Deaths and barn burnings north of Burlington, Vt., that result in farm sales to two local real estate agents lead Joe Gunther into a convoluted case in Mayor's entertaining 16th novel to feature the Vermont Bureau of Investigation cop (after 2004's The Surrogate Thief). Are the crimes personal or financial, coincidental or planned? Gunther and his obstreperous sidekick, Willy Kunkle, travel to Newark, N.J., in search of answers and an arsonist. When the Jersey police are first helpful then dismissive, the pair decide to investigate on their own, turning up some surprising evidence in Newark's underworld. Mayor delves deeper than ever before into his characters' psychology, especially the women: tough Newark cop Lil Farber; Peggy DeAngelis, the arsonist's naive girlfriend; and two dispirited farm wives, beautiful Linda Cutts and her vicious mother, Marie. He also subtly portrays the shifting relationship between Gunther and his lover, Gail Zigman. Though the discoveries in Newark fall into place almost too easily, Mayor serves up another highly satisfying mystery. Agent, Molly Friedrich at the Aaron Priest Agency. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

An arson-homicide snares the Sage of Brattleboro in a web of tangled relationships. Everyone who knows Bobby Cutts, 17, loves him for his sweet-tempered goodness. Everyone, that is, except Marianne (kiss-the-boys-and-make-them-crazy) Koch, who finds the sweet and good drab and dull. One night, when Bobby retreats to a barn to solace his Marianne-miseries, he perishes along with 60 cows in an inferno that makes no sense to Joe Gunther, second in command of Vermont's most prestigious investigative body. Neither Bobby nor his family has enemies, yet someone's undoubtedly set that fire with malice aforethought. Joe knows that happy families are often indistinguishable from the other kind under the skin. And Joe's an expert at quietly, relentlessly stripping away the veneer to reveal motives like envy and rancor, disappointment and bitterness. But he's not nearly as good at figuring himself out. His long-time affair with State Senator Gail Zigman is in trouble. Through what might be deliberate neglect, a veneer has formed there, too. Will Joe catch a killer and lose a lover? The most understated cop in crime fiction (The Surrogate Thief, 2004, etc.) racks up a satisfying 16th in a series that marches confidently to its own unhurried beat. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Mayor's long-running Joe Gunther series continues to display this multitalented author's ability to construct compelling plots and build full-bodied characters. Second in command at the Vermont Bureau of Investigation, Gunther finds his latest adventure in the rural farming community of St. Albans. When the Cutts' family barn is burned down, all the dairy cows inside are killed--as is teenager Bobby Cutts. As he starts to investigate, Gunther discovers other suspicious fires in the area, although none of those caused any deaths. Was Bobby in the barn by accident? What do the fires have in common? As he struggles to answer these questions, Gunther relies on his crusty sidekick, Willy Kunkle, to extract information from the tight-lipped locals. Mayor does everything right, keeping readers riveted by expertly interweaving well-developed characters, a fast-moving plot, and interesting factoids about his setting. Best of all is Gunther himself: a kind and sensitive cop whose intelligence and integrity make an irresistible combination. --Jenny McLarin Copyright 2005 Booklist