by Archer Mayor
Part of Joe Gunther, book 25
First published 2014
Ben Kendall returns from Vietnam carrying more than psychological wounds. He brings back combat photographs that someone desperately wants to remain hidden. Years later, Ben dies crushed beneath the mountains of belongings that fill his house. His cousin Beverly Hillstrom, a medical examiner, suspects the death involves more than tragic accident. She contacts Joe Gunther and his Vermont Bureau of Investigation team. The case takes a deadly turn when Beverly's daughter Rachel features Ben and his Vietnam photos in her college art project. Some of those images appear in a local gallery exhibition. This public display attracts a two-person assassination team hunting for additional negatives Ben possessed. The killers leave bodies in their wake as they search for the missing photographs. Rachel becomes their next target. Gunther and his squad race to locate and protect her before she meets the same violent end as her cousin. The investigation forces Gunther to uncover what secrets those Vietnam War photographs contain and why someone will kill to keep them buried.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, action
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family, investigative-journalism
Setting: Vermont, Vietnam
Period: Vietnam War
304 pages · Hardcover · Minotaur Books
Content warnings: violence