goes undercover at the Thorndike Academy while Rachel meets in the dead of night with a criminal to learn the whys and how’s of his ‘craft’. Some of the characters seem like stereotypes with predictable responses. Gunther and his team remain individuals with quirks and humor. I looked forward to reading this new book in the series but was disappointed. I don’t think this was up to Mayor’s best.

I've been a fan of the "Joe Gunther" series for 20+ years and it has always been great. However, "Bomber's Moon" takes the series to new heights. This is a masterclass book from a writer at the top of his game (and genre). It is an extraordinarily exceptional read. One of the most satisfying aspects of the Archer Mayor books has always been the way his characters personify teamwork as they work to resolve the cases before them. This book is no exception. The plots are engaging and it's a thrill to see how they all come together at the end. "Bomber's Moon" will deserve a spot on every year-end "Best Of" list. It's Mayor at his magnificent best.

Another entry in a long-running procedural series set in Vermont. Maybe it was me, but this didn't seem like the best of them. (It probably was me.) The usual crew under Joe Gunther's direction have what seems to be a slam-dunk case: a drug dealer stabbed in his apartment, one of the usual suspects looking good for it. But he insists on his innocence and something about the setup doesn't feel quite right.

Meanwhile a PI (who grew up with a philosophical cat-burglar father - she's a great character) is persuaded to pair up with a young reporter, Joe's partner's daughter, who has been given a blank check to develop an investigative story. Together they do, cautiously dancing around the cops as they share and sometimes withhold information as the trail leads to a posh school for rich kids.

It's a good series, and I'm glad Mayer is sticking with it, even if this one wasn't top notch for me.

5 stars

Lyall Johnson is stabbed to death inside his apartment. Local police suspect his best friend Brandon of the murder. He claims he stopped by and found Lyall dead and got scared and ran. After interviewing him, along with Joe Gunther head of the VBI (Vermont Bureau of Investigation), the police decide that he doesn't look good for the murder.

Meanwhile, Alex Robin Hale is a very smart thief who just might think that he is more clever than he really is. He is plotting something to do with the Thorndike Academy, an elite private prep school with extremely wealthy backers. He believes it will be a very big score. But then the unexpected happens.

At the same time Rachel Reiling who is a reporter and Sally Kravitz, a private investigator, team up to also investigate the murders. They can do things and go places that the police can't. This may cause some tension and bad feelings between the women and the cops.

The plot of this book becomes more convoluted as the pages fly by. The history of Thorndike Academy turns out to be far more important than any of the characters dreamed.

This is a very good entry in the Joe Gunther series. I have avidly followed Joe's career and exploits for years. Mr. Mayor always pens brilliant tales, full of action and excitement. This book is a very fine example of a police procedural. I like Joe. I appreciated his relationship with the pathologist girlfriend. (Who happens to be Rachel's mother.) Joe is level-headed, fair and very kind. I like the rest of the team, too, especially Willie and Sam. They are such a unique pair – and they make it work very well. I was so entranced with the story that I read the book in one day. It was said that this may be Mr. Mayor's best novel to date. It may just be.

I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for forwarding to me a copy of this absolutely great book for me to read, enjoy ans review.

Thanks to Archer Mayor, St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for providing me with a digital advance copy of this novel. Bomber’s Moon is the latest installment in the Vermont-based Joe Gunther series. This is another great entry in this series - complex, believable characters in an excellent police procedural. Different character points-of-view are well executed here, and the Vermont setting is interesting.