When a medical student discovers an anomaly in a cadaver being used for dissection practice, Joe Gunther and his team from the VBI have a case. The reopening of Nathan Lyon's death brings chaos to the converted factory he had turned into a communal home. Soon more bodies started showing up and lies concealed for decades came to light. With help from a local reporter and private eye, links to the Rhode Island Mob were found and Lyon and company's background revealed. Then came the Rhode Island outsiders to create an explosive ending. An interesting addition the the Joe Gunther series with plenty of twists to keep the story rolling along.

This was ok, but not for me. I thought it was well written with interesting characters, but I could not connect with the story. It moved a little slow for me and some parts felt like they were filler. I really wanted to like this one, but I just couldn't. It happens and doesn't mean this book is not worth reading. If you think the blurb sounds interesting, I would give it a try.

Another well done mystery from Archer Mayor. The Joe Gunther series is probably one of the most consistent high quality series being written today, with a cast of interesting VBI (Vermont Bureau of Investigation) members who all bring different strengths and personalities to the job.

In the Marked Man, there is a murder discovered a year after the victim died, then followed by suspicious deaths in that man’s family. Now, that man was a somebody, Nathan Lyon, an eccentric billionaire, who lived in a converted mill building in Brattleboro with his wife and his extended family. One year after Lyon’s death, supposedly of natural causes, having learned of the real manner of death, Gunther and his team have opened an investigation of the victim and all those surrounding him in an effort to make up for lost time. Among their finds: Nathan Lyon didn’t exist before his life in Brattleboro. So who was the victim exactly? Then there is another death in the family. As usual for me, I will stop there and leave it to the readers to learn more details.

I recommend this book, and series, to any readers who enjoy police procedurals. The individual team members are well developed and each has their own style. It’s definitely possible to step into this series and pick up relationships that are important as enough background is provided.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Complicated family, hidden history, disguised murder

“Marked Man” by Archer Mayor is part of the series featuring Special Agent Joe Gunther, Vermont Bureau of Investigation. Characters, both new and recurring, are described in detail within the context of the situation. Readers get to know the players through personal details and background information dropped in as part of the narrative. The story opens in an unusual way when a medical student at the University of Vermont finds something unfamiliar, and suddenly the classroom cadaver ceases to be an instructional tool and instead becomes a case for the state medical examiner.

Alternating points of view take readers back and forth among several seemingly separate stories told by different people with diverse perspectives. Gunther and team are investigating a rash of unexplained deaths. Members of a prominent family are dying one by one. Is someone from the outside killing off people or is the murderer a member of the messed-up family? The missing piece in this tangled and complicated mess is “why.” Other characters are investigating not only these tragic deaths but additional problematic activities as well. Is it possible that each of these events is a little sliver of the same case? It is almost as if people are working on a jigsaw puzzle made up of pieces from four different boxes; nothing really fits together.
At first, the narrative seems disconnected with lots of balls being juggled in the air at one time while readers wonder which will fall first. This is far from the truth, and even the book’s title hints at the surprising and shocking connection. The story has a lot of family members with complex relationships, and I was tempted to make a family chart, but even that was complicated. Just reading about them made me understand why people wanted them dead.
I received a review copy of “Marked Man” from Archer Mayor, Minotaur Books, and Macmillan Publishing. Each book in the “Joe Gunther Series” is strong, well organized, and stands on its own. Continuing characters wander in and out of complex plots giving readers an opportunity to know them as “real” people with strengths and weaknesses, mistakes and successes. The books do not have to be read in order, so those who might have missed a few in the series can easily go back and read them now.

Let me begin by saying that this is the FIRST book in the series that I have read. And sadly, for being the thirty-second book in a series, I felt that the main group characters felt very one-dimensional and under developed. I didn't feel like I had missed anything by not reading any of the other books either, which was very surprising.

Sadly, for me this book was just too much. There were too many characters thrown into the pot to be able to keep track of them (much less care about them). In fact, I think the author even got confused as they bounce back and forth between Gene having been Monica's son that she gave up for adoption, then saying that Nathan was just a "donor" to Gene's mother. If the author can't keep their own characters straight, how am I as the reader?

There were also too many story-lines, which I'm sure intersected at some point, and possibly even in a creative way, but after three days of trying to get through this story, I just couldn't force myself to pick it up anymore.

I think a lot of this has to do with the overly lengthy descriptions we are given. In some areas, it felt more like I was reading from a history book than one meant to be entertaining, here is a passage from the story that I picked at random for an example, "As suggestive as that was of nineteenth-century sweatshops factories, spewing pollution and working women and children to death, the reality today was mostly modern American Bland - shopping malls, commercial strips, auto graveyards, and converted factories, closing around pockets of sedate, middle-class neighborhoods that stuck like barnacles to the river's banks".

There were a lot of instances of the author going on those long-winded tangents about the area, taking up page after page of things that (for me at least) seemed completely unrelated to the story or the characters. In fact, I found myself skimming a lot of these passages in an attempt to get back to the story itself, but in the end had to give up for the sake of my sanity.

My best advice? If you're a long-time fan of the series, give it a shot. If you're looking for a fast-paced police procedural? You might want to skip this one.

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

This is the 32nd in Archer Mayor's beloved Vermont police procedural series, starring the Vermont Bureau of Investigation (VBI) team led by Joe Gunther.

Investigating the death of a millionaire, the VBI soon learn that he was mobster Nick Bianchi in Rhode Island. There are more deaths of family members in the millionaire's sprawling mansion.

As always, Mayor delivers a twisty plot filled with surprises before all the whodunits are answered.

I love recommending Archer Mayor books, especially to those who enjoy the Spenser mysteries and the Maine novel of Paul Doiron. Mayor's 32 nd book shuffles four plot lines with many twists and turns May he continue writing and thrilling readers for years to come.

Reading myself to Vermont with this new 🥳 Joe Gunter mystery.
Archer mayor never lets me down - well plotted, realistic murder mysteries with an eye for police and legal procedure - that is his signature ! In this book the death of a local millionaire becomes suspicious when Joe Gunther learns that he was not who he claimed - and his whole life story unravels from there.

The book does stand on it’s own and does not have to be read as part of the Joe Gunther series which is good for the novice considering it’s book #32 ! One of the great pleasures of this series is following the lives of the team; they are all interesting and fun to read about. Mayor as always gives us glimpses into their personal lives, just enough to help the reader see them as real people not merely cops on a mission.

Archer Mayor's Joe Gunther series is just the best. When I finish his latest book I always look forward to the next. "Marked Man" is the most recent book, and it is wonderful; well worth waiting for. (Can you tell I'm a big fan?)

I don't like spoilers so I won't give any. You can get the outline of the story from the blurb. It is pretty convoluted, with a number of strands feeding into the main story. Personally. I found the Rhode Island aspects of the story most beguiling because I used to live there. YMMV!

If you have not read a Joe Gunther book before you will have no problem with this book. Everything is explained without spoilers for the earlier books. One of the great pleasures of this series is following the lives of the team; I have a crush on Willy personally, but they are all interesting and fun to read about.

A reader who enjoys mysteries and police procedurals cannot do better than a book about Joe Gunther and the VBI. This is the 32nd book of the series, so if you are new to these tales, you have a lot of pleasure ahead of you and I am almost jealous. In the meantime, you have this excellent book in front of you.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

There aren't many mystery series that can still deliver a great read with the 32nd book in the series. Archer Mayor is one of those rare authors and it was a pleasure to escape into the world of Joe Gunther and the members of the Vermont Bureau of Investigation. While it works fine as a stand alone, treat yourself and read them all in order.
This starts out with a medical student and his medical school team's cadaver. Having started with the man's back and done all the required classroom work there it's time to turned him over and work from the front. Therein lies the surprise - what had been ruled a natural death nine months ago turns out to be anything but - with a broken hyoid bone. The cadaver fondly referred to as Wilber was a murder victim. Not only that, the name on his death certificate, Nathan Lyon, wasn't his real name, either. He was Nick Bianchi and he had been in The Mob, big time. Time to call on Joe Gunther and his team.
Their list of suspects would fill a small phone book and the killer has turned to Nick's family for some more killings. With an investigation that has many threads to follow, this is a well constructed complex puzzle. There are lots of characters to keep track of but it follows very well. One of the many things I like about this series is the subtle sense of humor - like this...."Hyoids, like karaoke singers, can be of unreliable quality." Add to that a fine cast of recurring characters and it's no surprise that this series continues to be, at least for this reader, a must read.My thanks to the publisher St. Martin's/Minotaur and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

First off- I've been a huge fan of this series but know that this latest installment, more than most of the earlier ones, can be read as a standalone because, to my disappointment, it relies less on the characters of the VBI and more on a tangled and somewhat confusing series of murders within one family. Whew. That's not to say that I didn't gulp this down. Nathan Lyons was a wealthy, mysterious, and controlling man who more or less forced his entire family to move their own families and their businesses into a renovated mill. When a medical student dissecting his neck as part of an anatomy class discovers that he was actually murdered, Joe Gunther and the VBI are called in. And then more bad things happen. At the same time, Eddie (the Mouse) has just been released from prison for the long ago murder of a mob kid and he's out to find out the truth about that hit. You know the two stories will link up but how? Usually the Gunther books have a heavy (and welcome) dose of Vermont- this does not, and the beloved VBI officers (Willie, Sam, Lester) are less important than usual (they do the interviews, sure but..). The central mystery of who killed Nathan takes twists (what a dysfunctional family) and you will be forgiven if you like me find yourself rereading the last chapter to see if you missed something. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A must read for Mayor fans, a good entry for new readers. I'm looking forward to the next one.

It all started when a medical student preparing for his next laboratory assignment discovers that the cadaver he is working on didn’t die of natural causes. The student together with one of the teaching staff determine that the person died of strangulation. So begins the journey down the rabbit hole for Joe Gunther and his team at the Vermont Bureau of Investigation.

As Joe and his team conduct their investigation, they discover that the deceased was Nathan Lyon also known as, Nick Bianchi, a former crime boss who died a year earlier. Thus any evidence of foul play has since been lost. Now it’s up to Joe and the team to unearth the forensic files, conduct interrogations of Nathan’s friends and relatives. But as soon as the team gets close to uncovering clues, two more family members end up dead. Accidents or murders? Joe and the team need to solve the mystery before anymore bodies turn up.

Marked Man is the 32nd novel in the Joe Gunther series, but it is possible to read it as a standalone. However, I think that reading a few of the prior Gunther series would be beneficial in understanding the established characters. Especially since Marked Man has over a dozen different characters; and this reader had somewhat of a difficult time keeping track of who’s who without taking notes. I must say, however, that all the characters are well developed with unique personalities.

The storyline is somewhat complex in that there are several narratives occuring at the same time and it’s not until the end that they all converge into an unexpected ending.

Overall Marked Man is a remarkable read deserving of four stars.

I received a digital ARC from St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books through NetGalley. The review herein is completely my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.

Author Archer Mayor has entertained me in many of his Joe Gunther novels. Marked Man is the exception. I didn't care a whit about the murder of the rich old tyrant. The pace of the novel was too slow, laden with unnecessary details. The action stops as the chapters change subjects, and it was a slog to get to the finish line.
Having said all of that, I did enjoy the reunion with the Gunther team,
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

Archer Mayor keeps up his strong work. Many other authors struggle with a series this long but reading a Joe Gunther book is like putting a warm blanket over you. There is a past mystery and a present mystery that we work through. The family dynamics of the victims family are fascinating and a bit horrifying.
Fun ride.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

VBI special agent Joe Gunther and his team are back after a med student practicing on a corpse (donated for science) finds a broken hyoid bone. The deceased is millionaire Nathan Lyon, who lived with his entire family in a warehouse compound. The investigation into what really happened to Nathan begins, and more people end up dying...accidents? Murder?

I liked the story and how it all tied together, but there were SO MANY characters. It was really hard to keep them all straight. I had to go back a few times to figure out who they were talking about. Between the mob characters and the Lyon family....just too much to keep track of with the limited info we're given. Ok story, but not my favorite Gunther novel.

Marked Man by Archer Mayor is an enthralling and engrossing read with a great plot and characters! Well worth the read

Joe Gunther is one of my favorite characters and the setting of Brattleboro, Vermont is great. There are many characters in this book and at times I thought I might to need a chart to connect relationships! A fun read, nontheless.

“Marked Man” by Archer Mayor marks the second book (after last year’s “The Orphan’s Guilt”) in my return to the Joe Gunther mystery series, having taken a break after the first 13. And I continue to be glad to be back!

This one starts with a medical student realizing that his cadaver didn’t die a natural death, which turns a routine death of an older patriarch into a murder case for Gunther and his Vermont Bureau of Investigation. The victim, millionaire Nathan Lyon, was a local eccentric who moved his entire extended family into an old, converted mill, where he proceeded to rule over them with an iron fist. The question isn’t really who wanted him dead (that was everybody), but who was the one who finally got up the courage to do the deed. We meet the not-too-bereaved wife along with an assortment of sons, half-brothers, daughters-in-laws, and who knows what else. Once the team starts digging into the past, we find out that the complicated relationships are even way more confusing than originally thought (you might actually need a family tree diagram!).

We also have a parallel story of a low-level mob enforcer who just got out of prison for a crime he didn’t commit. He is on the trail of finding out who actually committed the crime, since all that was promised to him didn’t come true. Along with his cousin, he travels the murky past of the Rhode Island mob scene, on a collision course with the Nathan Lyon investigation.

Mr. Mayor does a fine job of weaving the stories together, merging the past history with today’s crimes. We also have some supporting roles for old favorites Sally Kravitz and Rachel Reiling, adding some color to the tale. Joe’s VBI colleagues don’t have much to do in this episode outside of routine work, but it’s still nice to have them around. Although the family machinations are a bit far-fetched and confusing, it’s still a nice return to old friends.

I requested and received a free advanced electronic copy from St. Martin's Press / Minotaur Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

A new Joe Gunther book is always a cause for celebration. I just love this team! Each member brings a different strength, but none so much as Willy. As Mayor writes “Willy Kunkle was a singularly intricate piece of work.”
And this time, Mayor has created a particularly unique introduction. A med student is working on his cadaver when he realizes the old man didn't die of natural causes. Not with a broken hyoid bone and hemorrhaging in the strap muscles like that. And once that initial death begins to be investigated, others follow.
It’s also a rare treat to have a police procedural series where everyone is ensconced in healthy relationships. Writing about Joe and Beverly, Mayor states “ they were a couple of life’s veterans, survivors of loss and sorrow, exposed through their jobs to more than an average portion of trauma and viciousness. They’d also known and trusted each other for decades. Their love was a settled, solid thing, as reliable as the cast iron woodworking tools he had in his next door shop.”
Mayor created a convoluted mystery that kept me engaged with several different storylines that finally came together. The initial victim was despised by his entire family, giving us lots of possible suspects. Sally Kravitz again makes an appearance, investigating employee theft in one of the family businesses. And the third storyline involves an aging mob tagalong who’s agreement to do time in exchange for a “pension” was forgotten. I had no clue how it would play out and I can’t believe any reader would. But the ending worked really well.
This is a series best read in order, as Mayor doesn’t waste a lot of time rehashing folks’ background.
My thanks to netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this book.

Marked Man – Archer Mayor

A medical student is laboring over his patient in the anatomy lab, when he makes an unexpected discovery – a broken hyoid bone in a patient who supposedly died of natural causes. A trip to the medical examiners office results in a reclassification of Nathan Lyon’s death to suspicious, likely consistent with a strangulation.

Special Agent Joe Gunther of the Vermont Bureau of Investigation catches the case and begins with the deceased’s family where he finds an unusual living arrangement, containing all of Nathan’s diverse, extended family living in a luxurious, spacious, renovated old mill. The set-up of each of the characters in the family was intriguing – like a logic problem, or a Clue game. It took me quite a while to remember who each of the family members were, and how they were related, and why.

Meanwhile, a couple of old mob thugs appear, Eddie & Fredo, looking to right an old wrong. Eddie has just been released from prison after a multi-year stint for taking the blame for a murder he did not commit, with the promise that the mob would reward him for his sacrifice. Eddie now is trying to collect on that promise, but most of the players are dead. But that will not stop him from trying…

As the investigation commences, and Joe and his team, along with other familiar faces including Willy, Sally Kravitz and Bev’s daughter Rachel, try to piece together the lives and occupations of the famed Mill residents. As Joe digs deeper into Nathan’s life, he discovers a past identity, and thanks to DNA technology, the ripple effects that gone events are causing in the present, resulting in murder…

I always love re-visiting some of my old New England haunts in Archer Mayor’s series, and it is always a delight to see his beloved characters grace my pages again. While I had a bit of difficulty keeping my characters straight at times, and I often scratched my head trying to figure out where the storyline was going, it all finally comes together, making this a very satisfying read!
I received this book as an Advance Reader Copy from #Netgalley & St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an objective review.